1. The several sorts of Christs kingdomes 2ly What kind of Kingdom his Church is 3ly How and in what manner he reigns and governs in it as King and Soveraign Lord over it For the 1. It is generally agreed by Fathers Pontificians and Protestants that Jesus Christ hath a three-fold kingdom set forth in the premised Scriptures if strictly pryed into The first is a Kingdom of power and absolute Dominion which extends it self not only to all Men and Angels but likewise to all other unreasonable and inanimate Creatures whatsoever in heaven earth and under the earth yea to the very Devils themselves This Kingdom belongs unto Christ principally as he is God and the Creator of all things which comes not within the Verge of our present Discourse however Popes seem to usurp it The 2. is a Kingdom of meer purchase or Grace confined properly not to Angels or Mankind in general but to such as are truly elected called justifyed sanctified redeemed saved by Christs precious blood yet in the largest sense extended to the good Angels and all visible Members of the Church Militant professing the name and gospel of Christ as his Subjects though not actually regenerated justified sanctified saved Of this Kingdom there are two distinct parts the one Triumphant in Heaven over which no Pope or Mortals on earth can pretend the least Kingship or Dominion the other Militant upon Earth the latter in its largest extension comprehending all who bear the name of Christians whether good or bad regenerate or unregenerate This is the Kingdom of Christ of which the Pope as Christs Vicar General and Peters fictitious Successor pretends himself the Supream and sole Governor The 3d. is the Kingdom of Glory not really different from the former long since begun and encreasing every day more and more by new additions of departed Saints thereto which kingdom shall be fully compleated when all the Elect shall be gathered the Church militant united to the Church triumphant actually glorified with Christ in the kingdom of heaven For the 2d It is asserted by Fathers and most Romanists themselves as well as Protestants that this Kingdom of Christ is meerly Spiritual Not any temporal kingdom upon earth as the Jewes some grosse Milenaries Popes and their Parasites fancy over which Christ never actually reigned or shall reign as a Temporal King and Lord even in all temporal things for which we find no warrant in Scripture or Fathers Hence Thomas Waldensis himself though a grand Advocate for the Popes Supremacy layes down and proves at large these 4 Conclusions 1. Regnum temporale Judaeorum sub Jeconio excidium accepit neque amplius Judaecorum aliquis vel de jure vel de facto illud obtinuit 2. Regnum illud Judaeorum terrenum cum figura fuit Regni aeterni spiritualis Christi debuit omnino in adventu eius cessare quemadmodum et sacrificia 3. Regnum temporale quod in Prophetarum scriptis MESSIAE promissum est non est Regnum Carnale et Terrenum sed Spirituale quo per Fidem in Cordibus suorum Regnat 4. Quod ex verbis quae Christus dixit coram Pilato Tu dicis quod Rex sum ego non potest colligi quod ipse fuerit Rex Terrenus de Facto vel de Jure And Gen. 49. 10. proves That the temporal Scepter should depart from Iudah when Christ the true Shiloh came into the world Alvarus Pelagius the grand assertor of the Popes Universal Kingship in and over Christs kingdom the Church and all earthly Kings Kingdoms too informs us That the kingdom of Christ hath various acceptations in Scripture 1. It is taken for Christ himself 2ly For the sacred Scripture or Gospel of Christ 3ly For the Church of Christ divided into two Parts Militant on earth triumphant in heaven yet there are not two kingdoms in the Church but one kingdom because both end in one and there is but one King of both and one Spirit reigns in both Churches but diversly for in the Church of Travellers it reigns by faith in the Church of the blessed by open vision This Church therefore is but One for the unity of its end and beginning but it is distinguished by reason of the diversity of the state Yet this kingdom comprehends not only the Elect but also all the holy Angels for there is but one City and Kingdom of God constituted out of holy Angels and men as he proves out of Augustine and Gratian Distinct 10. 59. That Christ ever challenged or enjoyed any temporal kingdom upon earth he offers not the least proof out of Scripture or Fathers in which Cardinal Bellarmin himself confesseth he could never find that Christ had any such kingdom after most diligent search but only a kingdom in and over his Church which is not temporal but spiritual For the 3d. All antient and most modern Divines of all sorts assert that Christs immediate Government in and over his Spiritual Kingdom the Church is Spiritual not Temporal and that principally in and over the souls spirits consciences wills hearts affections of his elect Saints in which he dwells lives rules reigns by his Spirit and Grace And this his Spiritual Government is neither communicated nor transferred by Jesus Christ to any King High Priest Priest Bishop Pope or other Mortal whatsoever but resides in Christ alone the King of Saints as an incommunicable unseparable part and prerogative of his Regal not Sacerdotal or prophetical office But more of this in the two next Propositions BOOK I. CHAP. IV. That Jesus Christ as Supream King Lord Head of his Kingdom the Church whiles on Earth never claimed exercised enjoyed any Temporal Royal Jurisdiction or Magistratical Authority over any of his Subjects much lesse over Emperors Kings Kingdoms Nations or Soveraign civil Powers nor ever deprived any of them of their Crowns nor absolved their Subjects from their Allegiance nor pulled up cast down or rooted up their Kingdomes nor gave them to whomsoever he pleased Neither did he either before at or after his passion resurrection or ascention derive any such superlative Power to Saint Peter as his sole universal Vicar or Viceroy nor to any other Apostle Bishop Priest or Pope whatsoever Nor delegate his Supream Spiritual Jurisdiction over his Kingdom the Church militant in this world and all the Members of it but only committed to them the Ministerial part of his Prophetical Office his High Priestood being personal untransferrable and incommunicable unto any other of teaching and preaching the Gospel publikely to all Nations administring the Sacraments of Baptism the Lords Supper to them according to his institution and command feeding them as his Sheep with the sincere milk of his word teaching them as his Apostles Ministers Servants to obey whatever he hath commanded them beseeching intreating them as his Embassadors in his stead to be reconciled unto God and to declare pronounce them absolved
from their sins by God upon their sincere repentance and to denounce damnation against them in case they repented not and believed not in Christ I Have here enlarged this Proposition abridged in my Prologue the clearing whereof will prove fatal to St. Peters and the Popes pretended Universal Regal Supremacy and Pontifical Jurisdiction over Kings Emperors Kingdoms Nations as well in temporals as spirituals and over Christs Kingdom the Church Militant on Earth as Christs sole Viceroy or Vicar General to whom all his Regal and Sacerdotal power in heaven and earth is assigned by Christ himself if we believe their own Papal or their Parasites claims which I shall here preâ—â—ise in their own words that so their Antichristian Usurpations Blaspemies Impostures may more visibly appear to all Christian Kings and the whole world who cannot but abominate and be jealous of them though never so much devoted to the Papacy Pope Nicholas the 2d writes thus to those of Millain who refused to obey the See of Rome and acknowledge the Popes Universal Supremacy Christ alone hath founded built the Roman Church upon the rock of the faith newly born and hath committed to Saint Peter the Key-bearer of eternal life TERRENI SIMUL IMPERII CAELESTIS JURA the Rights both of the earthly and heavenly Empire Therefore not any terrene Sentence but that word by which heaven and earth were built by which faculty all the Elements were made hath founded the Roman Church Certainly she