Elders and Bishops so commonlie called therefore this whole matter seemeth inuolued in more darke and thicke mistes of obscuritie vnto such as are not expert in searching out hidden and vnknowen histories in the acts and monuments of the Apostles For by reason of the interchangeable communitie of names they think not that there is any difference or conceiue not what it is between those distinct persons which are called by names not distinct As for exemple this name Apostle would haue deceiued him fowly that should haue gone about to haue equaled all of this name with the twelue Apostles so stands the case also with the name of Bishops for that it is in danger to deceiue if it doe not daungerouslly deceiue those which indistinctly apply that one name to the two degrees of Elders Wherfore they must know that the same name is not alwaies of the same nature and many times one word is significant as well for the general as the particuler And this must we conceiue of this word Elder that in the capacity of his signification are indifferently intertained all degrees of Pastors so that the Apostles themselues may generally be called Elders when as properly the lowest degree of Pastors is best knowen and most fitly called by that name Besides all this there is in many wordes an Etimology or proper interpretation according to the which also it so falleth out that many times diuerse names haue the same vse by which meanes not onely Elders but Apostles also may be deriued into the same name of Bishops This may very easily bee exemplified in ciuill things and names where we may wel perceiue the like vse of no lesse titles as Dukes Earles Knights Lordes and Barons all which titles are giuen to many which differ much in honour and dignitie neither is it any new or insolent thing for one mightie King to haue many meaner Kinges vnder him of his name but not of his power The like wee may say of Dukes who haue also vnder them other Dukes of whome they receiue due fealtie and homage and some Earls also as the Count Palatine of Rhene Flanders are Lords also ouer other Earles What should I speake of Knights Lords Barons which vnder the same titles haue not the same tipe of honor or autority He would be laughed to scorne of very children for his labour that should inferre an equality of their callings from the qualitie of that they are called I but will some say there is not that reason of the Ecclesiasticke ministerie and the ciuill policy I also tell them that I doe not compare office with office but name with name that all the world may see how childish a reason it is for the community of names and titles to take away the diuersity of things persons Albeit there be some new writers of this age who hold opinion that the presidency of on ouer many elders is to be abolished as a thing that hath preuailed in the church of custom vpon the curtesie of mē only that against the groūded verity of gods sacred constitution yet for al that the vniuersal consent of alchurches in the world consorting with gods word shal further with me then the opinion male-content of the heretik Aerius or the misconceited iudgement of Hierome alone hauing lost himselfe in the ambiguity of doutful words not foūd out the antiquity of the first age of the church For this is manifest out of the word of God that in the time of Iohn the Apostle those 7. Cathedral Churches of Asia had their seuen Bishops and they imposed ouer them by a certaine diuine not any humaine ordinaunce For when as the holie Ghost there conceileth nothing in the which either the Angels themselues or they which were vnder there gouernement had offended he would neuer haue passed ouer without iust reprehension so insolent and ambitious an innouation for so it seemeth vnto some as then but newly subborned and boldly brought forth into the church of God and that confronting the flat ordinaunce of God himselfe No doubt those so famous and renowmed Churches had many Elders and happely a colledge of Elders and yet the defaults of those churches were not laid vppon the many Elders but hee calleth vpon the seuerall and principall Elder of euery particular church whose autority in the church gouernment vnlesse it had bene somewhat more then ordinarie they alone should neuer haue borne the blame of that function not well performed A certaine writer of this age goeth about to defend or at least to excuse this heresie or error if you had so rather of Aerius but his reasons with the which hee would doe it are so slanderous scandalous and reprochfull against the councels and against the fathers as of truth I am altogether ashamed of them Aerius like a good honest fellowe is excused the fathers poore soules or openly accused of no small faults ambition and tyranny who seeing he bringeth nothing woorth any thing besides that we haue before touched out of Hierome I will not vouchsafe his cauils the confuting How much more christian-like modestly hath that most famous man and thrise reuerend father Zanchius neuer sufficiently renowmed for his rare learning and religion how much more like a