of the Bishop We have proved that there was but one Bishop to a Church and one Church to a Bishop we have shewn the Bishop's Office and Function Election and Ordination what farther to add on this Head I know not For as for those other Acts which he performed jointly with his Flock we must refer them to another place till we have handled those other Matters which previously propose themselves unto us The first of which will be an Examination into the Office and Order of a Presbyter which because it will be somewhat long shall be the Subject of the following Chapter CHAP. IV. § 1. The Definition and Description of a Presbyter what he was § 2. Inferior to a Bishop in Degree § 3. But equal to a Bishop in Order § 4. The Reason why there were many Presbyters in a Church § 5. Presbyters not necessary to the Constitution of a Church § 6. When Presbyters began § 1. IT will be both needless and tedious to endeavour to prove that the Ancients generally mention Presbyters distinct from Bishops Every one I suppose will readily own and acknowledge it The great Question which hath most deplorably sharpned and sour'd the Minds of too many is what the Office and Order of a Presbyter was About this the World hath been and still is most uncharitably divided some equalize a Presbyter in every thing with a Bishop others as much debase him each according to their particular Opinions either advance or degrade him In many Controversies a middle way hath been the safest perhaps in this the Medium between the two Extremes may be the truest Whether what I am now going to say be the true 〈◊〉 of the Matter I leave to the Learned Reader to determin I may be deceived neither mine Years nor Abilities exempt me from Mistakes and Errors But this I must needs say That after the most diligent Researches and impartialest Enquiries The following Notion seems to me most plausible and most consentaneous to Truth and which with a great facility and clearness solves those Doubts and Objections which according to those other Hypotheses I know not how to answer But yet however I am not so wedded and bigotted to this Opinion but if any shall produce better and more convincing Arguments to the contrary I will not contentiously defend but readily relinquish it since I search after Truth not to promote a particular Party or Interest Now for the better Explication of this Point I shall first lay down a Definition and Description of a Presbyter and then prove the parts thereof Now the Definition of a Presbyter may be this A Person in Holy Orders having thereby an inherent Right to perform the whole Office of a Bishop but being possessed of no Place or Parish not actually discharging it without the Permission and Consent of the Bishop of a Place or Parish But lest this Definition should seem obscure I shall 〈◊〉 it by this following Instance As a Curate hath the same Mission and Power with the Minister whose Place he supplies yet being not the Minister of that place he cannot perform there any acts of his Ministerial Function without leave from the Minister thereof So a Presbyter had the same Order and Power with a Bishop whom he assisted in his Cure yet being not the Bishop or Minister of that Cure he could not there perform any parts of his Pastoral Office without the permission of the Bishop thereof So that what we generally render Bishops Priests and Deacons would be more intelligible in our Tongue if we did express it by Rectors Vicars and Deacons by Rectors understanding the Bishops and by Vicars the Presbyters the former being the actual Incumbents of a Place and the latter Curates or Assistants and so different in Degree but yet equal in Order Now this is what I understand by a Presbyter for the Confirmation of which these two things are to be proved I. That the Presbyters were the Bishops Curates and Assistants and so inferiour to them in the actual Exercise of their Ecclesiastical Commission II. That yet notwithstanding they had the same inherent Right with the Bishops and so were not of a distinct specifick Order from them Or more briefly thus 1. That the Presbyters were different from the Bishops in gradu or in degree but yet 2. They were equal to them in Ordine or in Order § 2. As to the first of these That Presbyters were but the Bishops Curates and Assistants inferiour to them in Degree or in the actual Discharge of their Ecclesiastical Commission This will appear to have been in effect already proved if we recollect what has been asserted touching the Bishop and his Office That there was but one Bishop in a Church That he usually performed all the parts of Divine Service That he was the general Disposer and Manager of all things within his Diocess there being nothing done there without his Consent and Approbation To which we may particularly add 1. That without the Bishop's leave a Presbyter could not baptize Thus saith Tertullian The Bishop hath the Right of Baptizing then the Presbyters and Deacons but yet for the Honour of the Church not without the Authority of the Bishop and to the same Effect saith Ignatius It is not