Non-sequitur 6ly The Kings of England France Spain Hungary Poland Denmark Sweden Bohemia Scotland Cyprus and others have been usually anointed crowned by their own Bishops the Kings of England most frequently by the Archbishops of Canterbury yet some times by the Archbishop of York or Bishop of London or Winchester Are therefore these Bishops that crown anoint them Kings thereby intituled to be their Soveraign Lords in all Temporal and Spiritual things and advanced above all other Archbishops and Bishops in their Realms not present at their Coronation Consecration and may dispose of their Bishopricks Crowns kingdoms at their pleasures If not I hope the Roman Pontifs will from henceforth disclaim this grand Argument for their Supremacy as most false and absurd The rather because none of the Jewish high Priests Priests ever pretended to much lesse exercised such a power over any of their most impious idolatrous Kings as Popes both claimed and exercised over pious Christian Kings Emperours to their eternal infamy And because Kings are actual Kings by desent or election before their Coronations The 3d. and principal warrant from the Old Testament which Popes and their Parasites insist on for their Supream Athority over all Christian Pagan Kings and Emperors Persons Crowns Kingdoms to dispose depose root out destroy them at their wills is that Text of Jeremy 1. 10. The Lord said unto Jeremiah See I have this day set thee over the Nations and over kingdomes to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down to build and to plant Whence they thus argue Jeremiah the Priest to whom this power under the Law was given was but a Type of the Popes Christs Vicar General his absolute Dominion power under the Gospel of whom this Text was principally meant Therefore Popes may pull down root out destroy and throw down all Kings Emperors Kingdoms at their pleasures and dispose of them at their wills Thus Pope Gregory the 7th in his Confirmation of his Execration of Henry the Emperor Pope Innocent the 3d. Pope John the 22d Ostiensis Alvarus Pelagius Augustinus Triumphans Caspar Scoppius Carerius Radulfus Cupers Lelius Zecchus Bozius Marta Bellarmine and other Romanists conclude with very great Confidence from this Text. But to dismount these aspring Roman Bishops and Rooks I shall desire them to demonstrate first how Jeremiah only one of the private Priests of Anathoth not the high Priest of the Jews was in this and this alone a Type of the Pope or Peter If not then their pretences argument are false If yea then let them produce some Scripture warrant for it 2ly How Jeremiah and the high Priest too from whom they claim their power can be both Types at once of the Pope and his Papal pretended prerogatives 3ly Whether the High Priest had any such Supremacy vested in him as Jeremiah here received If not then Jeremiah was paramount him in Jurisdiction and might remove extirpate him at his pleasure as well as whole Nations Kingdoms being a Member of the Israelitish Nation and Realm and so the High Priest not Supream as they formerly argued If yea What need of any such special Commission from God to Jeremiah alone without the high Priests privity or delegation to the prejudice of his inherent high priesthood 4ly Whether this transcendent power was given only to Jeremiah as an extraordinary Prophet of God sanctifyed in and called from the womb or as he was an ordinary Priest If as an extraordinary Prophet only as the Text expresly resolves then Popes can lay no Title to it till they can prove themselves such extraordinary sanctifyed called Prophets as Jeremiah and produce the like special divine Commission to each of them from God himself as he received If as to an ordinary Priest alone then every ordinary Priest among the Jewes heretofore had and by like consequence every ordinary Masse-priest in the Church of Rome hath as absolute a Soveraign power over all Kings Emperors Nations Kingdoms of the world as the high Priest or Pope himself pretends to from this Text and then where is his sole Monarchy over them when equally and intirely divided amongst so many inferiour Priests or any Kings or Kingdoms safety 5ly Whether it extends to Kings there being not a word of Kings but only of Nations Kingdoms in this Text 6ly Whether Jeremiah by virtue of this Commission did either challenge or exercise any such Soveraign Authority over Amon Jehoiakim or Zedekiah Kings of Iudah their kingdom under whom he lived though very wicked and idolatrous by deposing them from their thrones absolving their Subjects from their allegiance and setting up other Kings in their steads If not it is infallible then this was no Commission for such a rooting out destroying pulling and throwing down as these Pontificians dream of but of far different Nature to wit only by denouncing Gods judgements against them that if they persevered in their sins God himself would root out and destroy pull and throw them down but if they repented upon his menaces he would build and plant them This God himself declared to be his only meaning even to Ieremiah himself and to us ch 19. 