good christian hath he written in his Confession what hee thought concerning the controuersie These are his wordes My faith is grounded chiefly and simply vpon the word of God and then somewhat also vpon the common consent of the whole Catholike Church if so bee it repugne not the sacred writ For I doe beleeue that what things were concluded and receiued of the holie Fathers assembled in the name of the Lord by a common consent of all without anie contradiction to the holie scriptures that those things also althogh not of like authoritie with the scripture are of the holy Ghost Hence it commeth that whatsoeuer things are of this sort I nor will nor dare with a safe conscience disallow them But what one thing is more certaine out of histories out of Councels out of the writings of all the Fathers then that those orders of Ministers of the which we haue spoken were receyued and established in the Church by the common consent of the whole Christian common-wealth And who am I that what the whole Church hath allowed I alone should disallowe Neither yet haue all the learned men of our time dared to disallow them for that indeed they knew that both these things were lawfull in the Church also that they all were ordeined and performed of a godly religion and to good ends for the good of the elect Besides that reason was I should haue regard of those Churches also the which although they haue imbraced the Gospell yet they retaine their Bishops both in deed and name And what shall wee say of the Churches of the Protestants also where they want not their Bishops and Arch-bishops in deed whom hauing cast their good Greeke names
which neyther ciuill Magistrate was ordayned more then ordinary nor nouell Priesthood Did not the Priests themselues which before were defiled with foule Idolatry purify the Temple the people and thēselues together from foule Idolatry And at this day if the Bishops of the French Churches would redeeme themselues from the Popes tiranny and sweepe theyr Churches cleane of all error and Idolatry what need should they haue of any other calling then that which they haue The like I affirme of all other Churches in what part of the world soeuer which through the iniquity of these dayes and the subtilty of the ennemy are inuolued and ouercast with the most daungerous mists of error and ignorance If they please to send for our Countreymen and vse theyr counsel they may but if otherwise they will not they are to vsurpe no authority ouer theyr Churches but rather to reioyce and congratulate with them for theyr conuersion making profer vnto them of theyr company and theyr countenance Of the twelue Apostles Chap. III. THe twelue which were the first preachers of the Gospell were chosen of the Lorde himselfe With them he deyned familiarly to conuerse and friendly to acquaint with all his counsels which according to the time they were capiable of that afterwards they might the better testify of those thinges which they both saw heard Theyr first prouince extended not it selfe beyond the confines of Iewry for they were then forbidden to goe into the way of the Samaritanes or to enter into the streetes of the Gentiles And in this theyr first circuit the Lord vnto the office of preaching ioyned the power of Baptisme and the working of miracles But so long as no end was imposed vnto the ceremonies of the olde Church neyther yet the order of Aarons priesthood was abrogated they founded no particular Churches but retained company and communion with the rest of the Iewes in such things as concerned the seruice of God But what the peculiar office of the Apostles was is easely vnderstood by the commaunds which our Sauiour gaue them after his resurrection and also by those promises which he made in Iohn concerning the comforter which he would send them after his ascention In the last of Mathew these are the words of our Sauiour to his Disciples Al power saith he is giuen to me in Heauen and in earth Goe therefore and teach al nations baptising them in the name of the Father and the Sonne and the holy Ghost Teaching them to obserue al things what so euer I haue commaunded you And behold I am with you vntill the end of the world In which words the chiefe parts of theyr Apostolique function are thus to be discerned The first is that Legacy which is immediatly giuen them of God vnto all nations and not restrayned within any limitte an other is the publication of that doctrine which they receiued of the Lord the third is the administration of those Sacraments which were instituted of God the last is the protestation of that especiall aide which albeit generally it concern the whole church yet particularly it respecteth the Apostles them selues Likewise in the fourteenth and sixteenth of Iohn the gift of the holy Ghost is promised vnto them for the better performance of their Apostolike function And that was it which did so moderate theyr tongue and theyr talk as that they should vtter no doctrine of theyr owne but of theyr maister Christ And albeit the commission of teaching with the power of working miracles