lawful for any one to baptize except the Bishop permit him 2. Without the Bishop's permission a Presbyter could not administer the Lord's Supper That Eucharist says Ignatius is only valid which is performed by the Bishop or by whom he shall permit for it is not lawful for any one to celebrate the Eucharist without leave from the Bishop 3. Without the Bishops Consent a Presbyter could not preach and when he did preach he could not chuse his own Subject but discoursed on those Matters which were enjoyned him by the Bishop as the Bishop commanded Origen to preach about the Witch of Endor 4. Without the Bishop's Permission a Presbyter could not absolve Offenders therefore Cyprian severely chides some of his Presbyters because they dared in his absence without his Consent and Leave to give the Church's Peace to some offending Criminals But what need I reckon up particulars when in general there was no Ecclesiastical Office performed by the Presbyters without the Consent and Permission of the Bishop So says Ignatius Let nothing be done of Ecclesiastical Concerns without the Bishop for Whosoever doth any thing without the knowledge of the Bishop is a Worshipper of the Devil Now had the Presbyters had an equal Power in the Government of those Churches wherein they lived how could it have been impudent and usurping in them to have perform'd the particular acts of their Ecclesiastical Function without the Bishop's Leave and Consent No it was not fit or just that any one should preach or govern in a Parish without the permission of the Bishop or Pastor thereof for where Churches had been regularly formed under the Jurisdiction of their proper Bishops it
the whole Earth profess Faith in Christ then we may consider its Unity in this Sense either Negatively wherein it did not consist or Positively wherein it did consist Negatively It consisted not in an Uniformity of Rites and Customs for every particular Church was at liberty to follow its own proper Usages One Church was not obliged to observe the Rites of another but every one followed its own peculiar Customs Thus with respect to their Fast before Easter there was a great Diversity in the Observation of it in some Churches they fasted one Day in others two in some more and in others forty Hours but yet still they retained Peace and Concord the diversity of their Customs commending the Vnity of their Faith So also the Feast of Easter its self was variously celebrated The Asiatick Churches kept it on a distinct Day from the Europeans but yet still they retained Peace and Love and for the diversity of such Customs none were ever cast out of the Communion of the Church So likewise writes Firmilian That in most Provinces their Rites were varied according to the Diversities of Names and Places and that for this no one ever departed from the Peace and Vnity of the Catholick Church So that the Unity of the Church Universal consisted not in an Uniformity of Rites and Usages Neither in the next Place did it consist in an Unanimity of Consent to the Non-essential Points of Christianity but every one was lest to believe in those lesser matters as God should inform him Therefore Justin Martyr speaking of those Jewish Converts who had adhered to the Mosaical Rites says that if they did this only through their Weakness and 〈◊〉 and did not perswade other Christians to the observance of the same Judaical Customs that he would receive them into Church-fellowship and Communion Whosoever imposed on particular Churches the observance of the former of these two things or on particular Persons the belief of the latter they were esteemed not as Preservers and Maintainers but as Violaters and Breakers of the Churches Unity and Concord An Instance of the former we have in that Controversie between the Churches of the East and West touching the time when Easter was to be celebrated For when Victor Bishop of Rome had Excommunicated the 〈◊〉 Churches because they continued to observe that Feast on a different time from the Churches of the West not only the Bishops of the adverse Party but even those of his own side condemned him as rash heady and turbulent and writ several Letters about this Affair wherein as the Historian writes they most sharply censured him As for the Latter we have an instance thereof in the Controversie that was between Stephen Bishop of Rome and Cyprian Bishop of Carthage touching the Validity of Hereticks Baptism For when Stephen Anathematized Cyprian because he held the Baptism of Hereticks to be null and void other Bishops condemned Stephen as a Breaker and Disturber of the Churches Peace And amongst others Firmilian a Cappadocian Bishop vehemently accuses him as such because that he would impose upon others the Belief of such a disputable Point which says he was never wonted to be done but every Church followed their own different ways and never therefore broke the Vnity and Peace of the Catholick Church which now saith he Stephen dares to do and breaks that Peace which the ancient Bishops always preserved in mutual Love and Honour And therefore we