exalted sith for their sakes al Creatures shal be renewed with them as they were cursed for Mans fal and fault Yet shal they not partake the same measure of glory but a better condition after every capacity yet what that shal be in Inanimats Plants and Beasts is curiosity to inquire sith the chief part or pitch of corruption is annillation This implies that they may be freed from bondage of corruption not simply from corruption as Regenerats are released from sins reign by utter abolition which he cals a cheif part or pitch of corruption but renovation is the Acme of perfection Now if the Text be taken literaly how can mute Creatures groan or travel in pain But say 't is meant Metaphoricaly of their Natural appetit to be freed from bondage yet how can they enjoy a like liberty of Gods Sons for whom Christ died Or grant too that no identity is intended but only an analogical proportion by exemplar resemblance yet how can they partake a redemption of the Body which having bin the Souls receptacle here shal be reunited to it for ever 'T is sown a 1 Cor. 15. 23. corruptible Body raised incorruptible sown in dishonor raised in glory sown in weaknes and riseth in power Which is evidence enough for restitution of Human Bodies but al Creatures els being compact of the common Chaos which was made of meer nothing shal probably revert to nothing this seems to sute best with Faiths analogy and Scriptures harmony which tends more to utter abolition then restitution or substitution for al at last day shal be delivered from corruptions bondage when Gods sons shal be and for their sakes tho the maner diametraly differ viz. the one by Redemption of the body the other by deletion of the whol substance So saith Saint Ambros the Creature travelling in pain hath this comfort that it shal rest from labor for ever when al shal beleev whom God knows are to beleev Howbeit if it be granted that al shal be Individualy raised yet it folows not that a finit containing World shal be restored or new created but rather al turned to infinity so wel as time to Eternity for such infinity of Creatures as hath bin since the World began In brief St. Paul intends the time when they shal be delivered not the terminus or thing into like liberty with the Saints This Question is very difficil to decide by Scripture nor is Perclose defined by any Synod nor any Article of salvific Faith Paraeus declines the decision but saith som points are plainly asserted Rom. 8. 20 21. which must be beleeved as that al Creatures are subject to vanity for mans sin that al shal be delivered from bondage 2. Pet. 12. 13. of corruption into the glorious liberty of Gods Sons or rather for and together with it that good Angels shal abide with the Saints that the Elect shal enjoy eternal glory with Christ that the created Heavens Elements and works therin shal be burnt up that a new Heaven and Earth must be expected wherin dwels righteousnes but other clauses how dumb Creatures shal partak the liberty of Gods Children whether by renovation or abolition How many sorts of Creatures shal be released Whether al a few or none How Heaven and Earth shal be dissolved by fire whether as Gold is refined or utterly annilled being of no farther use what manner of fire it shal be material or immaterial what shal be the condition use place quantity quality glory of the new Heaven and Earth if any such shal be Al which with other like Saint Austin saith t is better to leav hid in doubt then litigat about incertanties sith they may be debated with danger but left in suspens sans harm or hazard he holds that al scruples are safest satisfied by annihilation that the fire shal be material as the old world was drowned by ordinary water so saith Aquinas and most School-men but on no good grounds yet al agree it shal not work as a natural Agent but divine Instrument to consume the whol mundan Machin with al things therin as God eternaly decreed therfore it behovs al to decline the fury of it by turning from our sins and returning by repentance to God in Christ Master John Down a pious Pastor of Insto sororal Nephew to Bishop Juel had a smart bout by Pen with Doctor Hakewil his intimat friend for the worlds renovation specialy touching the tru sens of that dark precited Text but in fine approved Annihilation peruse it pondrously but I forbear to abridg it for the prolixity Surely of al three opinions about Restitution Substitution and Annillation the last brings best Cards or fairest Colors both of Scriptures Reasons and Authorities Judicio extremo post ultima secula Mundus Ignibus extinctus materialis erit At the last Judgment when Time is finished This real world with fire shal be extinguished Non renovatus erit praesens nec conditus alter Alitâ—r Cosmos cum veniet sero suprema dies This world shal not renewd be nor new formed When the last day at length shal be performed Mundus hic ut perhibent passim sacra Biblia postquam Alias Vertitur in cineres annâ—hilatus erit This world as Scriptures speak after 't is burned To ashes shal be into Nothing turned Quod