enjoyeth her privileges from him by whom she is supported Therefore IT IS NOT TO BE DOUBTED that he who endeavoureth to take away from the Church of Rome the Priviledge granted her by the very chief head of all Churches HIC PROCVLDUBIO IN HAERESIN LABITUR HIC EST DICENDVS HAERETICVS He without doubt falls into Heresie he is to be called an heretick because he violates the faith who acts against her who is the mother of faith and is found contumacious to him who is known to have advanced her above all Churches On which Text Bartholomeus Buxiensis and Ioannes Thierry make this Glosse Papa habet utrumque gladium scilicet Spiritualem Temporalem transtulit Imperium Pope Leo the 9. in one of his Epistles writes thus This ought to satisfie you That both the Earthly and Heavenly Empire yea the Royal Priesthood is given to the Apostolick See Divinitus by God himself and not by men Pope Boniface the 8. in his Letters to Philip the French King told him That the Pope is Lord through the whole world both in Temporal and Spiritual Matters And that he judged it HERETICAL for any to think the contrary This Pope boasting that he had the power of both swords declared it by his actions riding Anno 1300. on the first day of the Great Iubilee in triumph in his Pontificalibus as Pope and the next day in his IMPERIAL ROBES adorned with THE IMPERIAL CROWN having a naked sword carried before him and one proclaiming ECCE HIC DUO GLADII behold here the Spiritual and Temporal Swords given to me quantum ad jurisdictionem at least though non per executionem generaliter as some of their soberest Canonist distinguish The like Soveraign power is claimed by all their * Successors and inserted into their Book of Sacred ceremonies ratified by Sixtus Quartus and other Pontifs which records That when the Pope gives or sends a consecrated sword to the Emperor or any King usually hallowed on the night of Christs Nativity he is prescribed to say This Pontifical sword doth betoken SUMMAM TEMPORALEM POTESTATEM as well as Spiritual A CHRISTO PONTIFICI COLLATAM according to that saying All power is given to me both in heaven and in earth and according to that also He shall rule from Sea to Sea and from the floud unto the worlds end Pope Innocent the 3. and Adrian the 4th their forecited passages are to the like effect with sundry other Popes forged or real Decrees to the same purpose recorded in Gratian and the Extravagants The Pope as Augustinus Triumphans asserts is greater then any King or Emperor as well in Temporal as in Spiritual Matters and as God is the Lord of all by Universal Jurisdiction so is the Pope his Vicar greater then any King or Emperor both in spiritual and temporal things The power of Jurisdiction in temporal and in spiritual matters is immediate in the Pope alone Yea the Son of God hath declared the altitude of Ecclesiastical power in the Pope to be above all principalities and powers that unto it every knee should bow both in heaven in earth and under the earth Franciscus Bozius affirms The Supream temporal Jurisdiction throughout the whole world belongs to Peters successor so that he is both Hierarch and Monarch of all things and that by the divine Law expressed in the Scriptures That Peter and the Pope succeed to Christ as well in his Kingdom as in his Priesthood and that Peter and the Pope is both King and Priest according to the order of Melchisedech which Cardinal Baronius and Aquinas with others likewise assert Stephanus Patracensis Archiepiscopus in his Oration 4 Maii 1515. before Pope Leo the 10th in the Council of Constance averred In the Pope the Supream Hierarch in the Church there is omnis potestas super omnes Potestates tam Coeli quam Tarrae Tibi data est omnis potestas in qua qui totum dicit Nihil excludit Ralulphus Cupers impudently proclaims God hath committed to the Pope the rights both of the terrene and heavenly kingdoms The direct dominion of the Emperor belong unto God and by consequence to the Pope his Vicar who is deservedly accounted the King of Kings and Lord of Lords The Lord hath so magnified the Church which he expounds to be the Pope that he hath preferred it not only to Kings and Cesars sed omnibus sub coelo supra coelum existentibus but to all that are either under Heaven or above Heaven Cardinal Hostiensis asserts Papa Christus faciunt unum consistorium ita quod excepto peccato potest Papa quasi omnia facere quae Deus potest Whence some Canonists stile him Dominus Deus noster Papa and yoak God and him together as equals Quis audet dicere Deo et Papae the plenitude of his Papal power being such as Abbot Panormitan resolves that Super omnem legem positivam sufficit quod in Papa sit pro ratione voluntas in dethroning Kings and Emperors The like Antichristian blasphemous assertions are professedly maintained in solemn discourses as you may read at leisure in their Azorius Antoninus Alexander Carerius Francis Bozius Lelius Zecchus Marta Rodericus Sancius Gaster Scoppius with other Pontifician Parasites And Cardinal Bellarmin himself informs us That the Pope Jure divino hath power over the whole world as
Jurisdiction do most neglect this most essential prime part of their Commission and relinquish it to inferiour Priests Ministers Curates to whom they deny the power of Jurisdiction The third Commission whereon the Pope and his flatterers principally erect St. Peters and their absolute Ecclesiastical Soveraign Supremacy over all other Apostles Ministers Priests Kings Emperors Kingdoms and Catholick Church on Earth and upon which all Bishops Presbyters Priests do bottom their pretended divine Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction over Emperors Kings and all Secular persons as appropriate to their functions consistories and incommunicable to Princes or Laymen is that which was generally given by Christ to all the Apostles yea to private Christians and Lay-men and the whole Church before Christs passion Mat. 18. 18. Verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Thus renewed confirmed to all the Apostles by Christ in behalf of the whole Church after his resurrection in other words Jesus breathed on the Disciples and said Receive ye the holy Ghost whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted and whose soever sins ye retain they are retained Which Commission though thus twice joyntly given to all the Apostles alike by Christ yet because he first granted this commission to them directing his speech personally to Peter Mat 16. 18 19. I say unto thee thou art Peter c. And I WILL not now do give unto thee the keyes of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven Popes and Popish writers thence conclude St. Peters and others Universal Supremacy over the whole Church and all other Apostles and Bishops whatsoever as well as Kings and Emperors I answer That these Commissions if rightly examined do neither give St. Peter nor his pretended Successors nor any Prelates or Ecclesiastical persons such an inherent Supream Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction distinct from the Regal and Temporal and incommunicable to Lay persons as is pretended For 1. Every particular person though a Lay man or private Christian hath an absolute power yea special command from Christ himself to pardon forgive and remit sins and offences committed against himself as this clause in the Lords Prayer Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespasse against us These precepts When ye pray standing forgive for if ye forgive their Trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses Forgive and you shall be forgiven Forgive one another as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you with other Scriptures demonstrate And as they may thus pardon loose and forgive so they may likewise binde or retain sinnes and trespasses against them when the parties are obstinate and impenitent This is evident by Luke 17. 3 4. If thy brother trespass against thee rebuke him and if he repent forgive him And if he trespasse against thee seven times a day and seven times in a day return unto thee saying I repent thou shalt forgive him but not without repentance Compared with 2 Thess 3. 14 15. Rom 16. 17 18. 1 Cor 5. 