Urcisinus brake out into such a tumult that there were in Basilicâ Sicinini ubi ritus Christiani est Conventiculum centum triginta septem peremptorum cadavera reperta lib. 27. And he adds It was no wonder they struggled so about it because id adepti futuri sunt ita securi ut ditentur oblationibus matronarum procedantque vehiculis insidentes circumspecte vestiti epulas curantes profusas adeo ut eorum convivia Regales superent mensas qui esse poterant beati revera si urbis magnitudine despecta quam vitiis opponunt ad imitationem quorandam provincialium Antistitum viverent quos tenuitas edendi potandique parcissimè vilit as etiam indumentorum supercilia humum spectantia perpetuo Numini verisque ejus cultoribus ut puros commendant verecundos Because of those disorders in elections it was that Nazianz. Orat. 19. wished that the elections were only or chiefly in their hands who served at their Altar Sic enim nunquam Ecclesiis male esset Therefore he desires they should no more be committed iis qui opibus ac potentiâ pollent aut plebis impetui ac temeritati atque etiam plebeiorum vilissimo aut contemptissimo cuique as had been before Adding that the disorders which were in such elections made him loath his life and long to be in a Wilderness One effect of these confused elections was that some who were not Presbyters nay not so much as Christians were chosen Bishops for Orat. 20. on Basil when he tells how Basil was first ordained a Presbyter he regrates that many Bishops oft-times leaped into the Chair without any preceding degree which was contrary to Nature and Reason since among Saylors none is made at first a Pilot nor is there any at first made a General among Soldiers Nunc autem periculum est ne ordo omnium sanctissimus omnium maximè sit ridiculus non enim virtute magis quam maleficio scelere Sacerdotium paratur nec digniorum sed potentiorum throni sunt Adding that none is called a Physician before he understand diseases nor a Painter before he can mix colors Antistes contra facile invenitur non elaboratus sed recens Uno die sancto fingimus eosque sapientes eruditos esse jubemus qui nihil didicerunt nec ad Sacerdotium quicquam prius contulerunt quam velle And Orat. 19. he tells how in Cesarea at an election of a Bishop his Father and other Bishops being present there arose a great sedition about it which could not be easily composed partly thorow the peoples fervor about the Faith partly thorow the eminence of the Chair which made the contentions greater But at length the whole people with one consent made choice of a person of great quality but not yet baptized to be their Bishop from which he was very averse but they took him by force and by the assistance of some Soldiers then in the City haled him to the Church and desired the Bishops not without threats to ordain him whereupon they overawed by fear and force first purified him and then set him upon the Throne but more with their hands than with their heart Chrysost also lib. 3. de Sacerdotio cap 15. shews the evil of these popular elections and that in them they looked more to riches and honor than to true worth But where the Synodical elections were set up the People were not wholly excluded from their interest in the choice as we see particularly in the Churches of Milan and Hippo. Neither were these Synodical elections so regular as Nazianzen hoped which appears from two famous Instances of Nectarius and Ambrosius Nectarius came to the Council of Constantinople in the company of Diodorus Bishop of Tarsus and then it was that upon some differences as you shall see afterwards Nazianzen retired from Constantinople And Nectarius thinking to go home to his Country came to his Bishop Diodorus to ask his blessing and receive his commands But at that time all Diodorus thoughts were how a fit Person might be found for Constantinople and looking on Nectarius considering his Gravity his gray Hairs and sweet Temper he thought it seems by a Divine Inspiration what if he were made Bishop And thereupon pretending another errand he took him to the Bishop of Antioch and whispering him in the Ear bid him consider how fit a Person Nectarius might prove for the Bishoprick of Constantinople Meletius laughed in his heart at Diodorus his simplicity who should think of Nectarius when so many famous Men had been named for that See by their Bishops After that Theodosius the Emperor commanded the Synod to give him in writing a list of such persons as were judged fit for that Chair which being laid upon Miletus to draw he to gratifie Diodorus puts Nectarius among them The Emperor at first reading began to think of Nectarius but at second reading positively concluded that he must be the Bishop The Synod was amazed and began to enquire about him and found that he was but a Catechumen whereupon they desired the Emperour to change his mind but he continuing resolute the Synod yielded and after they had baptized him they ordained him Bishop And by this we see that the Synod made the list but the Emperour named the person Near of kin to this is the story of Ambrose After Auxentius the Bishop of Milan his death Valentinian the Emperor called a Council of Bishops and appointed them to chuse some holy and fit person to be Bishop there Cujus authoritati nos subjiciamur cujusque