fuit ex nihilo factum post secula tandem Secus In Nihilum hoc Mundi grande adigetur Opus This worlds huge work which was of nought compounded Shal into Nought at last day be confounded In cineras Mundi redigetur maxima moles Sive In Nihilum cineres mox adigentur item The worlds huge Mass in t ' ashes shal be brought Thos ashes too shal soon be turnd to Nought Inchoat hicce liber primaeva ab origine Mundi Epiphonema Cum Mundi excidio terminat istud Opus At the Worlds origin that Book inchoats With the Worlds period this work terminats Incipit a Mundo primus liber iste creato Aliud Cum Mundi exitio desinit hicce liber That first Book took rise at the Worlds creation This last takes end with the Worlds annillation Juvenci carmina de mundi conflagratione Immortale nihil mundi compage tenetur Non Orbis non Regna hominium non aurea Roma Non Mare non Tellus non ignea Sydera Coeli Nam statuit Genitor rerum irrevocabile tempus Quo totum torrens rapiet flamma ultima mundum In Mundan machin naught 's immortal found Not golden Rome not realms not the Globe round Not Sea not Earth not Stars within Heavens bound For the Worlds founder fixd time doth propound When the last fire shal the whol World confound FINIS SVPPLEMENTA SVBJVNCTA SUPPLEMENTS SUBIOYNED Supplementum de Festis A Supply about holy Dais Festa Christi sacranda Christian Fests sacred Natalis Christi Festum Christs Birth-days Fest The two debats touching Name and Thing about celebrating Essay
of Holies once a year the Priests never the high Priest might mourn for none but Priests might for Father Mother Brother Son Daughter and next of Kin the high Priest had his Sagan or Substitut the Priests none Thes were the forms of Church government under the Law wherto that of the Gospel was in part conformed Christ had sole Evangelical Ministry being our Apostle Prophet Evangelist Bishop Pastor Doctor Mat. 10 1. c. Deacon in himself but chos twelv Apostles Assistant parallel to the twelv Patriarchs and twelv Princes of the Tribes sending them to preach heal and cast out Devils to whom when the harvest grew great he added seventy inferior Disciples Luk. 10. 1. c. like the seventy Fathers of Families and seventy Elders of the People whom he sent by couples into Cities wher he meant to com giving them power to preach the Gospel heal the sick tread on Serpents â—o Scorpions and subdu Enimies Thes two orders S. Paul cals Apostles and Prophets placing Prophets Eâ—hes 3. 〈◊〉 after Apostles as inferiors for from the seventy Matthias was chosen Apostle and Presbyters or Elders succeded the seventy but Bishops or Prelats the twelv as al Apostolic Antients agree This was the first model of Church regiment under Christ the chief Shepherd who before his Ascention made the twelv general Shepherds to supply his stead by a triple charge to Peter Thes had equal eminent authority or jurisdiction John 21. 1â— 16. 17. jointly and severaly to lay on hands at Ordination and confirmation to command contermand censure bind or loos which before their deaths som of them devolved on Bishops as their indubitat successors At first the whol weight of Church affairs lay soly on them but upon the Greecs complaint how their Widows were neglected they ordeined by imposition of hands which severs Men to sacred functions Aâ—◠〈◊〉 1 2 〈◊〉 seven Deacons to distribut offerings and serv Tables Afterward upon the Disciples dispersion at Stephans death arose Evangelists whos duty was to preach but no distinct order Then that the Church so planted might perpetualy be watered they ordeined Priests or Presbyters like the seventy Disciples for constant attendance in al places Lastly to continâ— the Government which rested in themselfs they appointed Overseers Greecly Episcopi by S. John Angels vulgarly Bishops to supply their steads after them to whom the chief charge to command correct ordein oversee was committed or conferred specially for suppressing of Schisms which spread in the Churches of Rome Corinth Galatia Philippi Colossi Thessalonica and Indea For S. Paul first constituted Titus Bishop of Cret and Timothy of Ephesus with their territories whos patern S. John and other Apostles folowed If then this office was necessary in thos times being the best remedy to repel Schisms as S. Cyprian and Jerom testify how much more in after ages when Sects so swarm and Ambition Avarice Pride Philancy Envy Emulation Discord and Division multiply dayly this power then was not personal in the Apostles alone not temporal to end or expire with them nor common to inferior Disciples but perpetual to abide til our Saviours secund coming and confined to Bishops for redress of al exorbitant enormities specialy Schisms and Heresies What single Presbyters did ever exercise any act of jurisdiction in al the Scripture or prime Churches In a family are divers officers but one Oeconomus or chief Steward In a Ship many Mariners but one Master in a Camp sundry Captaines but one General so in a Church of large extent several Ministers but one Bishop hee is to take charge of al Churches as Titus did