11 12 13 and Mat 18. 15 16 17. Moreover if thy brother trespasse against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy brother But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three Witnesses every word may be established And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the Church and if he shall neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee mark it not them as an heathen man and a publican Verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose in earth shall be loosed in heaven Therefore the self-same Commission Authority of binding and loosing upon earth is given to every private person in this Original Text by Christ as was given to Peter Mat 16. 18 19. and to all the Apostles John 20. 22 23. Hence St. Augustin resolves Cum caepisti habere fratrem tuum tanquam Publicanum Ligis illum in terra cum autem corrigeris concordaveris cum fratre tuo solvisti illum in terra Cum solveris in terra solutus erit in coelo Theophylact is yet more punctual Si tu offensum eum habes eum qui te affecit injuria sicut Publicanum Gentilem erit ille et in coelo talis Si autem solveris eum hoc est si illi condonaveris erit illi et in coelo condonatum Non enim solum quae solvunt Sacerdotes sunt soluta sed quae cunque nos et iniuria assecti vel ligamus vel solvimus et ipsa erum ligata et soluta And if every private person may thus bind and loose as well as Priests as these two Fathers together with Bishop Jewel and others resolve then much more may Kings and Supream temporal Magistrates do it in their Courts and Consistories Our Venerable Beda Peter Lombard Scotus with other Popish School-men yea their Canon Law and Canonists resolve That in the absence or want of a Priest a man may confesse his sins to his coequal or neighbout yea open his daily and lesser sins to his neighbor where there is a Priest and receive absolution from him though a Layman as well as from a Priest And that they may do so even by divine Institution is most fully demonstrated by Jam 5. 16. written to the twelve Tribes scattered abroad who are thus admonished Confesse your faults one to another not to a Pope Bishop Priest and pray for one another that ye may be healed from which Text not only many Antients but most Orthodox Protestant Divines resolve That no privat christian in point of conscience is obliged to confess his sins to a Priest any more then to another private Christian and Laymen no more obliged to confesse their sins to Priests then Priests are to confesse their sins to Laymen and that this text makes the duty of confessing their sins faults one to another reciprocal being coupled with mutual praying for one another the Bishop Priest being bound to pray for the people as well as the people for the Bishop or Priest therefore to confesse unto them as far forth as they are to confesse to him 2ly I answer That the power of binding and loosing retaining and remitting publike or scandalous sinnes is not given to Peter the Apostles Popes Bishops Priests or Ecclesiastical persons as an inherent priviledge and jurisdiction peculiar to them alone but to the whole Church and congregation to whom the right and execution thereof principally appertains This is infallibly
himself did almost despair And then induced him to use his utmost endeavours to reform them by the forecited smitings of them with the sword of the Spirit And in case of their final incorrigibility not to excommunicate interdict or anathematise them but desert them totally and by a voluntary exile to remove to some other City to exchange Rome for the World or any other part thereof which was farre better then it there to preach the Gospel and discharge his Pastoral office committed by Christ to Peter and through him to himself by seeding his sheep which he defines only to be the preaching of the Gospel to them concluding in these words Evangelizare pascere est fac opus Evangelistae et Pastoris opus implesti Upon all which considerations I hope the most zealous Pontificians will henceforth be satisfied That the Civil and Spiritual swords have not their distinction distribution nor any foundation at all on Peters single sword or the other Apostles two material swords and that the only spiritual sword belonging to Popes and the Church is not their usual Ecclesiastical Censures thunderbolts but the meer word of God incessantly preached applied in season and out of season to all sorts of sinners especially the most obdurate wherewith the City and Court of Rome are so stuffed that Popes have most reason to brandish this sword and all other swords or keyes they claim from St. Peter only there not in other Princes Bishops Diocesses and Dominions much lesse against Emperors and Kings themselves 2ly If St. Peters the Apostles Priests and Ministers commissions forecited will neither warrant support their Supream Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction challenged pretended to much lesse will their several Titles do it Before I enter upon the Positive Titles given to them in Scripture I shall desire you to take notice 1. That neither St. Peter nor any other Apostle Minister or Presbyter is ever once stiled by Christ or any Apostle in relation to his office either a King Prince Caesar Lord or the higher Powers but only earthly Kings and temporal Magistrates Alvarus Pelagius the Popes Grand Advocate doth not only ingenuously acknowledge but renders these folid reasons for it First because Kings and Lords do frequently abuse their Regal and Lordly power to tyranny and great oppression of their Subjects which Popes and Clergymen would be likewise apt to do if dignified with these Titles 2ly Because the name of a King aliquando superbum sonat and is apt to puff men up with pride and arrogance therefore inconsistent with the humility and meeknesse of Christs Disciples Ministers 3ly To put a distinction between Civil and Ecclesiastical Governors Inter spirituales temporales Reges sicut est discretio in potestatibus sic debet esse in nominibus Principes itaque seculares nomen Regis quod commune est sibi a proprietate retinent praesertim quia ante constitutionem spititualium Regum officium Regis nomen plures habuisse leguntur Principes autem spirituales aliis nominibus nuncupantur quae non fastum sed actum pietatem insinuant Et propter hoc ait Petrus Pastoribus Ecclesiae 1 Pet. 5. 2. 3. 95 Distinct Esto Neque ut Dominautes in Clero Christus dixit Discipulis Lu. 22. Reges Gentium dominatur eorum vos autem non sic Mat. 20 Yea he draws this memorable inference from hence Et secundum hoc videretur dicendum quod licet Christus sit Rex Sacerdos tamen ejus Vicarii scilicet Apostoli eorum successors non sunt Sacerdotes et Reges imo solum convenit eis potestas Sacerdotalis vel Pontificalis ex concessione Christi Si autem aliquibus eorum convent potestas Regia hoc est ex concessione Principum terrenorum sicut ex concessione Constatini habet Romanus Prontifex Imperialem potestatem Distinct 96. Constituimus Which though Alvarus prima facie grants to be rationabiliter dictum for others yet he spends several Articles to assert That the Pope is not only a spiritual but temporal King and Lord yea King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that not only Popes but even Bishops and Priests too have a power and jurisdiction above all Kings Emperors Princes in the world even to excommunicate depose and put them from their Thrones Kingdomes Empires as you heard before at large 2ly Neither Christ nor his Apostles after his Ascension in any of their Epistles or Gospels ever gave St. Peter or the Pope any of these swelling Titles now claimed or Attributed to them by their flatterers as Christs sole Viceroy his sole Vicar General on Earth sole head of the whole Catholick Church God Vice-God Christ Christs Omnipotentiary or Plenipotentiary indued with a plenituds of all power both in heaven and earth the life of the world or any of those Titles which St. Bernard by way of irony censure only gives to Pope Eugenius as others did in good earnest Age indagemus adhuc diligentius quis sis quam geras videlicet pro tempore personum in Ecclesia Dei Quis es Sacerdos magnus Summus Pontifex Tu Princeps Apostolorum tu Primatu Abel Gubernatu Noe Patriarchatu Abraham Or â—ine Melchisedech dignitate Aaron auctoritate Moyses indicatu Samuel potestate Petrus unctione Christus Tu es cui claves traditae cui over creditae sunt Sunt quidem alii coeli janitores gregum pastores Sed tu tanto gloriosius quanto differentius utrumque prae caeteris nomen haereditasti c. If none of these ambitious Titles were ever given by Christ or other Apostles to Peter himself in this magnificent mannerâ— or to any other Apostle How comes the Pope now to appropriate them to himself in Peters right who doth not own but quite disclaim them 1 Pet. 1. 