find in the Acts of that great Council of Carthage convened to determine this matter that when Cyprian summ'd up the Debates thereof he dehorts his Fellow-Bishops from the imposing Humour and Temper of Stephen It now remains saith he that every one of us declare our Judgments concerning this matter judging no Man or removing any one from our Communion if he think otherwise than we do for let none of us make himself a Bishop of Bishops or by a Tyrannical Terror compel his Colleagues to the necessity of obeying So that the forcing a Belief in these lesser matters was Cruelty and Tyranny in the Imposers thereof who for such unreasonable Practices were look'd upon as Enemies to and Violators of the Churches Concord being the true Schismaticks inasmuch as they were the Cause of Schism and Division unto whom therefore may be applyed that Saying of Irenaeus That at the last Day Christ shall judge those who cause Schisms who are inhumane not having the fear of God but prefering their own advantage before the Unity of the Church for trivial and slight Causes rent and divide the great and glorious Body of Christ and as much as in them lies destroy it who speak Peace but wage War truly straining at a Gnat and swallowing a Camel § 3. But Positively The Unity of the Church Universal consisted in an Harmonious Assent to the Essential Articles of Religion or in an Unanimous Agreement in the Fundamentals of Faith and Doctrine Thus 〈◊〉 having recited a Creed or a short Summary of the Christian Faith not much unlike to the Aposiles Creed immediately adds The Church having received this Faith and Doctrine although dispersed through the whole World diligently preserves it as tho' she inhabited but one House and accordingly she believes these things as 〈◊〉 she had but one Soul and one Heart and consonantly preaches and teaches these things as tho' she had but one Mouth for altho' there are various Languages in the World yet the Doctrine is one and the same so that the Churches in Germany France Asia AEgypt or Lybia have not a different Faith but as the Sun is one and the same to all the Creatures of God in the whole World So the Preaching of the Word is a Light that enlightens every where and illuminates all Men that would come to the knowledge of the Truth Now this Bond of Unity was broken when there was a Recession from or a Corruption of the true Faith and Doctrine as Irenaeus speaks concerning Tatian the Father of the Encratites that as long as his Master Justin Martyr lived he held the found Faith but after his Death falling off from the Church he shaped that new Form of Doctrine This Unity of the Church in Doctrine according to Hegesippus continued till the Days of Simeon Cleopas Bishop of Jerusalem who was Martyred under Trajan but after that false Teachers prevailed such as the 〈◊〉 Marcionists 〈◊〉 and others from whom sprung false Christs false Apostles and false Prophets who by their corrupt Doctrines against God and his Christ divided the Unity of the Church So that the Unity of the Church Universal consisted in an agreement of Doctrine and the Corruption of that Doctrine was a Breach of that Unity and whoever so broke it are said to divide and separate the Unity of the Church or which is all one to be Schismaticks So Irenaeus writes that those that introduced new Doctrines did divide and separate the Unity
Diocess as also but one Church where they all usually met do not unavoidably reduce this Bishoprick to the Circumference of a modern Parish I leave every Man to judge § 10. The next Diocess to be considered is Carthage which next to Rome and Alexandria was the greatest City in the World and probably had as many Christians in it as either especially if that is true which Tertullian insinuates that the tenth part thereof was Christian for he remonstrates to Scapula the Persecuting President of that City that if he should destroy the Christians of Carthage he must root out the Tenth part thereof But yet how many soever the Christians of that Bishoprick were even some years after Tertullian's days they were no more in number than there are now in our Parishes as is evident from Scores of Passages in the Writings of Cyprian Bishop of that Church For 1. The Bishop of that Diocess could know every one therein 2. The Bishop of that Diocess was the common Curator of all the Poor therein relieving the Poor and Indigent paying of their Debts and aiding the necessitous Tradesmen with Money to set up their Trades As Cyprian when he was in his exil'd State sent Caldonius Herculanus Rogatianus and Numidicus to his Church at Carthage to pay off the Debts of the indebted Members thereof and to help those poor Mechanicks with a convenient Sum of Mony who were willing to set up their Trades If Cyprian's Diocess had consisted of scores of Parishes how many Thousand Pounds must he have expended to have paid off the Debts of all the insolvent Persons therein and to have 〈◊〉 every poor Trader with a sufficient Stock to carry on his Employment 3. All the Diocess was present when the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administred