of al Cret a goodly I le to see Presbyters doo their duties to correct what is faulty to confirm what is orderly and reform abuses He is chief in ordeining Presbyters as S. Paul had company at Timothy's ordination yet he sole ordeiner which none can deny as Christ shal be sole Judg at last day yet The twelv Apostles sit 〈◊〉 19 28. on twelv Thrones to judg the twelv Tribes of Israel 'T is a Luk. 22 30. silly Sophisters squib to say Bishops are caled Elders and contrarily Ergo both are one Order or Office Indeed such names at first were promiscuous but functions stil distinct as every greater contains a lesser So Apostles were stiled Presbyters or Elders Deacons or Ministers Doctors or Teachers Prophets and Evangelists Yea that title was inlarged to Barnabas Paul Andronicus Epaphroditus Titus Timothy so Presbyters are clyped Prophets and Prelats yet Chrysostom saith can be but one Bishop in a City Semblably Bishops are stiled Apostles Elders and Deacons while ter ms or titles were common but never in after ages as Theodoreâ— Jerom Oecomenius and the Fathers aver Distingue tempora concordabunt res nor doth community of name argu identity of nature or office Thus episcopat is of divine right if not primary or immediat from Christ as in ordaining the twelv to includ their Successors yet secundary or mediat from the inspired Apostles who substituted Bishops to succed For as our Saviour in som sort instituted his own day to be sanctified weekly in stead of the Creatific Sabbath by actual rising from death which his Apostles celebrated by their practis of meeting to break bread every first day So he may be said to ordein Prelats and Presbyters who are of equal right Analogicaly by chusing twelv Apostles and seventy Disciples whos rooms thos two orders supplied yet the Lords day is not so subject to mutation by Man sith it hath a moral right by the equity not Letter of the fourth Commandment which Men and Angels cannot alter But the other two orders may if the end for which they were instituted be changed els not Al which premisses wil plainer appeer by particulars drawn from primitiv fountains which flow from the Rock of Faith and shal not be falsified in the least point The Apostles sent to Teach and Baptise al Nations had the whol world in common for their general Dioces but som attended special Churches as Rulers or Overseers and in fine set Bishops of 1 〈◊〉 ruling Elders or Bishops in their Chairs or Charges For James the Just caled the Lords Brother becaus born of Mary Cleopas the blessed Virgins sister resided and presided at Jerusalem as his proper Sea partly of his own authority and partly by the Apostles appointment as appeers by Pauls coming thither Acts 21. 〈◊〉 to consult with him and his Presbytery For at the Proto-Council Peter as prime Apostle was Prolocutor but James Actâ— 15 19 â—0 as President gav diffinitiv sentence to which al submited or subscribed After 30 yeers residence he was cast from a Pinacle and his brains pierced with a Fullers burling Iron whos Brother Simeon succeded by the Apostles assignment They also planted Churches elswher as Paul and Barnabas ordeined Elders Acts â—4 〈◊〉 in every Church but no Bishops are mentioned becaus yet they
before their deaths they ordeined som Disciples as Superiors over several Churches and Presbyteries 4. That such were stiled Prelats set over and Bishops or Overseers 5. That Peter and James Apostles Marc and Timothy Evangelists Gaius and Lynus two of the seventy Disciples Titus Onesimus Evodius Clemens Lucius Apelles Denys Areopagit Polycarp Ignatius Anacletus Apostolic Men were actual Bishops in several Sees as Ignatius Tertullian Irenaeus trusty Trustees avow 6. That in after ages Bishops were chosen by Presbyteries not occasionaly like Presidents or Moderators in Councils nor annualy as Maiors of Cities but perpetualy for life like Masters of Colleges to govern their Dioceses 7. That such continued in al christian Churches by the titles of Bishops or Prelats til Luther stiled them Superintendents 8. That after-Records or Catalogs of Episcopal continued successions are extant every wher beyond cavil or contradiction 9. That al Elders or Presbyters with Deacons Evangelists c. were Clergy Men by imposition of hands til Calvin occasionaly admitted Laics Joint Rulers in shew with Clerics which form hath since crept into a few Churches as novities stil find vulgar intertainment like new Brooms 10. That ther is no semblable color for conterfet Lay-Elders to meddle in Church matters nor ever were any such except Church-Wardens to keep the common Stock Goods and Utensils safe What needs more light at noon The blind are never the better nor wil deaf Adders be charmed So far the History Gaudenus de Episcopatu Gauden about Episcopat In his Hicrospistes or Defens of English Ministry and Ministers LEt Dr. Gauden a learned Divine ful of piety and free Appendix from partiality moderat the matter who in his Elegant Apology for the Ministry hath thes passages in sundry places He dotes not on any dross or rust which antient