1. c. 5. 1 2 3. Wherefore pretermitting them as late Papal fancies invented by Popes and their Parasites I shall proceed to St. Peters particular Scripture Titles peculiar to himself whereon Popes and their flatterers bottom his and their own pretended transcendent Supremacy The 1. is his very Sirname Peter Mat. 16. 18. I say unto thee thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church Whence they infer That Peter is not only supreme head of Christs Church but the very stock and foundation on which it is built I answer 1. That he had this very name Peter given him either before he was called by Christ to be an Apostle or at leastwise he was named Peter by Christ upon his very first calling to be his Disciple Mat. 4 18. c. 8. 14 15. Mar. 3. 16. Lu 3. 16. Lu 6. 14. Jo 1. 41 42 If then his first sirname Peter gave him no such supream Jurisdiction Lordship over all the other Apostles and whole Catholick Church as certainly it did not Christ himself being then the supream head thereof on earth for some years after This repetition or confirmation of this his former
you abundantly into THE EVERLASTING KINGDOM OF OUR LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ and our Saviours own asseverations Not every one that saith LORD LORD shall enter into the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN but he that doth the will of my father which is in heaven necessarily evince 7ly After our Saviours resurrection and ascention when God his Father highly exalted him and gave him all power both in heaven and earth his Soveraign Regality and Dominion in and over his Church and Kingdom are frequently set forth in these transcendent expressions decyphering only his Regal not Prieâ—tly or Prophetick Offices and Administrations Our Lord Jesus Christ who is the only Potentate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords the Prince of the Kings of the earth whom God the father of glory hath set at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all principalities and powers and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but in the world to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to his Church which is his body The fullnesse of him that filleth all in all Goa hath by the extraordinary greatnesse of his mighty and glorious power delivered us from the power of darknesse and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Sonne who is the first-born of every creature For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him And he is the head of the body the Church who is the beginning the first-born from the dead that in or amongâ—â— all things he might have the preeminence For it pleased the Father that in him all fullnesse should dwell Compared with his other Gospel titles Thou King of Saints and the united praises prostrations acclamations of the Angels with the four beasts and the 24. Elders and all the Saints and Redeemed ones before Christ who sitteth on the throne before whom they all fall worship and cast down their Crowns saying Worship and honour and thanks and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne for ever and ever worthy art thou O LORD to receive glory and honour for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they were and are created All these recited Texts resolve that Christ is Supream head of his Kingdom the Church not in his Priestly Propheticall capacity or office but only in his Regal and reigns in it as a King Lord not as Priest or Prophet 8ly As in the Old so in the New Testament the Church Militant as well as the Triumphant is usually stiled the Kingdom of God the Kingdom of heaven Christs Kingdom my Kingdom his Kingdom the ever lasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ a Kingdom which cannot be removed c. The very Gospel it self the Gospel word and mysteries of the Kingdom yea shall the Kingdom of God and heaven it self The mighty power of God to salvation scepter of his Kingdom His Saints shall eat drink sit reign with him in his Kingdom He sits and reigns for ever in his Church as a King on a Royal throne clothed with royal Majesty and glory His rewards are all Regal A crown of righteousness of glory thrones Inheritances in his kingdom reigning with him as Kings royal Robes Honour Glory His punishments Regal Exclusion from his kingdome everlasting death infernal chaines destruction from the presence of the LORD and from the Glory of his POWER His judging of quick and dead at his appearance and comming Yea all his administrations Regal in prescribing Lawes to his Church rescuing them from the power of Satan Hell and all other Enemies protecting them from all evils treading Satan under their feet Guarding them by his Mighty power unto salvation in his heavenly kingdom compared with this fulfilling of the procies of Christs kingdom in the Old Testament thus recorded as accomplished in in the New Rev 11. 15. There were great voyces in heaven saying The Kingdomes of this world are become the Kingdom not Church of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever Rev 12. 10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven Now is come the Kingdom of our God and the Power of his Christ 1 Cor 15. 24 25. Then cometh the end when Christ shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God the Father when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power for he must reign till he shall put down all enemies under his feet All and every of these Texts and considerations joyntly and severall demonstrate more clearly then the Morning Sunne That Christs Government of his Kingdom the Church under the Gospel is only Kingly and Monarchical as even Bellarmin himself and most Pontificians professe argue grounding the Popes Universal Monarchy upon it not Pontifical or Prophetical and that the Supreme Government thereof is for ever intirely annexed to his Regal not Priestly or Prophetical Office and these Offices of his united to his Regal Office as Supream not his Regal to his Sacerdotal or Propheticall as subordinate to them This being an unfallible Gospel-truth not hitherto so fully cleared and insisted on by the Oppugners or Asserters of Popes Universal Monarchy as was necessary which induced me to expatiate in its probation The second and sole Question will be Whether Christ himself did ever delegate by any Commission recorded in Sacred History all his Regal Power and Jurisdiction or any branch thereof to Saint Peter or any other Apostles Bishops Presbyters Evangelists or Ministers of the Gospel Or whether they or any of them ever justly claimed enjoyed exercised this his Royal Dominion Office Government in or over his Church on earth If yea as most Popes and their Parasites confidently affirm without the least shadow of Scripture or Verity let them produce the Commission or Texts to evidence it to every mans conscience in the sight of God and to all Kings Kingdoms Nations in the world If not as shall be evidenced in the ensuing Chapters past all contradiction I and they may then safely cry out mightily with a strong voyce as the Angel prophetically doth Babylon the great Rome is fallen is fallen and is become the habitation of Devils and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hatefull Bird Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her Plagues with violence shall she and her triple-crown'd Pontif be thrown down from the pinacle of her usurped super-transcendent power and shall be found no more at all Before I take leave of this Proposition to avoid mistakes and clear up the Truth it will be necessary to distinguish