5. to 11. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying O House of Israel cannot I do with you as this Potter saith the Lord Behold as the clay is in the Potters hand so are ye in my hand O house of Israel At what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdom to pluck up and pull down and to destroy it If that Nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them And at what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdom to build and to plant it If it do evil in my sight that it obey not my voice then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them Now therefore go to speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying Thus saith the Lord Behold I frame evil against you and devise a devise against you return ye now every one from his evil way and make your wayes and your doings good This way of working out pulling down building up and planting Kings and kingdoms and no other he useth throughout his prophecy especially ch 25. 17. to 38. where God commands him to take the wine cup of his fury at his hand and to make all the Kings and kingdoms of the world to drink it that so they may spue and fall and rise no more and become a desolation for their sins if they repented not This was the rooting up and pulling down which Samuel exercised towards Saul the first King of Israel and his kingdom when he thus publikely menaced them But if ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be destroyed both you
Burials Penance and all manner of Divine and Ecclesiastical affairs where those who please may peruse them for their satisfaction This pious Emperor to reform all corruptions abuses in Doctrine Discipline in the Churches of France Italy Germany summoned several Councils under him being present and president in most of them Pope Leo the 3d. being distressed misit ad Carolum claves Sancti Petri Urbisque Romae vexilla alia 〈◊〉 peteâ—s ut Romanum populum Papae Sacramento fidei data subâ—iceret against their wills upon this occasion Anno 799. there was a great sedition raised at Rome against this Pope whose Opposites as he was riding in procession from his Palace of Lateran to St. Laurence Church threw him from his horse put out his eyes and cut off his tongue as they imagined leaving him naked and half dead in the Streets and afterwards thrust him into the Monastery of St. Erasmus as a prisoner whence he escaping went into France complained of this injury to Charles the Great who Anno 800. marched to Rome accompanied with this Pope where after 7. days stay calling an Assembly of the Bishops Abbots et omnem Nobilitatem Francorum et Romanorum He acquainted them that the principal cause of his comming to Rome and convening them now was De discutiendis quae objecta sunt Pontifici criminibus ejus calumniatores mortiferum ei crimen imposuerunt Rege autem hoc inquirente cum nullus esset criminis probator Pontifer assumpto Evangelii textu coram Rege et omni populo ambonem conscendit astantibusque accusatoribus invocato sanctae Trinitatis nomine jure jurando ab objectis se expurgavit c. Lo here King Charls before he was crowned Emperor sat as Supreme Judge in Rome it self examining the Crimes objected against the Pope who when witnesses failed purged himself before him and all the people by his Oath and was thereupon acquitted Immediately after by way of gratitude for his restitution to the Papacy and absolution from his objected crimes King Charls comming on Christmas day to divine Service this Pope Leo on a sudden rising from prayers Carolo nihil minus speranti as Abbas Uspergensis relates though others conceive it was by his own appointment Papa coronam imposuit et Imperatorem Romanum pronunciavit et a cuncto Romano populo acclamatum est Carolo Augusto a Deo not Papa coronato Magno et Pacifico Imperatori Romanorum vita et victoria Post quas laudes unctus ab Apostolico et antiquorum more Principum ab eo adoratur ablato Patricii nomine Imperator et Augustus appellatus est Which Mantuanus the Poet thus expresseth Imperii tandem Roma applaudente Coronam Impoâ—uâ—t Carolo tantique insignia Regni Gratia Anastatius Onuphrius Platina Stella Baronius Alvarus Pelagius Marta 〈◊〉 Schioppius Bellarmin and other Pontificians conclude from lience that the Pope is above the Emperor and may de jure dispose of Empires