So saith Cyprian We celebrate the Sacrament the whole Brotherhood being present 4. When Celerinus was ordained Lector or Clerk by Cyprian he Read from the Pulpit so that All the People could see and hear him 5. In all Ordinations all the People were consulted and none were admitted into Holy Orders without their Approbation as is assured by Cyprian Bishop of this Diocess who tells us that it was his constant custom in all Ordinations to consult his People and with their common Counsel to weigh the merits of every Candidate of the Sacred Orders And therefore when for extraordinary Merits he advanced one to the Degree of a Lector or Clerk without first communicating it to his Diocess he writes from his Exil'd State to his whole Flock the Reason of it 6. When that See was vacant all the People met together to chuse a Bishop Whence Pontius says that Cyprian was elected Bishop of this Diocess by the favour of the people And Cyprian himself acknowledges that he was chosen by the Suffrage of all his People 7. All the People of this Diocess could meet together to send Letters to other Churches an instance whereof we have in that gratulatory Letter still extant in Cyprian which they all sent to Lucius Bishop of Rome on his Return from Exile 8. All the People were present at Church-Censures and concurred at the Excommunication of Offenders Thus Cyprian writing from his Exile to the People of this his Diocess about the Irregularities of two of his Subdeacons and one of his Acolyths and about the Schism of Felicissimus assures them that as to the former when ever it should please God to return him in Peace it should be determined by him and his Colleagues and his whole Flock And as to the latter that then likewise that should be transacted according to the Arbitrament of the People and the common Counsel of them all 9. At the Absolution of Penitents all the People were present who examined the Reality of the Offender's Repentance and if well satisfied of it consented that they should be admitted to the Churches Peace Therefore when some Presbyters in a time of Persecution had with too great 〈◊〉 and Precipitancy assoyled some of those that through the Violence of the Persecution had succumbed Cyprian writes them from his Exile an objurgatory Letter commanding them to admit no more till Peace should be restored to the Church when those Offenders should plead their Cause before all the People And touching the same matter he writes in another place to all the People of his Diocess that when it should please God to restore Peace to the Church then all those matters should be examined in their Presence and be judged by them Lastly Nothing was done in this Diocess without the Consent of the People So resolved Bishop Cyprian from the first time I was made Bishop said he I determined to do nothing without the consent of my People And accordingly when he was exil'd from his Flock he writ to the Clergy and Laity thereof that when it should please God to return him unto them all Affairs as their mutual Honour did require should be debated in common by them Now whether all these Observations do not evidently reduce the Diocess of Carthage to the same Bulk with our Parishes I leave to every one to 〈◊〉 For my part I must needs profess that I cannot imagin how all the People thereof could receive the Sacrament together assist at the Excommunication and Absolution of Offenders assemble together to elect their Bishop and do the rest of those forementioned particulars without confining this Bishoprick within the Limits of a particular Congregation § 11. As for the Diocess of Alexandria though the numbers of the Christians therein were not so many but that in the middle of the Fourth Century they could all or at least most of them meet together in one place as I might evince from the Writings of Athanasius were it not beyond my prescribed time yet in the third Century they had divided themselves into several distinct and separate Congregations which were all subjected to one Bishop as is clearly enough asserted by Dyonisius Bishop of this Church who mentions the distinct Congregations in the extremest Suburbs of the City The Reason whereof seems to be this Those Members of this Bishoprick who lived in the remotest parts of it finding it incommodious and troublesom every Lord's Day Saturday Wednesday and Friday on which days they always assembled to go to their one usual Meeting-place which was very far from their own Homes and withal being unwilling to divide themselves from their old Church and Bishop lest they should seem guilty of the detestable Sin of Schism which consisted in a Causeless Separation from their Bishop and Parish Church as shall be hereafter shewn desired their proper Bishop to give them leave for Conveniency sake to Erect near their own Habitations a Chappel of Ease which should be a Daughter-Church to the Bishops under his Jurisdiction and guided by a Presbyter of his Commission and Appointment whereat they would