universal precept to all present and future Saints and Members of the Roman Church as well Popes Prelates Priests and other Ecclesiasticks as Lay-Christians or Pagans as the Fathers resolve Let every Soul be subiect to the higher Powers not to Paul or Peter who enjoyn obedience to them acknowledged by all to be the Roman Emperors Senate though then meer Pagans not abolished nor translated to Peter by Christ himself and that upon these unanswerable reasons 1. Because there is no power but of God 2ly The power that are then in being and so not abolished by Christ but ratified are ordained and ordered by God 3ly Whosoever therefore resisteth much more then who usurp abolish as Popes and their Parasites do the power resisteth the Ordinance of God 4ly Those that resist shall receive to themselves damnation not a Papal canonization 5ly For rulers are not a terrour to good works but to evill 6ly Those that do good need not fear the Power yea they shall have praise and rewards as well as protection from the same 7ly For he is the minister of God to thee for good 8ly But if thou do that which is evil He not the Pope beareth not the sword of Justice in vain for he is the Minister of God a Revenger in God stead to execute wrath upon him that doth evil 9ly From all these premises he drawes this peremptory conclusion Wherefore ye must needs be subiect not only for wrath but also for conscience sake 10ly For for this cause pay you tribute also for they not Bishops or Priests are Gods not Saint Peters or the Popes Ministers attending continually upon this very thing 11ly From all which he thus concludes Render therefore to All Higher powers that are their Dues by Divine Evangelical right Tribute to whom Tribute is due custom to whom custom fear to whom fear honor to whom honor in the affirmative Owe nothing to any man in power as well as out but to love one another obeying them out of love not fear What now is become of St. Peters or his pretended successors Monarchy Headship over the Church or Emperor of Rome himself which St. Pauls sword hath for ever decapitated Yet some Popes and their Janizaries are so impudent as to assert it cannot be argued or inforced from this Text that the Pope Church Clergy are subject to Emperors and Kings though they pay Tribute to them as a badge of their subjection even out of their Church-lands as St. Ambrose and others confesse they ought to pay by Christs and Peters examples and that Popes Clergymen are not within these universul words Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers Surely St. Bernard was of another Judgement in his memorable Epistle to Henry Archbishop of Sienna Omnis anima inquit potestatibus sublimoribus subdita sit Si omnis et vestra Quis vos excipit a Vniverstate Si quis tentat excipere conatur decipere Nolite eorum acquiescere consiliis qui cum sint Christian Christi tamen vel sequi facta vel obsequi dictis opprobrio ducunt Ipsi sunt qui vobis dicere solent Servate vestrae sed is honorem Though they violate this expresse command of Christ and the Apostle Theodoret Bishop of Cyprus thus expounds this Text Let every Soul be subject to the higher powers whether he be any Priest or my Bishop then certainly any Pope or Popish Prelate or any Monk he must yeeld subiection to those to whom Magistracy is given Theodulus Bishop of Caelosyria concurs with him upon this reason For that the Gospel was not given for the subversion of the publike Civil Government and order St. Chrysostom Patriarch of Constantinople Romes and Popes Corrivals for precedency goes one step higher in his Exposition of this Text For All whether thou be a Priest or a Prophet or an Apostle therefore a Pope or a Monk which his next words certainly include or whosoever else thou be every one is commanded to obey these Higher Powers The like do Oecumenius Theophylact and sundry others conclude against these Papal Impostors and praevaricators of this unanswerable Text for Regal Supremacy 8ly To put this out of doubt the same St. Paul in his First Epistle to Timothy whom Popes and all Prelates assert to be the first and sole Bishop of Ephesus exhorts him that First of all supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks should be made For Kings and for all that are in Authority that We including himself and Timothy as well as other Christians may lead a quiet and peaceable life under them as all expound it in all Godlinesse relating to Gods Worship Religion and Spiritual affairs and Honesty extending to all temporal matters For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour And in his Epistle to Titus whom they repute Archbishop of Crete he gives him this express charge Put them in minde to be subiect to Principalities and Powers to obey Magistrates c. For we our selves also were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived In both which Texts he peremptorily enjoynes not only continual prayers for but also subjection and real obedience to all Civil Magistrates Principalities Powers Kings Governours as the Higher powers to which himself then submitted and obeyed since he was an Apostle of Christ though formerly disobedient to them while foolish and deceived and to which Timothy and Titus themselves submitted as well as their flocks it being a moral universal duty tending to the Churches and all Christians peace quietnesse advancement of all godlinesse honesty yea good and acceptable in the sight of God and Christ our Saviour by and for whom all Thrones Dominions principalities powers both in heaven and earth were created To evade these and other Texts Alvarus Pelagius Bartholmeus Buxiensis Johannis Thierry Panormitan Angelus de Clavasio and other Canonists blasphemously assert Quod Papa est major Paulo authoritate potest dispensare contra Apostolum Paulum in omni casu cum teneat locum Petri sit Vicarius Christi Quod potest dispensare contra Jus Divinum yea contra Novum Testamentum And if this be not sufficient Papa potest dispensare de omnibus praeceptis Veteris Novi Testamenti in some particular cases Aliter ut dicit Ricardus 4. Distinct 38 non videretur Deus fuisse bonus Pater familias nisi dimisisset Pastorem super Gregem suam qui possit consulere omnibus occurrentibus necessario expediendis Nic etiam posset dici quod Papa est generalis Commissarius Dei assumptus in plenitudine potestatis cujus contrarium determinatur 2 qu 6. c. Qui se scit 24. qu. 1. Quodcumque But these Transcendent Blasphemies and even Atheistical Delusions will satisfie no sober Christians conscience nor yet evade these and St. Peters own forecited Texts Precepts which the Pope cannot dispense with unlesse he will make the
Apostolis Recordare nunc vocis illius Sapientibus et insipientibus debitor sum Etâ—i non indebitam tibi ipsam censes hoc quoque simul memento debitoris molestum nomen servienti potius quam Dominanti congruere Servus in Evangelio audit Quantum debes Domino meo Frgo site agnoscis sapientibus insipipientibus non dominatorem sed debitorem curandum summopere tibi tota vigilantia considerandum quomodo qui non sapiunt sapiant qui sapiant non desipiant qui desipiere resipiscant c. After which he concludes with this pathetical Exclamation and interrogation O ambitio ambientium Crur quomodo omnes torquens omnibus places Nil acerbius cruci at nil molestius inquietat nil tamen apud miseros mortales celebrius negotiis ejus An non limina Apostolorum plus jam ambitio quam devotio terit An non vocibus ejus vestrum tota die resultat palatium An non questibus ejus tota Legum Canonumque disciplina insudat An non spoliis ejus omnis Italica inhiat inerplebili aviditate rapacitas Quid ita tua spiritualia studia non saltem intercidir sed occidit Quoties sancta ac facunda tua abortori ocia fecit inquietum et inquietans malum Aliud est quod ab oppressis appellatur ad te aliud autem quod Ambitie in Ecclesia per te regnare molitur Nec deesse illis nec huic aliquatinus assenrire oportet He concludes thus to our purpose after a large detection of and invective against the monstrous ambition rapine injustice of the Parasites Officers and Ministers of the Court of Rome he falls upon the more then Regal and Imperial wordly pomp of the Pope himself Inter haec tu Pastor procedis deauratus tam multa