Kingdoms and at his pleasure translate them from one Family and Nation to another Romani Imperii 〈◊〉 Gracis per Papam ad Gallos est translata postea a Gallis ad Germanos secundum beneplacitum ejus Ita est Imperium quod antea a coelo dari creditum fuit nunc ad Papae manus devolutum Pipinum queque Caroli hujus filium illius partis Itahae regem declaravit hic Pontifex quam nec ipse nec ullus praedecessorum suorum subjicere poterant writes Balaeus and others But whosoever shall impartially consider these ensuing particulars will at first discover the falsity and absurdity of these Conclusions 1. The several Letters supplications addresses of Pope Hadrian Stephen Leo and others to Pipin Carolomannus and this King Charles to protect and desend them against Aistulphus Desiderius the Lombards Romans Exarchs and other their opposites who deposed expelled and seised upon their persons possessions from time to time who thereupon restored these Popes to yea confirmed them in their Papacy by their swords and new Charters of Donations 2ly That they submitted themselves to them as their Lords Patrons Protectors surrendred up St. Peters Keyes and the Roman Ensigns to them 3ly That the Pope Council Nobles and people of Rome granted the power of electing confirming the Pope and the Government of the See and City of Rome to this Charles and his successors 4ly That before he was crowned Emperor he sat as Judge of this Popes crimes when others refused out of fear to Judge him that after his purgation he absolved and pronounced him innocent then gave judgement of death banishment against his false accusers and persecutors beheading no lesse then 300 of them as some record 5ly That Charles by way of conquest got actual possession of Rome and Italy made himself Emperor thereof his son Pipin King of Italy and this Leo actual Pope by his own sword alone not by this Popes antecedent gift or donation who never had any precedent right in or possession of them Hence Otto Frisingensis and sundry others truly observe Qualiter Carolus assumpto Pontifice totoque populo Augustus vocatus Imperium a Gracis ad Francos transtulit Hujus virtute Regnum Francorum plurimum augmentatum est omniumque Regnorum Maximum Romanum scilicet ab Oriente ad Occidentem translatum Not by the Popes or St. Peters authority as Pontificians fancre 6ly That all this Popes Predecessors were subject to the Emperors their elections approved yea their persons judged deposed by them from time to time as the premises evidence 7ly That the people of Rome by their unanimous acclamations and assents rather elected and made Charles their Emperor then the Pope who only declared anointed crowned him Emperor ministerially as other Archbishops and Bishops crown their Kings as Cardinals Bishops crown Popes themselves not authoritatively as disposers of their Crowns Empires Kingdoms as Supream Lords thereof 8ly That this Pope together with the people of Rome and all present at Charls his Coronation cryed out That God had made and crowned him Emperor by his providences and his own victorious successes not the Pope or Romans as Carolo Augusto A DEO CORONATO c. resolves 9ly That as the High Priests and Priests anointing and crowning of David Solomon and other Kings of Judah and Jerusalem by Gods appointment under the Law gave them no Jurisdiction or superiority over their persons or Kingdoms So the Popes and Bishops annointing crowning of Emperors Kings under the Gospel warranted by no Gospel precept or president of Christ Peter or any other Apostle Bishop Priest can much lesse do it Hence Thomas Waldensis though a great Champion for the Popes and Bishops Jurisdiction and Supremacy dogmatically resolves 1. Regia potestas prima sui origine a Deo est non a Sacerdoâ—e 2. Quanquam ministerio Episcoporum Regibus imponatur Corona et insignia conferantur non est propterea dicendum Regiam illam dignitatem ortum habere a sacerdote
against his Miter he may shut them up As they are Wolves he may drive them away Quatenus Canes as they are Doggs he may put them from their office if they be defective therein and some of these he doth by Excommunication others by Deposition Thus Becanus concludes against Gods the Prophet Jeremiahs Ezechiels Christs and St Peters own Glosses and Resolutions on this Pasce oves meas metamorphosing sheep but specially Kings Emperors who are such into Doggs Wolves allegorically and the Pope the pretended Chief shepherd into both really and practically to his eternal infamy 6ly If these Commissions to Saint Peter will not evidence the Popes Supremacy over other Bishops Priests Kings and Emperors yet there is one Commission more will certainly effect and conclude it without dispute Acts 10. 