venerable Episcopacy may in many revolutions of ages easily contract and be as easily cleered nor likes thes rigid reformations which som rash envious ambitious Presbyters driv on who know not how to shav their Fathers Beards without cutting their Throats pair their Nails without cropping their Hands nor as unskilful Chymists refine from dross without consuming what is Pretious nor as blind Empirics purge bad Humors without casting into bloody Fluxes Our Lord Jesus Christ the tru Messias Son of God Angel of the new Covenant the great Apostle Bishop and Father of our Souls Author and Finisher of our Faith Suprem Lord and King Eternal high Priest and unerring Prophet of his Church was sent by Gâ—d the Father to perform al Prophecies fulfil al righteousnes and settle a visible Ministration of holy things in his Church who cam not in his own Name as Man to be Mediator or to take the Honor of Prophet Priest and a King over it but had his Mission from the Father by evident Witneâ— from Heaven both before and at his Birth but more eminently at Baptism by the visible Shape of a Dov and audible voice This is my beloved Son in whom I am wel pleased being annointed with gifts of the Holy Ghost abov al as Head of the Church Thes were attended with infallible Signs and Wonders while he taught the Mysteries of his Kingdom and instituted holy Rites to distinguish his Church from the World by thos Seals and Pledges of his lov in dying for the Faithful when he shed both Blood and Water on the Cross Which having personaly accompiished as to the meritorius part of his Ministry he being no more to convers in a visible Human presence on Earth did after his Resurrection commit the Keis of his Kingdom to the twelv Apostles aforechosen as Stewards or Ministers of his Houshold instructing them on what fundation of Faith to build his Church and by what Sacramental Signs to confirm Beleevers bidding them to Teach and Baptise al Nations to ordein Disciples that should succed and so breathed on them promising to send his Spirit as he did after his Ascention and to be with them til the Worlds end This cannot be meant of their Persons who shortly died but of their Survivers or Successors in the Ministry to whom the same Authority and assistance belongs by divine durable Charter or Commission for publication and confirmation wherof the Holy Ghost cam on them in shape of firy Cloven Toungs filling them with miraculous gifts fit for the first planting of the Church and al Ministerial power derivable to others for propagation and perpetuity therof Which whol fram or Fabric was the proper effect of his Prophetic Wisdom for instructing his Church an Act of his Kingly power in governing it and the fruit of his Priestly care for a right Liturgy or Officiating to be stil continued by an holy Succession of Evangelical Ministers in his Name to Teach Guid and Govern it in al holy Duties He made Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors Teachers for the work of Ministry and edyfying of his body who had divers gifts as be several parts in our body so that al are not Prophets or Pastors which are Beleevers or Members as every bodyly part is not an Ey tho it partakes the same Soul as Beleevers doo the same Spirit in differing ministrations of which Gifts thos only are to Judg whom the Spirit sets Successivly in the Church with power to ordein others without which divinely constituted Order began by Christ derived to the Apostles and delegated to their Successors the Church long ago had bin a Monster made up of confused excrescences or heaps of Heresies Sects Schisms and blind Baiards as such mishapen prodigies start up daily who having cast off Sacred Order doo in their varieties exced the promiscuous productions even of Afric The Apostles accordingly first filled up Judas place by Lot out of the seventy Disciples and took care to ordain others which should so doo after them distributing their own labors into several Churches som of Circumcised Jews others of Gentils among whom they exercised Divine power and Authority with al fidelity as Christs Ambassadors Heralds and Laborers in his Husbandry or Espousers to make a Mariage betwen Christ and the Church which office none without do delegation might presum to perform During which primitiv purity they ordeined Elders in every City and Country charging them to fulfil the Ministrey and feed their Flocks both in tru Doctrin and good Diciplin over whom the Lord had made them Overseers by the Apostles assignation Som of which had charge to settle a Succession of such as should be apt and able to teach the Word of Life that Christs Institution might be kept unblamable til his secund coming by an holy Order or Office of Ministers duly made by solen imposition of sacred hands as a visible token of their peculiar designation to this function Thus beyond al doubt or disput which none but Atheists or Infidels wil deny Christs holy Ordinance was carried on successivly for three generations 1. In the Apostles 2. From them to Elders and Rulers 3. From them to others which