circumdarus varietate Oves quid rapiunt Si auderem dicere Demonum magis quam ovium pascua haec Scilicet Sic factitabat Petrus sic Paulus 〈◊〉 Vides omnem Ecclesiasticum zelum fervere sola pra Dignitate tuenda Honori totum datur sanctitati nihil aut parum Si causa requirent paulo â—ummissius agere ac socialius te habere temperaveris Absit inquiunt non decet tempore non congruit majestati non convenit quam geris personam attendito De placito Dei ultima mentio est pro jactura salutis nulla cunctatio Nisi quod sublime est salutare dicamus et quod gloriam redolet id justum Ita omne humite probro â—ucitur inter Palatinos ut facilius qui esse quam qui apparere humilis velit invenias Timor Dei simplicitas reputatur de dicam fâ—tuitas c. Hic hic non parco tibi ut pareat Deus Pastorem te populo huic câ—â—è aut nega aut exhibe Non negabis ne cujus sedem tenes te neget heredem Petrus hic est qui nescirur processisse aliquando vel gemmis ornatus vel seâ—icis non tectus auro non vectus equo albo nec stirpatus milite nec circumstrepentibus septus ministris Absque his tamen credidit satis posse impleri salutare mandatum Si amas me pasce oves meas In his successisti non Petro sed Constantino Thus this Canonized Roman Saint Bernard concluded long since against the Popes pretended Monarchy to Pope Eugenius himself with whom I shall cloze this branch of my 4. Proposition For the second part thereof That Jesus Christ as Supream King of his kingdom the Church-militant upon earth never delegated the Soveraign Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction over it or all the Members in it to St. Peter or any other Apostle Bishop Priest or Pope whatsoever as his Viceroyes but only the ministerial part of his Prophetical not Kingly or High Priests office of teaching and preaching the Gospel publikely to all Nations administring the Sacraments of Baptism Lords Supper according to his institution and command feeding them as his sheep with the sincere milk of his word teaching them as his Apostles Ministers Servants to obey what he hath commanded them beâ—eeching them as his Embassadors in his stead to be reconciled to God and to declare pronounce them absolved from their sins by God upon their sincere repentance and to aenounce damnation against them if they do not repent and believe in Christ I shall demonstrate the verity thereof First from the several Commissions or Precepts 2dly From the respective Titles given by Christ and the Gospel to the Apostles Peter Bishops Presbyters Ministers and their respective Offices in and as they relate to the Kingdom Church and people of God 1. For their respective Commissions I shall enumerate and examine them distinctly The first Commission given them by Christ was only to preach the Gospel and Kingdom of Heaven to the lost sheep of the House of Israel but not to the Samaritans and Gentiles without any Jurisdiction or pomp without scrâ—â— gold silver or brasse in their purses two coats or staves only as labourers worthy of their hire or meat which they were to receive from those to whom they preached Which commission imports nothing of Supream Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in it expiring before Christs passion then head on earth of his Church and equal to all the Apostles not peculiar to St. Peter The second general Grand Commission given them by Christ wherein their office principally consists after his Resurrection is thus recorded by St. Matthew and d Mark Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every Creature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved he that believeth not shall be damned Go ye and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you not what your selves without my command much lesse Popes Priests Prelates shall of their own heads prescribe That this was their principal commission charge office is further evidenced by the Apostles daily constant preaching to the people both in the Temple Synagogues and from house to house notwithstanding the High Priests and Councels inhibitions not to preach chusing rather to obey God then men By St. Pauls separation and mission to preach the Gospel the necessity laid upon him and wo that would fall on him if he did not preach it And his dreadfull charge to Timothy and in him to all Bishops and Ministers of the Gospel I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge both the quick and dead at his appearing and his kingdom Preach the Word be instant in season out of season rebuke reprove in and by the word preached exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine In all this Grand commission there is only a Ministration not the least Domination or Iurisdiction delegated to Peter or any other Apostle Evangelist Bishop Priest or Minister whatsoever Yea it is observable That Popes and Prelates of the Church who most contend for
vel solvere se noxios arbitrentur cum apud Deum non sententia Sacerdotum sed reorum vita ponderatur Alligat solvit Episcopus vel Presbyter eos qui insontes sunt vel noxii sed pro officio suo cum peccatorum audierit varietates scit qui ligandus sit qui solvendus c That is as Peter Lombard interprets it Dominus tribuit Sâ—cerditibus potestatem Ligandi Solvendi id est ostendendi hominibus Ligatos Solvendos in and by the preaching of the Gospel to them according to Christs commission He that repenteth believeth and is baptized shall be saved here is the loosing and remitting He that repenteth not nor believeth shall be damned and the wrath of God abideth on him here is the binding and retaining by the keyes of the kingdom of heaven to wit the Gospel which shuts and opens heaven gates admits or excludes inherits or disinherits them of it and is the savor of life unto life to those who believe it but the savor of death unto death to those who believe it not as is evident by Mar 16. 16. Lu 13. 3. 5. John 3. 38. c 12. 48. Rom 2. 1 to 16. 1 Cor 6. 9 10 11. 2 Cor 2. 14 15 16. c 4. 3 4. Gal 5 19 20 21. Ephes 5. 5 6. Rev 21. 8 17. c. 22. 14 15. Acts 3. 26. c 16. 30 31. 2 Cor 10. 4 5 6. Which texts do open heaven gates to all repending and believing but shut them against all unrelenting unbelieving sinners This Origen Tertullian Hierom Chrysostome Augustine and other Fathers Bishop Jewel Dr. Reynolds Bishop Vsher and most Protestant Divines prove to be the Keyes of heaven and the proper pardoning binding loosing retaining of sins in the premised commission which though peculiar to Apostles Bishops Priests and Ministers of the Gospel in respect of their publike Ministry in preaching the word and pressing the promises and threatnings of the Gospel yet it belongs to every Christian Magistrate and private Christian too in their orb who may in their respective places apply the promises of the Gospel to the consolation and absolution of private penitent Christians their own families friends neighbors and denounce the wrath and judgement of God against impenitent persons and Malefactors as Judges usually do as there is ocasion 4ly This power of binding retaining loosing and remitting sinnes with the keys of the kingdom of heaven whereby this is done were equally given to all the Apostles as farre forth as to Peter Christs words I will give to thee the keyes of the Kingdom of heaven c. being in the future not present tense giving him no actual possession of the keys kingdom of heaven til after Christs ascension then but joyntly with the rest of the Apostles John 20. 21 22 23. Yea every ordinary Minister Presbyter Priest hath as large a divine power in the Keyes as the Pope himself or the greatest Patriarch Archbishop Bishop in the world and may as absolutely fully bind loose absolve retain mens sinnes as they their Commissions being all one and the same and their power herein not judicial but meerly ministerial declaratory not definitive the absolute judicial power of shutting and opening heaven pardoning remitting retaining sins and absolving condemning sinners being peculiar to God and Christ alone as Isay 22. 22. Rev. 3. 7. Mat. 9. 5 6. Luc. 7. 48 49. John 2. 13. Rom 2. 