10 to 17 where Peter falling into a trance saw heaven opened and a certain vessel let down unto him like a great sheet knit at four corners let down to the earth wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth therefore sheep amongst the rest and wilde beasts and creeping things and fouls of the air and there came a voyce unto him Rise Peter kill and eat But Peter said Not so Lord for I have never eaten that which was common or unclean And the voyce spake again unto him the second time What God hath clensed that call not thou common This was done thrice and the Vessel was received again into heaven Whence some Romish Parasites Janizaries conclude from Surge Petre macta manduca by their own Chymical Divinity per quod innuitur quod Petrus Praelatus fuit populis Vniversis vas autem illud orbem universum signat et universitas contentum in eo significat tam Judaeorum quam Gentilium Nationes yea some of them assert the lawfulnesse of the Popes deposing and murdering Christian Kings Princes by his assassinates from this Text. I answer first That Arise Peter kill and eat if meant of sheep is very ill coupled with Simon feed my sheep being directly contrary to his pastoral duty and office Ezech. 34 3 to 6. John 10. 1 to 6. 2ly There were no Kings Emperors nor men at all in this vessel but only four-footed beasts creeping things and fowls which God provided for the food of man and gave all men as free power to kill and eat as he did here to Peter Gen. 9 2 3 4. Levit. 11. 2 3 9. Deuter. 14. 4. How then that which is the common priviledge of all mankinde to kill and eat such beasts can be a peculiar Supremacy in Peter alone Or how Kings Emperors men can be intended or typified in or by these beasts or eaten by St. Peter like beasts fouls and creeping things to advance Peters pretended Supremacy or how Peters spurious Successors can be enabled by this Text to depose excommunicate kill and eat the flesh of Kings Emperors men whereas God himself when he first gave Commission to Noah and Mankinde to kill and eat of every beast of the earth creeping thing fowl of the air and fish of the sea prohibited them to kill or eat the flesh of any man threatning to require the blood of the life of every man at his brothers hand without making St. Peter and his Successors Canibals and Murderers yea beasts and fowls instead of men whom God only commissioned to eat the flesh of Kings Captains mighty men free and bond Rev. 19. 17 18. I cannot discern 3ly St. Peter notwithstanding this invitation not simple command did neither kill nor eat any of these beasts fowls but absolutely refused to do it whereupon they were taken up again into heaven as the Text relates How then come his pretended Successors both to kill and eat when he refused to do either and to ground their Supremacy thereon It seems they are now more hungry and voracious then St. Peter was then 4ly This whole History was no reality but a meer trance and vision wherein was a mixture of all sorts of beasts creatures as well clean as unclean by the Levitical Law which beasts and fowls Peter then conceived he might not lawfully eat Now the end of this vision was double First to instruct Peter that the Levitical Law putting a difference between unclean and clean beasts was then totally abolished and all of them to be freely eaten by Jews as well as Gentiles 2. That the Gentiles were now as holy and dear unto God as the Jewes Christ having broken down the wall of partition that was between them as the sequel of that Chapter and Peter himself relates chap 11. Now how this vision only to inform and instruct St. Peters judgement in these two particulars can give him or the Pope such a Soveraign Jurisdiction as they by head and shoulders deduce from it let all rational men resolve The 7th Commission the Pontificians have found out given by Christ to Peter is that of Matth. 21. 2 3. Then sent Jesus two Disciples whereof the Romanists averr Peter to be one saying unto them Go ye into the village over against you and straight way ye shall find an Ass tied and a colt with her Loose them and bring them unto me And if any say ought unto you ye shall say the Lord hath need of them and straightway they will send them And the Disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them From whence they inferr that the Pope hath power to bind loose excommunicate and depose Kings Emperors absolve their Subjects from their Allegiance and take away their Crowns kingdoms from them when he their Lord hath need of them as he did King Johns and others as Peter did thus loose and take away the Ass Colt and bring them unto Christ I Answer First That it appears not by any story that Peter was one of those two Disciples that