must be understood of what was afterwards distinctly called Bishops and Presbyters So likewise we read in St. Timothy 1 Tim. 4. 14. of a Presbytery which in all the Writings of the Fathers for any thing I can find to the contrary perpetually signifies the Bishop and Presbyters of a particular Church or Parish And to this 〈◊〉 may add what Clemens Alexandrinus Reports of St. John that he went into the neighbouring Provinces of Ephesus Partly that he might constitute Bishops partly that he might plant new Churches and partly that he might appoint such in the number of the Clergy as should be commanded him by the Holy Ghost Where by the Word Clergy being oppos'd to Bishops and so consequently different from them must be understood either Deacons alone or which is far more probable Presbyters and Deacons CHAP. V. § 1. The Order and Office of the Deacons § 2. Subdeacons what § 3. Of Acolyths Exorcists and Lectors thro' those Offices the Bishops gradually ascended to their Episcopal Dignity § 4. Of Ordination First of Deacons § 5. Next of Presbyters 〈◊〉 Candidates for that Office presented themselves to the Presbytery of the Parish where they were Ordained § 6. By them examined about 〈◊〉 Qualifications viz. Their Age. § 7. Their Condition in the World § 8. Their Conversation § 9. And their Vnderstanding Humane Learning needful § 10. Some Inveighed against Humane Learning but condemned by Clemens Alexandrinus § 11. Those that were to be Ordain'd Presbyters generally pass'd thro' the Inferiour Offices § 12. When to be ordained propounded to the People for their Attestation § 13. Ordain'd in but not to a particular Church § 14. Ordain'd by the Imposition of Hands of the Presbytery § 15. The Conclusion of the first Particular concerning the Peculiar Acts of the Clergy § 1. NExt to the Presbyters were the Deacons concerning whose Office and Order I shall say very little since there is no great Controversie about it and had it not been to have rendred this Discourse compleat and entire I should in silence have pass'd it over Briefly therefore their original Institution as in 〈◊〉 6. 2. was to serve Tables which included these two things A looking after the Poor and an attendance at the Lord's Table As for the Care of the Poor Origen tells us that the Deacons dispensed to them the Churches Money being employed under the Bishop to inspect and relieve all the Indigent within their Diocese As for their Attendance at the Lord's Table their Office with respect to that consisted in preparing the Bread and Wine in cleansing the Sacramental Cups and other such like necessary things whence they are called by Ignatius Deacons of Meats and Cups assisting also in some places at least the Bishop or Presbyters in the Celebration of the Eucharist delivering the Elements to the Communioants They also preached of which more in another place and in the Absence of the Bishop and Presbyters baptized In a word according to the signification of their Name they were as Ignatius calls them the Churches Servants set apart on purpose to serve God and attend on their Business being constituted as Eusebius terms it for the Service of the Publick § 2. Next to the Deacons were the Subdencons who are mentioned both by Cyprian and Cornelius As the Office of the Presbyters was to assist and help the Bishops so theirs was to assist and help the Deacons And as the Presbyters were of the same Order with the Bishop so probably the Subdeacons were of the same Order with the Deacons which may be gathered from what we may suppose to have been the Origin and Rise of these Subdeacons which might be this That in no Church whatsoever was it usual to have more than Seven Deacons because that was the original Number instituted by the Apostles wherefore when any Church grew so great and numerous that this stinted Number of Deacons was not sufficient to discharge their necessary Ministrations that they might not seem to swerve from the Apostolical Example they added Assistants to the Deacons whom they called Subdeacons or Under Deacons who were employed by the Head or Chief Deacons to do those Services in their stead and room to which by their Office they were obliged But whether this be a sufficient Argument to prove the Subdeacons to be of the same Order with the Deacons I shall not determine because this Office being now antiquated it is not very pertinent to my Design I only offer it to the Consideration of the Learned who have Will and Ability to search into it § 3. Besides those forementioned Orders who were immediately consecrated to the Service of God and by him commission'd thereunto there were another sort of Ecclesiasticks who were employed about the meaner Offices of the Church such as Acolyths Exorcists and Lectors whose Offices because they are now disused except that of the Lector I shall pass over in silence reserving a Discourse of the Lector for another place only in general these were Candidates for the Ministry who by the due discharge of these meaner Employs were to give Proof of their Ability and Integrity the Bishops in those days not usually arriving per Saltum to that Dignity and Honour