reprehensiones ferre non dubitemus Etenim ut Imperatores nos simus rerum potiamur homines tamen esse nos humanis lapsibus obnoxios fatendum nobis est But the Synod referred the Election back to him that he might name the person yet he refused it and told them it was their business adding Ego vero id viribus meis majus ab officio meo alienum judico But as they went to consult about this the people of Milan did all run together to the Church to chuse their Bishops some of them were Arrians and others Orthodox and each party was contending to have the Bishop chosen of their own side At that time Ambrose a Noble Roman of the Consular Order was Prefect there to whom Valentinian when he sent him to that charge said Vade age non ut Iudex sed ut Episcopus He fearing that the concourse of the people might end in a Tumult came among them to prevent that and with great sweetness exhorted them to calmness and unity whereupon they much taken with his Speech cryed out with one accord Let Ambrose be Bishop But he resisted this as much as he could and did chide them for their indeliberate choice of a secular person who was a stranger to Ecclesiastical affairs and not so much as initiated into the faith for he was not then baptized Yet the Synod approving of their Election he
difference of Bishop and Presbyter seems not to have been unknown to Clemens as appears from these savings of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 praepositis vestris subditi seniores inter vos debito honore prosequentes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Qui nobis praesunt revereamur seniores inter nos honoremus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which by the words that follow must certainly relate to some Ecclesiastical constitution among themselves to which he accommodates the terms of the Temple Hierarchy All which I propose without any peremptory decision in this matter submitting it to the judgment of the impartial Reader For I know there are exceptions against these words yet they do clearly imply a difference and subordination betwixt the Presbyters and their Presidents and what he saith of the ranks of the High Priest the Priests the Levites and the Laicks hath certainly a relation to the Orders of the Church The next opinion about the Origine of Episcopacy is that of Ierome and he hath given it very fully both in his Epistle to Evagrius and on the Epist. to Titus cap. 1. He holds that all things at first were governed in the Church communi Presbyterorum consilio and that the Bishops were above the Presbyters non ex dispositione dominicâ sed ex Ecclesiae consuetudine And by divers arguments from Scripture he proves that Bishop and Presbyter are one and the same Acts 20. they who v. 17. are called Presbyters are v. 28. called Bishops Titus 1.5 he left him to ordain Elders and v. 7. it is added For a Bishop c. Whence he infers that Bishop and Presbyter are one and the same As also Phil. 1. the Apostle writes only to Bishops and Deacons And 1 Tim. 3. he gives the Rules only to Bishops and Deacons S. Peter also called himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And S. Iohn designs himself the Elder But he adds after there arose Schisms and one said I am of Paul c. Toto orbe decretum est ut unus caeteris super imponeretur ad quem omnis Ecclesiae cura pertineret Schismatum semina tollerentur ut Schismatum plantaria evellerentur ad unum omnis sollicitudo est delata And ad Evagrium he tells how Alexandriae à Marco Evangelist â usque ad Heraclam Dionysium Presbyteri semper unum ex se electum in excelsiori gradu collocatum Episcopum nominabant Quid enim excepta ordinatione facit Episcopus quod Presbyter non facit Et ut sciamus traditiones Apostolicas sumptas de Veteri Testamento quod Aaron filii ejus atque Levitae fuerunt in Templo hoc sibi Episcopi Presbyteri Diaconi vendicent in Ecclesia And from these words we may observe that he accounted the difference of Bishop and Presbyter an Apostolical tradition which came in place of the difference that was betwixt Aaron and his Sons as also that this began from the time of the Apostles and of Mark the Evangelist That it was done to evite Schism and that it was appointed through the whole World as also that the whole care and chief Power was in the hands of the Bishop of which he saith further Dial adv Luciferianos Ecclesiae salus in summi Sacerdotis dignitate pendet cui si non exors quaedam ab omnibus eminens detur potestas tot in Ecclesiâ efficientur Schismata quot Sacerdotes It may seem likewise probable from him that Presbyters choosed their Bishop out of their own number and that in Alexandria they made him Bishop without any new Ordination And of this Eutychius Patriarcha Alex. who was not very long after Ierome speaks more plainly for he in his Origines Ecclesiae Alexandrinae published by Selden pag. 29.30 tells that there were twelve Presbyters constitute by S. Mark and when the See was vacant they did chuse one of their number to succeed and to be their Head and the rest laid their hands upon him and bless'd him yet this cannot hold true as shall afterwards appear But all Ignatius his Epistles are full of the subordination of Presbyters to Bishops not without very hyperbolical magnifications of the Bishops Office It is true