were graunted out vnto others also yet this alwaies remayned proper to the Apostles and intire to theyr calling that theyr onely doctrine was a paragon and a patterne by the which al others doctrine was to be tried And also that they alone in the beginnings of the Church conferred the holy Ghost vnder a visible signe by the laying on of handes as it is in the eight of the Actes and the seuenteenth verse Wherefore as Moyses had God the first author of the law so was it requisit the Apostles should haue the same ground of theyr cōsecration that the foundation of the Church might be layd sure and indefeyseble As for the authority of the Apostles among themselues it was one and the same and theyr honour alike there was no ods between them but that which eyther gifts or grauity did make And albeit Peter be euery where called the first yet was that primacy in the order only of his vocation not in the preheminence of his commission For if so bee that out of those words of the Lord Thou art Peter and vppon this rocke will I builde my Church and such other like the Apostles had conceyued any especiall authority committed to Peter they would neuer haue moued the question twise after that which of them should seeme the greatest And albeit the Lord vouchsafed Peter Iames and Iohn the participation of some greater secrets yet notwithstanding he bare himselfe so indifferently towardes them all in the donation of any especiall place as that themselues could not tell among themselues whome to prefer before his fellow But from this degree of Apostolique dignity Iudas through his treasonable and sacriligious auarice fell and into his place was Mathias inuested after the ascention of Christ and last of al other was Paul also ascribed into this holy society after a right wonderfull and miraculous manner Of the seuenty Disciples Chap. IIII. ALbeit Paul for honour sake haue placed Prophets in the second place yet notwithstanding vppon iust occasion I haue domised them to the third For that I am here to obserue not the honour but the order of theyr calling and to take them as they fall not in regard of the preheminence of theyr titles but in respect of the priority of those times in the which they were called in the new Testament Wherefore when as the Lorde perceiued that for the smalnes of the time the Haruest was great and for the greatnes of the Haruest the laborers were but few he elected seuenty other Disciples to preache the Gospell and to publish the glad tidings of peace Vnto whome albeit he gaue the power of miracles also no lesse priuiledge then had before the twelue Apostles to bee honored of them vnto whom they preached yet notwithstāding he vnited them not together with the Apostles to make of them al one order or society For yee shall alwayes read that the twelue were euer seperate from the seuenty Who in this regard seemed inferiour to the Apostles For why they were not in ordinary with the Lord as were the Apostles so that they could not be witnesses of such things as he dyd and sayd If there were any any more familiar then the rest they were but few namely two Iosephe surnamed the iust and Mathias of the which one God being gouernor of the lottery was inuested into the place of Iudas Barnabas also was appoynted Apostle-like to discourse through diuerse countryes and to plant certaine Churches who
those which had an extrordinary vocation from God immediat and not from men so by these two last names of Doctors and Pastors whether wee take them as both one or otherwise hee seemeth to vnderstand those which by men were preferred to the Church And that Bishops and Elders are those whome Paul calleth Pastors it sufficiently appeareth by that in the twentith Chapter of the Actes where Paul intertaining the Elders hee had sent for from Ephesus telleth them that they were appointed of god Bishops to feede the Church And thereuppon wee also acknowledge no Elder or Bishop in the Church of Christ that is not a Pastor or feeder For it is in the essence of an Elder his office with wholesome doctrine to feed the flocke of Christ Presbyter is a Greeke word and aunswereth to that which the Hebrewes call Zachen which signifyeth not onely an Elder in yeares who for his age is to be reuerenced but also an auncient in the common wealth who for his place and authority is to be honored yea it is a title of honour with the which the Nobles and Magistrates of the old Testament are graced from whence also it is deriued to the Rectors of the Church in the new Testament who are called Bishops by reason of their ouersight and watchfull care which is a title of work labor but the name of Pastor is a title declaring a speciall charge office so called of feeding the Lords flock with the Angel-like food of his heauenly word Albeit ther are many other titles also common to the said Pastors in the Scriptures as that they are called Stewards Presidents Prelats Guids Gouernors Ministers and such like The vertue property of which titles I will not here stand to explaine it is that you may haue else where Only I will enforce from thence