17. resolve Origen St. Ambrose Chrysostom Augustine with others before cited Beda yea Peter Lombard Richardus De Sancto Victore confesse and Bishop Jewel Dr. Rainolds Dr. Field Bishop Usher Dr. Ames and all other Protestant Divines prove at large in their Treatises of Confession Absolution Power of the Keyes and against the Popes Supremacy Whence Alphonso de Castro concludes though a great champion for the Pope Quando absolvit simplex Sacerdos tantum adsolvit de Culpa sicut Papa Therefore if these Texts give any Supream Ecclesiastical Authority over Kings and the whole Church to St. Peter or the Pope they give the very same to every Priest Curate whatsoever and so we shall have as many Popes yea Vicars generals and Viceroyes of Christ over the Church all Christian Kings Emperors and their kingdoms as there are Priests 5ly I have long admired how any Pope or Prelate from this borrowed Metaphor of the Keyes of the Kingdom of heaven given to Peter or others can pretend to such a transcendent Soveraign Ecclesiastical Temporal Jurisdiction too as some of them claim from thence Since I never read in any Text Story That Keyes were an Emblem of Supream Iurisdiction but the Sword or Scepter only which belongs not unto Apostles Popes Prelates Priests but Kings alone And experience informs us that Porters who keep the keyes and open shut the gates of Kings Popes Bishops Noblemens Pallaces Cities Colledges Castles Courts and other publike or private Baylifs Stewards Butlers Grooms who keep the keyes of their Lords Masters Barns Butteries Sellers Stables are persons of inferiour quality void of any Supream Temporal or Ecclesiastical Authority in or over their fellow Servants much lesse over their Lords Masters to shut them out or let them in at their pleasures Therefore every of these Porters Key-keepers yea every parish Clerk who keeps the keyes of the Church Cathedral or of the Popes own pallace at Rome may as justly challenge a Supream Temporal and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction over their Kings Lords Popes Bishops Parish-Priests Parishioners Churches themselves as the Pope Priests and Prelates do from St. Peters keyes because they keep the keyes and open the doors to let them in and out of their Pallaces Churches Houses yea the Door-keepers and Turn-keyes of both Houses of Parliament may as well argue they are above the Houses Members themselves in power and jurisdiction upon the same Account as Popes above the Church Kings 6ly Popes and their flatterers to appropriate those Keyes to St. Peter and the Romish Hierarchy which Christ himself never knew nor gave them have made up a New Bundle of Keyes in their own forge which will never shut nor open the gates of heaven As first the Key of Power 2ly Of Iurisdiction 3ly Of Order 4ly Of Discretion 5ly The Keyes most principall 6ly The Keyes lesse principall 7ly The Keys of Knowledge Which though chief Bonaventura confesseth most of their Ordinary Masse Priests want being so ignorant that they are utterly voyd of all true saving knowledge of the sacred Scriptures Most of these Keyes they appropriate to the Pope originally and from him derivatively to Bishops But since they have not in all their New Bunch of Keyes The Key of Faith and knowledge of the word of God which only opens heavens gate and since the gate of heaven is very strait and but one and so needs not such a multiplicity of Keyes or pick-locks to open it
Alvarus Pelagius and other his Champions have found out an unanswerable Text to prove his Headship over the Universal Church to wit Christ tells Peter he should be called Cephas which signifyes a Head Petrus secutus est Christum non solum in genere Martyrii sed in ordine Magisterii quod Christus ostendit cum ait Tu vocaberis Cephas Licet enim Cephas secundum unam linguam interpretatur Petrus secundum alteram tamen exponitur Caput Nam sicut caput habet plenitudnem sensuum caetera vero membra partem recipiunt plenitudinis ita caeteri Sacerdotes vocati sunt in partem sollicitudinis sed Summus Pontifex he should have said Petrus rather assumptus est in plenitudinem potestatis Pope Leo the 1. thus blasphemously writes of Peter intending the Pope and himself thereby Christus Petrum in consortium individuae Trinitatis assumpsit And thence inferres Deus â Petro velut a quodam Capite dona sua velut in corpus omne diffudit To all which I answer 1. That Cephas signifieth not a Head in any Language as these wilfully mistake but only a Stone or Peter witnesse Iohn 1. 42. the text wheron they rely When Jesus beheld Simon he said thou art Simon the sonne of Jonah thou shalt be called Cephas which is by interpretation Lapis so some or Petrus so others render it and our English Translations a Stone or Peter not an head Yea the Holy Ghost himself by St. Pauls sacred pen gives him this Title of Cephas as the very same with Peter no lesse then 5 several times in his Epistles 1 Cor 1. 12. Every one of them saith I am of Paul and I of Apollo and I of Cephas where Paul and Apollo are put before Cephas as they are also 1 Cor. 3. 22. 25. Whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas c. all are yours 1 Cor. 9. 5. Have not we power to lead about a sister or wife as well as other Apostles as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas where all the other Apostles James and John are marshalled before Cephas Gal. 2. 5. And when James Cephas and John which seemed to be pillars perceived the grace that was given unto me they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision Here Cephas is recited after James and both James Cephas and John the grand pillars of the Church gave both to Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship as their equals neither claiming an absolute headship over them or the Church as Popes do now from this Title Cephas 1 Cor. 15. 5. That he was seen of Cephas after his resurrection then of the twelve here only Cephas is placed before the 12. not in point of priority of order or dignity but because he first saw Christ at his appearance after his resurrection before any of the other Apostles to comfort and strengthen his soul after his treble detestable denying of Christ Wherefore this sirname Cephas then given to Simon being one and the same with Peter and signifying not an head rock nor chief head-stone or Topstone a Title peculiar to Jesus Christ alone and Simon Peter by this very name Cephas being in four several Texts ranked after Paul Apollos James John and all the Apostles it cannot prove St Peters or the Popes headship over the Church 2ly Admit Cephas signified a head yet it doth not signifie the head of the Universal Church the head of the World the head of Bishops principalities powers which Popes must prove before they pretend thereto For 1. It is used in Scripture for the head of the natural body in a proper sence Psal 23. 5. 2 Kings 10. 6 7 8 c. 2ly Metaphorically as 1. For the Top or upper part of a pillar or base 2 Chron. 3. 16. Ps 24. 7. 2ly For the Fathers or chief men of a particular Tribe or family Exod. 6. 24 25. Numb 1. 16. c. 30. 1. Deut. 5. 23. Josh 14. 1. 2 Chron. 5. 24. c. 7. 2 7 9 11 40. c. 12. 32. 3ly For subordinate Princes Civil Governors and Rulers of the people in the Civil State Exod. 18. 25. Num. 7. 2. c. 10. 4. c. 13. 3. 25 13. Deutr. 1. 15. c. 33. 5 22. Josh 19 22. c. 21. 1. c. 22. 21 30. c. 23. 2. 1 Kings 8. 1. 1 Chron. 8. 6 10 13 18. c. 9. 13. 2 Chron. 5. 2. c. 28. 12. Mich. 3. 1. Isa 9. 14. Judg. 8. 10. c. 11. 8 9 11. 3ly For Kings and Supream Civil Governors 1 Sam. 15. 17. Jer. 22. 6. 4ly For a head city or Metropolis Isay 7. 8 9. Josh 11. 10. 5ly For an oeconemical head so the man is called the head of the Wife or woman 1 Cor. 11. 3. c. 5. 23. 6ly For a Spiritual supream head so Christ is stiled the head of the Church the head of everyman the head of the heathen the head of all principalities and powers and God the head of Christ and head over all 1 Chron 29. 11. Psal 18. 43. 1 Cor 11. 3. Eph 1. 22. c. 4. 15. c. 5. 23. Col 1. 10. 18. c. 2. 19. Ps 118. 22. Mat. 21. 