in the vulgar Editions these expressions are much more frequent but in the Medicean Codex published by Vossius which agrees not only with the old Latin one published by Usher but also with the citations of Theodoret and Athanasius and other ancient Writers which they have taken out of them there is a great deal of the subordination of Presbyters to Bishops Ep. ad Tral he saith Necessarium est quemadmodum facitis sine Episcopo nibil operari Omnes revereantur Episcopum ut Iesum Christum existentem filium Patris Presbyteros autem ut concilium Dei conjunctionem Apostolorum To the Ephes. he bids them be subject 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and concludes that they should obey these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In his Epist. to the Magnesians he saith Quantum Episcopum quidem vocant sine ipso autem omnia operantur wherefore he adviseth them ut omnia operentur praesidente Episcopo in loco Dei Presbyteris in loco confessionis Apostolorum And there he speaks of the age of Damas their Bishop who was but a young man which he calls according to the vulgar Edition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in the Medicean Codex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from which some will infer that Episcopacy was then newly invented but suppose that were the true reading which some question who in this prefer the vulgar reading it is clear from the whole Epistle that he is speaking of the Bishops age and not of Episcopacy And from 2 Tim. 2.22 we see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is properly youthful and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is that which is new And what tho Ignatius who lived so near the Apostles time did call Episcopacy a new Order Many other places to the same purpose of the difference among these Offices occur through all his Epistles neither is there any room for debate but if these Epistles be his the difference of Bishop and Presbyter hath begun in the Apostolical times But that debate would prove too long a digression here therefore I refer the Reader if he desire a full discussion of that question to the incomparably learned and exact defence of them lately published by Doctor Pearson whose harvest is so full that he hath not so much as left work for a gleaner That of the Angel in the Revelation is brought by many and that not without ground to prove that there was some singular person in these Churches to whom each Epistle was directed and we have a great deal of reason to believe that Polycarp was then Bishop of the Church of Smyrna Iren. lib. 3. cap. 3. and apud Euseb. lib. 4. cap. 13. tells that Polycarp was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now Irenaeus tells how he was Polycarp his hearer and disciple
was first baptized and then ordained Bishop But Paulinus adds that after his Baptism he past in order through all the Ecclesiastical degrees and on the eighth day was ordained Bishop there Thus went the Synodical Elections but it was a great while before that even in the Elections of the Bishops of Rome the people were wholly barred from their priviledges And of all this see at large Antonius de Dominis lib. 3. de Repub. Eccles. cap. 3. Metropolitans were chosen by the Patriarchs and the Patriarchs by the Emperours but in some cases the Emperours took the Elections simply to themselves at other times they reserved only the ratification of them to themselves and so for a great while the Elections of the Bishops of Rome were to be ratified either by the Emperors of the East or by their Exarchs at Ravenna And after that Charles the Great assumed the Empire of the West it was decreed in a Synod at Rome that the Election of the Roman Bishop belonged to him and accordingly he was in possession of it though his Successors did simply slip from it Now the Elections are in the hands of the Canons and Prebends which is an art to make the Election go what way the Superior will But the Chapters chusing the Bishop was not known to the Ancients it belonging to the whole College of the Presbyters without distinction And all who desire the restitution of Church discipline think that the erecting of Provincial Synods and giving the power of electing Bishops to them is both the best method and most agreeable to all Antiquity A See was not to lie vacant over three months nor the ordination of a Bishop delayed except upon an inexcusable necessity otherwise the Metropolitan was liable to Censure Conc. Chalc. Can. 25. and in the Council of Sardice Can. 10. Osius proposed that none should be Bishop till he had passed through all the inferior degrees and had finished the Ministery of a Lector Deacon and Presbyter and to this all the Bishops there present gave their consent but by the instances already marked we see that this order was not universally observed Nov. 123. it is decreed that a Bishop be at least three months among the Clergy before he be ordained that he may be instructed in the Ecclesiastical Ministery and service Another Custom there had been of Bishops ordaining Successors for themselves so Euseb. lib. 7. cap. 26. or according to the Greek division 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tells how Theotecnus Bishop of Cesarea ordained Anatolius to be his Successor and that for some time they were both Bishops together In other places they did not ordain but only design their Successors Yet Augustin was ordained Bishop of Hippo by his Predecessor Valerius but he apologizes for this Epist. 