such arguments as the occasion shall serue and the matter which I handle shall require In the meane time you shall vnderstande that the office of these Pastors and doctors albeit ordained of men doth not differ in kinde from that of the Apostles For the chiefe part of them both is to instruct exhort reprehend and refell the aduersaryes of the truth Besides the administration of the Sacraments a thing no lesse pertaining to Pastors then Apostles Neyther is a Pastorall ouersight disiusticed of that Apostolick authority of Ecclesiastical censure which remayneth and is requisite for the edifying of the Church For why they succeede that I may vse Hierome hys owne wordes the Apostolique order and in another place It is no easy matter to stand in Paul his place or to mayntaine the dignity of Peter now raigning with Christ Of two diueas degrees of Pastors Chap. X. BVt now for as much as there is not the same or the like proportion of charge committed to all Elders there is also no smal difference among those whom the Scripture calleth by the same name of Bishops and Elders The which seeing it must be discerned rather by themselues as they are in deede then by their names as they are called let vs alwayes chiefely regard what they are then what they are called that we may truely distinguish betweene thinges that differ not so much in name as in nature The first Elders therefore whome the Apostles ordayned were theyr fellow-laborers in the Lord his vineyard as Iohn Marke Titus Luke Timo hy Demas Siluanns and many others of whō we read in the Scriptures Al the which by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery were created Ministers no otherwise then the rest who afterwards were placed ouer their seuerall Churches Notwithstanding that which wee read of Timothy wee conceyue of the rest and therefore that charge which was giuen vnto these was rather prouinciall then particular seeing they were the associats and assistants of the Apostles themselues But when as daily the number of the faithfull increased and the increase of Churches was thereby more and more aduaunced together as supply could be made of able men for the Ministerie the Apostles and Euangelistes or their associates installed into particular Churches particular Pastors who beeing placed in their wardes as it were should not range at large from thence but vnder the Apostles as faithfull Pastors should keep watch and ward ouer the vineyard of the Lorde And yet they were not so inuested into those their seuerall charges that the sole and whole authoritie being demised to them they should rule the Church alone and the charge thereof should thence-forth concerne the Apostles no more but to this ende were they so disposed that seeing the Apostles themselues could not bee alwaies resident in euery place there might notwithstanding by their good meanes be nothing wanting in anie place If twelue men could haue beene suffising for all Churches there should neuer haue beene leuied any newe increase of other seuentie But when they altogether could not serue to serue the turne both these and they both had need of more abettors to helpe them out withall And albeit the Ministerie of the Gospell vnder Christ be onely one as the priest-hood of the law vnder Moses was one yet notwithstanding as in one priest-hood there were diuers degrees of gouernement so likewise in one Ministerie of the Gospell there are as you haue heard diuers degrees of Pastors For haue you not seene how of the Lorde himselfe there were two degrees of Ministers ordeined of them the one was superior to the other How afterwards of the Apostles there were in like manner ordeyned two orders for to some they gaue in commission the Churches of one whole prouince and to some againe the single rectorie of one onely Church That Titus and Timothie had a superior intendencie ouer many Churches as also ouer them which were alreadie or were to be preferred thereunto it is sufficiently manifest vnto euery indifferent sense For otherwise why was hee so diligently admonished to beware that he lay not his hands vpon any man extemporie And againe to what purpose is hee so cautionately forbidden to admit any accusation against an Elder without the testimonie of two or three witnesses This therefore leadeth vs thus farre as it were by the hand that of force wee must confesse how that vnder the Apostles of the Apostles there were ordeined two degrees of Ministers they of diuers authority though not of diuers titles vnto whom albeit the Scripture for the present gaue no proper or distinct denomination yet in good time Posteritie did it wel aduised For although the names of Pastor and Bishop were commonly giuen to all Ministers of old yet presently vpon the Apostles time the name and title of Bishop was imparted as a proper addition to the first chiefe order of Elders And yet they were not destitute of their distinction by their more sacred titles euen in the Apostles time For did not the Apostles themselues grace the chiefe Elders with the title of their fellow-laborers their fellow-labourers with