but commonly beginning with the most inferiour Office and so gradually proceeding thro' the others till they came to the supreme Office of all as Cornelius Bishop of Rome Did not presently leap into the Episcopal Throne but first passed thro' all the Ecclesiastical Offices gradually ascending to that Sublime Dignity The Church in those happy days by such a long Tryal and Experience using all possible Precaution and Exactness that none but fit and qualify'd Men should be admitted into those Sacred Functions and Orders which were attended with 〈◊〉 dreadful and tremendous a Charge And this now brings me in the next place to enquire into the Manner and Form of the Primitive Ordinations which I chuse to discourse of in this place since I shall find none more proper for it throughout this whole Treatise § 4. As for the various Senses and Acceptations which may be put on the Word Ordination I shall not at all meddle with them that Ordination that I shall speak of is this the Grant of a Peculiar Commission and Power which remains indelible in the Person to whom it is committed and can never be obliterated or rased out except the Person himself cause it by his Heresie Apostacy or most extremely gross and scandalous Impiety Now this sort of Ordination was conferred only upon Deacons and Presbyters or on Deacons and Bishops Presbyters and Bishops being here to be consider'd as all one as Ministers of the Church-Universal As for the Ordination of Deacons there is no great Dispute about that so I shall say no more concerning it than that we have the manner thereof at their first Institution in Acts 6. 6. which was that they were
not have so earnestly press'd him 〈◊〉 his permission as we find they did Thus then we have viewed the Members of the Spiritual Court and have proved that they were all the Members or the whole Body of the Church Clergy as well as Laity and Laity as well as Clergy 〈◊〉 one without the other but both together But now forasmuch as the People were encumbred with earthly business and it was not possible that they could constantly give their attendance and narrowly search into every thing that should be brought before them Therefore we may suppose that the Members of the Presbytery who as was said before under the Head of Ordination were to be free from all Worldly Cares and Employments were appointed as a Committee to prepare matters for the whole Court An instance whereof we meet with in Maximus Vrbanus Sidonius and some others that had joined in the Schism of Novatian who being sensible of their Fault Came into the Presbytery and desir'd the Churches Peace the Presbytery accepted of their Submission and proposed it to the whole Church who readily embraced it So that the Presbytery prepared matters for the whole Court which Court was the Supreme Tribunal within the Limits of that Parish before whom all matters that there occurred were tried and by whom all were judged only when any great and difficult points were decided 't is probable it was the custom to desire the Bishops of the neighbouring Parishes to come over and assist there in presence that so their Censures might be the freer from any imputation of Partiality or Injustice Thus when a nice Affair was to be determined at Rome Cornelius desired five Bishops to assist that so what they did might be firm and indisputable § 4. Having thus found out the Members of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal the next thing to be consider'd is the manner and Form of their Proceedings in the Exercise of their Judicial Power and Authority which by Tertullian is described to be after this manner When at their general Assemblies the other parts of Divine Worship were ended then followed Exhortations Reproofs and a Divine Censure for the Judgment is given with great weight as amongst those that are sure that God beholds what they do and this is one of the highest Preludiums and Forerunners of the Judgment to come when the Delinquent is banished from the Communion of Prayers Assemblies and all Holy Commerce Approved Elders preside there who obtained that Honour by Testimony not by Price So that when the Consistory was sat the Bishop and his assisting Presbyters here called Approved Elders but commonly the Presbytery presided and moderated all things there proposed and debated Then the Offenders if possible were actually brought before them tho' the non-appearance of the Criminals was no impediment to their Proceedings for notwithstanding they condemned them and censured them not only for those Crimes for which they were cited to appear but also for their Contumacy and Stubbornness as Cyprian writes the Proud and Obstinate are killed with the Spiritual Sword whilst they are cast out of the Church and those that are stubborn and fear not God but go off from the Church let no Man accompany But yet I say if possible the Offenders personally appeared that so their Crimes might be objected to them to which they were to plead as Cyprian says that the Lapsed were to plead their Cause before the Clergy and the whole Church Then the