42. Now that Cephas signified any of these 3. last sorts of heads the Pope must clearly demonstrate or else renounce his headship as derived from Cephas 3ly Pope Gregory the 1. resolves That Paul had the priesthood of the whole world that he being converted to Christ caput effectus est Nationum Which Chrysostom thus seconds Both land and sea and the habitation of the whole world is committed to Paul How then could Peter be the supreme head 4ly As for Pope Leo the 1. his passage seconded by Pope Nicholas That Christ hath assumed Peter into the fellowship of the individual Trinity that so God from Peter not from Christ as from an head might diffuse his gifts into all his body the Church it is a most grosse daring blasphemy derogatory to Iesus Christ his Headship Offices in the highest degree contradicted by John 1. 16. Eph. 1. 23. c. 2. 21 22. c. 4. 10 11 12. Col. 1. 18 19 20 21. befitting only such blasphemous Pontifs who stile themselves Gods and Vice-gods as well as Heads 3ly I proceed to those respective Titles Names given to all Apostles Ministers of the Gospel and their Church-offices in the New Testament neither of which imports or transferrs to them any Supream Ecclesiastical or Temporal Jurisdiction at least not such as Popes Popish Prelates Priests now claim and exercise 1. The chief and first of all those Titles both for dignity and authority is an Apostle St. Paul resolving that God hath set in his Church First Apostles and that when Christ ascended far above all heavens he gave some to be Apostles c. the first and chiefest in order as all Divines and Popes themselves acknowledge Now what doth this prime title signifie or
fortissimae vestrae clementiae principatus virtutis quidem conatibus Rempublicam Christianam tuetur et restaurat in melius c. 4ly That this Universal Synod of Constantinople in their 10 Action caused Justinians Book against Hereticks to be publikely read as of far greater Authority then any of the Fathers there alleged Item relectum est in eodem Codicillo testimonium Iustiniani piissimi Imperatoris er libro contra Nestorianos et Acephalos Item relectum est ex eodem Codicillo testimonium eiusdem sanctae memoriae Iustiniani ex dogmatica Epistola ad Zoilum sanctissimum Patriarcham Alexandriae Quae duo testimonia collata sint similiter ad librum membranaceum qui est de bibliot hec a venerabilis hujus Patriarchae 5ly That Actio 14. the whole Council stiled him 4. or 5. times one after another Iustinianus quondam divinae et divae memoriae Imperator and his Empresse as often Theodora Divae memoriae in their examination of the forgeries inserted by some Hereticks into the Acts of this Council held under him 6ly That in their acclamations to Constantin they give him this Title as a badge of his greatest honour orthodoxy and piety Novo Iustiniano aeterna memoria which they oft repeated in several Letters 7ly That Actio 18 this whole 6th General Council in their Sermo acclamatorius to the Emperor Constantine there publiquely read gave this Encomium of him Post haec Justiniano piissimo c. And Canon 1. stile him Justinianus piae memoriae 8ly That Actio 18. the Emperor Constantine himself stiles him Justinianus Divinae memoriae in his Edict ratifying this Council 9ly That Mansuetus Bishop of Millain and the whole Synod of Bishops under him in their Epistle and Confession of faith sent to the Emperor Constantine and this General Council after their commendation of Constantine Theodosius magnus and Martianus praestantissimi Christianae religionis amatores who summoned the Councils of Nice Constantinople Ephesus and Chalcâ—don give this Character of Justinian Demptis his omnibus deincâ—ps Christianissimo Iustiniano Imp cuius cum nomine et opera micuerunt existentibus quibusdam qui sanctam Chalcedonensem Synoâ—um sub naevo offensionis rejicere inconsideratis vacibus jactitabant tunc a praefato Principe iterato in regia urbe Constantinop Concilio congregati sunt 160. reverendi Patres c. sanctam immaculatam orthodoxam fidem viventibâ—s sententiis roborantes firmissimam adsertionem confirmaverunt If this whole General Council together with the Synods of Rome Millain the Emperor Constantine Pope Agatho himself and other godly Bishops gave these high Encomiums of Justinians transcendent piety orthodoxy constancy learning and knowledge within an 120. years after his decease How impudent impious injurious is Cardinal Baronius above one thousand years after to slander him for an Heretical in pious flagitious illiterat damned miscreant 10ly Pope Gregory the 1. oft stiles him Justinus piae memoriae for vertue and piety renowned and to be held in veneration by all Nations 11ly Aimonius gives Justinian this testimony Justinian was a man Fide Catholicus pietate insignis aequitatis cultor Egregius therefore all things prospered under his hand Otto Frisingensis calls him Christianissimum ac piissimum Principem qui Imperium quasi mortuum resuscitavit c. as well as the Church Gothofriâ—us Viterbiensis terms him Christianissimum Principum The whole glory of God was repaired by his vertue and peace established in the Church which remained in that stable peace which under him it enjoyed Wernerus records He was in all things most excellent for in him did concurr three things which make a Prince glorious to wit Power by which he overcame his Enemies Wisdom by which he governed the world by just Lawes and a Religious mind to Gods worship by which he glorified God and beautified Churches Tritemius assures us He was deservedly reckoned among Eccleâ—â—astical writers he expresly mentioning 3. Books which he writ in defence of the Orthodox faith against Eutiches and one against the African Bishops With whom Possevine the Jesuite concurres Adding Justinian the Emperor a religious man sent to the See Apostolick or Pope John the 3d. the Profession of his faith scriptum chirographo proprio written with his own hand testifying his great love to and care for the Christian Religion 12ly Liberatus who lived under Iustinian and was no well-wisher to him records That he writ a Book against the Acephali and Eutichian Hereticks in defence of the Council of Chalcedon Therfore Baronius his passages that he was altogether illiterate and unable so much as to read must needs be malicious forgeries 13ly Suidas stiles him A most Catholick and Orthodoxal Emperor Paulus Diaconus relates That he governed the Empire felici sorte and was a Prince for his faith Catholick in his actions upright in his judgements just therefore all things concurred to his good 14ly Sebastianus Munster registers of him He was a just and upright man ingenious in finding out matters atque haeresium maximus hostis Yea Platina gives him this testimony Iustinus his next successor was Nulla in re similis Iustiniano for he was wicked covetous ravenous a contemner both of God and man 15ly Procopius gives him this Encomium That Justinian seemed to have been ordained to the Imperial dignity by God that he might repair the whole Empire and likewise the Church of God For he built the most magnificent Church Sophia in Constantinople comparable to Solomons Temple the mirrour of all ages with 37. Stately Churches in Constantinople Antioch Ierusalem and other great Cities besides many Abbies Churches Hospitals so that Nulla satietas honorandi Deum eum cepit as Procopius relates asserts And Evagrius who being an Eutichian was most despitefull to him gives him this testimony That it is reported he restored a-new one hundred and fifty Cities either totally overthrown or utterly decayed and that he so beautified them with great Ornaments publike and private houses goodly walls sumptuous buildings and Churches ut nihil esse posset magnificentius Which yet were nothing comparable to his most wholesom Imperial Lawes abridged corrected supplied by his learned care and diligence whereby he governed both the Empire and Church 16ly His memory was so famous for Piety Zeal Iustice Wisdome Government Vertues That all the people annually celebrated the memory of Justinian with great Pomp solemnity and panegyrick Orations to his honor both in the Church of Sophia in Constantinople and in the Church of St. Iohn at Ephesus which he built And although Baronius out of malice place him in hell yet Pope Agatho and his whole Roman Council rank him among the glorious and blessed Saints in heaven St. Constantine Theodosius and Martian saying That he is a blessed Saint venerable in all ages and this Pope with the whole 6. General Council as Nicephorus records Iustinianum