loosed and brought away this Asse and Colt to Christ 2ly Admit he was yet he had another disciple equally joyned with him in Commission which destroyes his sole Monarchy and Supremacy 3ly They went not about this errand till Christ gave them a special Commission for it But Popes run in a quite contrary errand to depose Kings and Emperors before they are sent by Christ yea against his expresse inhibition 4ly They did not take them away without the owners consent but with it as the words straightway they will send them imply Whereas Popes depose and take away Kings and Emperors Crowns kingdoms and absolve their Subjects from their Allegiance against their wils 5ly Christ did not send them to take away the propriety but only to borrow the use of this Asse and Colt at this very instant not the Crowns Scepters or kingdoms of Kings and that only for his necessary use for a few hours even then when he rode like a King in greatest trimph he ever used on earth into Jerusalem and then sent them back Popes do not borrow but forcibly seise detain not the Asses or
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
nostro haeresim facere ac gregem Christi lacerare ac vastare tentaverit subveniant caeteri ut Episcopatum quoque ipsum unum et indivisum probemus they being all both Bishops and Priests ejusdem merito ejusdem Sacerdotii Apostolus perspicue docens eosdem esse Presbyteros quos Episcopos Idem ergo est Presbyter qui Episcopus c. as St. Hierom and most antient Commentators after him on 1 Tim. 2. Tit. 1. assert which our learned Bishop Jewel Dr. Raynolds Dr. Whitaker Dr. Field Dr. Willet Dr. Ames and sundry other Writers have at large asserted against the Popes pretended Supremacy over all other Bishops Presbyters and the Catholick Church and Gersomus Bucerus David Blondellus with many more have demonstrated in peculiar Treatises against the Vsurpations of Patriarchs Archbishops Bishops over Ordinary Presbyters Priests Ministers People by a pretended Divine Right not derived from Christian Kings or Princes from whom alone all their Episcopal Jurisdiction and Courts are or ought to be derived as the Statutes of 37 H 8. c. 17. 1 E. 6. cap. 2. and other Acts resolve The 6th Gospel Title given to them is that of Elder or Presbyter 1 Tim. 5. 1. 19. 1 Pet. 5. 1 2. 2 John 1. 3. John 1. Tit. 1. 5. Jam. 5. 14. Rev. 4. 10. Acts 10. 17. c. 15. 2 4 6 22 23. c. 16. 4. Acts 21. 18. c. 23. 14. Which being the same in substance with that of Bishop hath no supream Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction but only a directive not coercive Authority or dominion included in it as St. Peter resolves 1 Pet. 5. 1 2 3. The 7th Title given them is that of Embassadors for Christ to whom he hath committed the word of reconciliation beseeching men as if God did intreat them by their Embassy to be reconciled to God who hath made Christ to be sinne for us who had no sinne that we might be made the righteousnesse of God by him But this supplicatory Office carrying no Jurisdiction but beseechings and intreatings along with it derives no Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction at all much lesse Supream to any who enjoy it and it s the same in substance with the Title of an Apostle The 8th Title is that of a Minister a Minister of God a Minister of Christ a Minister of the Gospel by whom we believe given to Apostles Bishops Elders and all other dispensers of the Gospel Acts 26. 16. Rom. 15. 16. Ephes 3. 7. c. 6. 21 1 Cor. 3. 5. c. 4. 1. 2 Cor. 3. 6. c. 6. 4. c. 11. 23. Col. 1. 7 23 25. c. 4. 7. 1 Thes 3. 2. 1 Tim 4. 6. Whence the office is stiled a Ministry Ministration and Ministring 2 Cor. 3. 7 8 9. c. 4. 1. c. 5. 18. c. 6. 3. c. 9. 13. Rom 12. 17. Eph. 4. 12. Col. 4. 17. 1 Tim 1. 12. 2 Tim. 4. 5 11. Hebr 8. 6. Now as this Title was attributed to the Priests Levites and others in the Old Testament without any Jurisdiction Ezra 7. 24. c. 8. 17. Ps 103. 21. Ps 104. 4. Isay 61. 6. Jer. 33. 21. Ezech 44. 11. c. 45. 4 5. c. 46. 24. Joel 1. 9 13. c. 2. 17. Heb 8. 2. So it signifies nothing but a servant and their office but a meer service without the least appurtinent of Jurisdiction Soveraignty Power Dominion over those to whom they are Ministers as is evident by Matth 20. 16. Mar. 10. 43. Luke 4. 20. Acts 13. 5. Exod 24. 13. 2 Cor. 3. 4. c. 9. 1. Heb 1. 14. 1 Pet. 4. 11. Ezech. 44. 11. 15 16 17. 27. and sundry other Texts The 9th Title is the same in effect with that of Minister to wit A Servant of Jesus Christ servants of the Church their servants for Jesus sake Pauls usual stile in his Epistles and Peters and Judes in their Epistles Now as this Title is usually given throughout the Scrpture to every Christian servant and other Ministers of the lowest rank so it imports only inferiority and subjection to their Lords and Masters not Soveraignty or Jurisdiction inconsistent in and with a servant Mat 20. 