Court consider'd the Defendant's Plea as Cyprian writes that all things were debated in common amongst them And if the Bishop and Majority of the Court judged their Defence insufficient they were voted by their common Suffrage to be condemned and censured as Cyprian writes that whoever was excommunicated it was by the Divine Suffrages of the People The Delinquent being thus cast or found Guilty the next thing that succeeded was the formal Declaration of the Sentence of the Court which was pronounced as Tertullian intimates in that fore-quoted Passage by one of the presiding Elders that is either by the Bishop or a Presbyter Commission'd by him the manner of which Pronunciation seems also from that Passage to be thus He that passed the formal Sentence on the Criminal first began with Exhortations that is as we may reasonably suppose he exhorted the Faithful to use all diligent Care and Fear to avoid those Sins and Crimes which had brought the Offenders before them to so lamentable and fatal Condition Then followed Reproofs which were sharp Rebukes and Reprehensions to the Delinquents for their foul Miscarriages and enormous Practices setting forth the Evil Villany and Misery of them That they were provoking to God grievous to the Faithful scandalous to Religion and in fine ruining and pernicious to themselves in that it rendred them obnoxious to that Divine Censure which then immediately as the Conclusion of all he formally pronounced on them Which brings me to the Consideration of the Fourth Query viz. What the Primitive Censures were of which in the following Section § 5. Now in answer hereunto as the Church so her Arms were Spiritual her Thunderbolts 〈◊〉 in Suspensions and Excommunications in ejecting and throwing out of the Church her scandalous and rotten Members not permitting a re-induction of them till by visible signs of Repentance they had satisfied for their Crimes and Villanies Various are the Appellations that are given to the Sentence of Excommunication in the Writings of the Ancients By Dionysius Alexandrinus it is called A driving away from the Church By Tertullian A casting out from the Churches Communion and a driving from Communion By Cyprian A Separation from the Church An Ejection out of the Church A killing with the Spiritual Sword and many other such like Terms occur in the Fathers all tending to describe the Fearfulness and Misery of an Excommunicated State So tremendous was it that whosoever was in that condition was look'd upon as accursed by God and really was so by Men who esteem'd him as a Limb of Satan and a Member of the Devil shunning his Company as they did the Plague or any other infectious Disease Those says Cyprian that are Proud and fear not God but go off from the Church let no Man accompany And therefore Irenaeus speaking concerning the Hereticks who were all Excommunicated says that according to the Command of Paul we must avoid them and John forbids us so much as to wish them God speed since by so doing we communicate with their Evil Works And Tertullian in that forementioned place writes That the Delinquent was banished from the Communion of Prayers Assemblies and all holy Converse being look'd upon as one unworthy of humane Society cast out of the Church of God here and if impenitently dying in that condition as certainly excluded the Kingdom of God hereafter For as Origen writes on Matth. 18. 18. on which Text Excommunication is founded
the People might see and hear him which was called Pulpitum or a Pulpit from which Pulpit he read the Scriptures alone and not others alternatively with him it being his Office only to Read whilst the Congregation listned to him as Cyprian writes that Celerinus a Lector Read the Law and the Gospel to all the People Celerinus only read whilst all the People attended and therefore when this Duty was ended it is described only by the Lectors ceasing to Read and not by the Peoples ceasing so to do § 4. How much the Lector read at a Time is uncertain since they varied according to the Circumstances of their Condition So writes Tertullian that they Read the Scriptures according to the Quality of their present Times And to the same purpose says Justin Martyr that the Clark read until it was sufficient § 5. When the Readended then followed the Singing of Psalms So says Tertullian 〈◊〉 Scriptures are Read and Psalms Sung This was a considerable Part of the Christians Service who as Pliny writes met together before Day to sing an Hymn to Christ it being useful to elevate the Mind in Heavenly Raptures of Praise and Adoration and to raise a Pious Soul into greater Degrees of Admiration of God's Love and Bounty whence such a Soul is described by Clemens Alexandrinus to be continually Blessing Praising Singing and presenting Hymns to God the Lord of all being assisted by the Holy Spirit of God without whose Aid it was impossible to Sing either in good Rhime Tune Metre or Harmony The Christians in those Days condemned only the debauched Bacchanalian Singing and Roaring but commended the Blessing and Praising of God by Thanksgiving