27 John 13. 16. Mat. 24. 50. c. 25. 21. Pope Gregory the 1. being the most humble was the first Pope who out of humility stiled himself not only a Servant but Servus servorum Dei in all his Letters by whose example other succeeding Popes gave themselves this Title of humility which was inserted into their antient Lawes and Decrees but not in their new as Alvarus Pelagius observes who informs us That the Pope stiles himself thus because he is the servant of Peter and Paul and that he is called a Servant 1. Because he makes himself the servant of all like Paul that he might gain all 2ly Propter laborem sollicitudinem quam sustinet pro omnibus sicut Servus 3ly Quia sicut per Servum acquiritur Domino sic per Papam cuilibet Ecclesiae potest acquiri But this Servus servorum is now asserted to be Rex Regum Dominus Dominorum And that which St. Bernard thus decried Absit à te Nunquid hoc quia Summus Pontifex ideo summus hoc enim illorum est qui dignitates virtutes putant Augustis relinquito illam sententiam aliisque qui divinis coli honoribus non timent viz. Nabuchodonosor Alexandro Anticho Herodi is now become the Popes usual darling Title which occasioned these two Verses Servierant tibi Roma prius Domini Dominorum Servorum servi NUNC TIBI SUNT DOMINI The 10th Title is Stewards and dispensers of the mysteries and manifold graces of God and their office is stiled a Stewardship to give the houshold and their fellow servants their meat in due season not to beat abuse domineer over or enslave them Now a Steward being but a servant imports not the least dram of Jurisdiction or Dominion The 11th is that of Priest which Protestants allow of as a contract of Presbyter but utterly disallow as used by the Church of Rome for a sacrificing Priest unlesse in respect of such spiritual sacrifices of Prayer Prayse Alms offring up our own souls and bodies to God Now this Title in this spiritual sence is common to every Christian as well as to Popes Bishops and Presbyters Witnesse 1 Pet. 2. 9. But ye are a chosen generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation c. as all the Elect and Saints of God are there stiled Rev. 1. 4. 7. where St. John writes thus to the 7. Churches in Asia Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his bloud and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God his Father Rev. 5. 9 10. Those whom Christ had redeemed with his bloud out of every tongue language Nation sing this New song unto him that sits on the throne Thou art worthy c. For thou hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests Rev. 20. 6. Blessed and
glorioso Eringii Regis jussu in the first year of his reign whereto he summoned Omnes in commune religiosos Provinciarum Rectores Clarissimorum ordinum totius Hispaniae illustres aulae regiae viros who sate and voted therein as well as his Bishops In the beginning of this Council the King making a short pious Oration to them declaring how destructive all sins were to Kingdoms if not corrected by severe Laws and how much true faith and piety did advance secure honor both Kings and Kingdoms with his desire to consecrate the beginning of his reign to God by promoting the one and suppressing the other He delivered them a writing containing the sum of what he desired to settle in this Council with these expressions Ecce in brevi complexa vel exarata devotionis meae negotia in hujus tomo complicationis agnoscenda perlegite perlecta discutite discussa elimatis discretis titulorum sententiis definite ut pura et placens Deo vestrarum definitionum valitura discretio regni nostri primordia decoret exhortatione justitiae errores plebium digna cohibeat severitatis censura Whereupon they receiving the writing inserted into the Acts of this Council pursued it accordingly in their proceedings First they began with a publique Confession of their faith agreeable to that of Nice former Councils After which they added 13 Chapters more The 1. whereof declares and confirms the Kings just Title to the Crown prohibiting from thenceforth all attempts against his Title or Government by word or deed the other Canons concern the Jews Religion and Ecclesiastical affaires which they clozed with a devout prayer for the King regnare feliciter habere de clementia fructum obtinere de justitia proemium de pietate trophaeum c. the Bishops and Nobles too subscribing them This King afterwards ratified them by his royal Decree signed with his own hand commanding them not to be contemned omitted violated subverted by any but punctually inviolably and perpetually observed by all his Subjects under pain of excommunication confiscation of the tenth part of their goods who had any and fifty stripes with perpetual infamy to be inflicted on such who had no goods to forfeit The 13. Council of Toledo was summoned by the same King Eringius consisting of all his Nobles and Great Officers as well as Bishops to whom he made a pious short speech and then delivered them a writing containing in grosse the things he called them to consult of and to digest into particular Titles which they accordingly pursued the first part of them concerned the forfeiture and confiscations of his Subjects and the Nobility the later Church affairs All these Councils of Toledo were like our antient Saxon Councils consisting of the Nobility and Clergy and enacting temporal as well as Ecclesiastical Lawes which the King confirmed by his Subscription and Edicts They began with a Confession of faith because Praeconabile fignum est illis semper negotiis interesse quae a pietate incipiunt per pietatis viscera temperantur Pietas enim ut ait Apostolus ad omnia utilis est Constantinus Pogonatus the Emperor by his Divales jussiones or Imperial Edicts ad venerabilem Clerum populum foelicissimum exercitum Romanae Civitatis concessit Vt persona qui electus fuerit ad sedem Apostolicam è vestigio absque tarditate Pontifex ordinaretur When as he could not be installed before that time till the Emperor or his Exarch in Italy had given his Imperial assent to his election Anno 685. Pope John the 5. received the Emperor Justinian the 2d his Edictum confirmans sextam Sanctam Synodum alias divales jussiones concerning several annual rents and payments due to the Emperor from the Church of Rome which he mitigated because Ecclesia Romana annue minime exurgebat persolvere This Pope yielded all ready obedience to the Emperor as his Soveraign Lord. Conon being elected Pope after Johns death by the joynt consent of the Clergy Army and people of Rome who were at first divided the Clergy electing Peter and the Army Theodorus a Priest they all ut mos est sent their instrument of his election subscribed with their hands by some of the Clergy and people to Theodorus the Exarch for his approbation without which he had not been admitted to the Papacy Where this Pope received Divalem jussionem Domini Justiniani Principis for confirmation of the 6. General Synod of Constantinople held by his Father quam Synodum permisit ejus pietas illis palam inconcussam perenniter custodire conservare After the death of Conon the Clergy and People of Rome being divided in their election of a Pope one part chusing Theodorus another Paschal both obstinately maintaining their parties at last the greater part of the Souldiers and Clergy elected Sergius in sacrosanctum palatium exinde in Lateranense Episcopium deduxerunt whereupon Theodorus gave over his pretence and submitted to Sergius his election but Paschal would by no means do it till enforced at last volens nolens sending privily to John Platyn the Exarch of Ravenna to come to Rome with his Judges whither he marched very privately who forced Sergius to give him not only divers Ornaments antienly hanging before St. Peters Altar but also One hundred pounds weight of gold to confirm his election and purchase his peace If Popes were thus subject to the Emperors Exarchs and chief Officers in Italy much more then to the Emperors themselves The Emperor Justinian An. 710. commanded Theudor his General to apprehend Felix Archbishop of Ravenna and send him prisoner to Constantinople for his offences which being accordingly executed he had his eyes put out and was afterwards banished into Pontica At which time this Emperor sent an Imperial Edict to Pope Constantine per quam jussit eum ad regiam ascendere urbem Constantinople qui jussis Imperialibus attemperans illico navigia fecit parari and went to Constantinople the Emperor being then at Nice commanded him to meet him at Nicomedia which he did where the next Lords day he said Masse and administred the Communion to the Emperor The Emperor there renewing all the Priviledges of the Church gave this Pope leave to return again to Rome After which Anastatius the Emperor sent a second Edict by the Exarch of Italy to Rome per quam verae se orthodoxa fidei praedicatorem sancti Sexti Concilii confessorem esse omnibus declaravit The Emperor Leo Isaurus in the 9th year of his reign published a Decree against Images Ut nulla Imago cujustibet Sancti aut Martyris aut Angeli ubicunque haberetur maledicta enim omnia asserebat sending word to Rome to Pope Gregory the 2d Si acquiesceret in hoc Pontifex gratiam Imperatoris haberet Si et hoc fieri praepediret a suo gradu decideret that