and Singing of Psalms Inasmuch that it was made one 〈◊〉 Distinction of a Christian As Tertullian inveighs against the Marriage of a Believing Woman with an 〈◊〉 because thereby she would be hindred from discharging the Ordinances of the Gospel amongst which he enumerates Singing of Psalms for then says he What would her Husband sing to her or What would she sing to her Husband And a little after he describes the happy Condition of that Couple who were both Christians in that they did both joyn together in and exhort one another to the vigorous Performance of God's Worship Psalms and Hymns sound between those two and they mutually excite one another who shall sing unto God best it being their daily Employment and recurring as often as they eat their Meat Thus faith Clemens Alexandrinus a good Christians Life is a continued Festival his Sacrifices are Prayers and Praises Reading of Scriptures before Meat and Singing of Psalms and Hymns at Meat Hence in their Feasts and Banquers When they drank to one another they Sung an Hymn therein blessing God for his unexpressible Gifts towards Mankind both as to their Bodies and Souls I confess indeed that most of these Quotations respect only Private Singing of Psalms and so they may seem to be somewhat alien from my purpose on which Account I should not have mentioned them but have wholly passed them over in silence had it not been to have satisfied those who hold it unlawful to Sing any Psalms at all in what manner soever for if singing in private was usual and commendable then no doubt publick Singing was so also § 6. What those Psalms or Hymns were that the Primitive Christians sung may be a Question necessary to be resolved which I take to be two-fold either such as were taken out of the Holy Scriptures and particularly out of the Book of Psalms or such as were of their own private composing So writes Tertullian that after the Celebration of the Lord's Supper Every one Sung an Hymn out of the Bible or of his own composing As for the Singing of David's Psalms the same Father particularly mentions the 133d Psalm as Sung in his Days O how good and pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together in Vnity This thou canst not easily sing unless when thou suppest with many As for the Hymns that were of Private Men's Composition it was one of the Accusations of Paulus Samosatenus the Heretical Bishop of Antioch that he abolished those Psalms which were wont to be Sung to the Honour of the Lord Jesus Christ as Novel and composed by Modern Authors and that he appointed Women on Easter Day in the middle of the Church to sing Psalms in his Praise And in the Fragment of an Anonymous Author extant in Eusebius we find the Heresie of Artemon who denied the Divinity of Christ 〈◊〉 not only by the Scriptures and the Writings of the precedent Fathers but also by the Psalms and Hymns of the Brethren which were formerly composed by them wherein they praised Christ by making him a God Such a private composed Hymn was that which Clemens Alexandrinus mentions as one commonly known among the Christians in his Days beginning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Hail Light Protreptic p. 52. § 7. As for the manner of the Primitive Singing it was in good Tune and Concent all the People bearing a part in it but whether all together or Antiphonally cannot well be determined every Country probably following its own Mode Singing only in General being commanded not the particular manner or fashion of it In a Precedent Quotation mention is made of Singing in Concent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or with Voices altogether In other Places the Alternative Method of Singing seems expresly to be used as Pliny writes That the Christians in his time met together before Day to Sing an Hymn to Christ by course or one against another And so in that forecited Passage of Tertullian What will an Vnbelieving Husband sing to a Believing Wife Or what will a Believing Wife sing to an Vnbelieving Husband § 8. As for Singing Men and Singing Women I find that Paulus Samosatenus the Heretical Bishop of Antioch abolished the old usual Hymns and appointed certain Women on Easter Day in the middle of the Church to sing Psalms in his Praise But whether these Singing Women were first Instituted by this Heretical Bishop or were before his Time I cannot tell As for Church-Musick for Organs and the like those Primitive Ages were wholly ignorant of them for it cannot rationally be conceived that in those Days of continual Persecution or Violence they could either use or preserve them all that they look'd after was to Sing in Rhyme Metre Tune and Concent to offer up unto God the Praises of their Voices Lips and Mouths which Clemens Alexandrinus thinks was Emblematized or shadowed forth by those Musical Instruments mentioned in the 150th Psalm where saith he We are commanded to praise God on the Psaltery that is on the Tongue because the Tongue is the Psaltery of the Lord and to praise him on 〈◊〉 Harp by which we must understand the Mouth and to praise him on the