110. and saith that he did not know that it was contrary to the Council of Nice which decreed that there should be but one Bishop at once in a City And from that Epistle we see it was ordinary for Bishops to design their Successors which was done to prevent the tumults were usually in Elections And Augustin tells us of a disorder which had been in a neighbor Town because the Bishop though he had designed his Successor yet had not published it Therefore he to evite that hazard designed Eradius to be his Successor to which all the people assented Yet lest this might have opened a door for Bishops to have transmitted their Sees to their kindred or Friends it was decreed in the Council of Antioch Can. 23. that any such designation of Successors made by Bishops should be declared null and that the Election of the Bishop should be in the hands of the Bishops of that Synod where the See lay There might be but one Bishop in a City for Unities sake yet sometimes there were Coadjutors so Nazianzen was Coadjutor to his Father And Augustin in his second Conference with the Donatists offered that if the Donatists overcame then they should yield their Bishopricks to them but if the Donatists were overcome by them and so should return to the community of the Church they should admit them to be conjunct Bishops with them So was the Schism in Antioch betwixt the Meletianists and the Paulianists setled that both should be Bishops together and all should obey him that survived to this they all agreed confirming it by Oath Yet Flavianus one of Miletus his disciples after his death got himself chosen Bishop but was in that condemned by all It is true that the Novatians in divers Sees had distinct Bishops but these were Schismaticks Yet in the beginning of Christianity it would appear that there were more Bishops in one place for Tertullian and Epiphanius assert that Clemens was ordained Bishop of Rome by S. Peter And yet all reckon Linus to have succeeded him So also Evodius is generally reckoned to be the first Bishop of Antioch thus Eusebius Origen and Ierome Yet Chrysostom and Theodoret say that Ignatius was ordained there by S. Peter If there be any authority in Clemens his Constitutions they offer a clear account of this that Evodius was appointed Bishop of the Circumcision and Ignatius Bishop of the Uncircumcision and that after Evodius's death both Churches grew in one The same also is applied to the difference about Linus and Clemens by others as if Linus had been Bishop of the Circumcision and Clemens of the Uncircumcision and that after Cletus's death they all grew in one and submitted to Clemens However it is clear that in every Church there was but one Bishop and accordingly was decreed Conc. Nic. Can. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By which stile we see they guarded against the disorder of two Bishops in a City as a thing undoubtedly irregular which hath been accounted so before that time so that this of one Bishop in a City is not to be accounted an act of that Council but a reference to some former act or at least an universally received practice Yet the first succession of the Bishops of Rome tho always perplexed is much more so from the most learned Vossius his Observations in his Letter to Rivet subjoined to Doctor Pearson's Vindiciae of Ignatius his Epistles who from all the Manuscripts of Damasus his lives of the Popes informs us that S. Peter did ordain both Linus and Cletus Bishops of Rome and after some enquiry into the matter he concludes that at first there were three Bishops in Rome at once Linus Cletus Anencletus In the next Succession he places Cletus Anencletus and Clemens but Anencletus surviving both the other sate alone at Rome after whom there was but one Bishop there Yet I know not if Damasus ought to have such authority that upon his testimony we are bound to believe a thing so different from the accounts given by elder and more unquestioned Writers All ambitus was condemned in Bishops but it seems that in Nazianzen's time it was too common For he in his Apologetick regrates how
some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tanquam non virtutis exemplum sed victûs parandi occasionem subsidium hunc ordinem esse judicantes ac non munus referendis rationibus obnoxium sed imperium ab omni censurâ immune And a little after Prius fere quam primam comam abjecetimus puerilique more balbutire desierimus Si duo aut tria pia verba didicerimus eaque non ex lectione sed ex sola auditione bausta an t Davidi paulum operae dederimus aut pallium scite contraxerimus aut zonâ tenus philosophati fuerimus pietatis quandam speciem nobis illinentes ô praefecturam ô elatum animum Justinian Const. Nov. 137. cap. 1. complains that absque examinatione atque honestatis vitae testimonio ordinantur Episcopi Presbyteri Diaconi c. And there divers places out of Nazianzen's Apologetick are cited to shew that Ordination should be gone about cum omni diligentiâ atque rigore Cad de Epis. Cler. leg 31. Tantum ab ambitu debet esse sepositus ut quaeratur cogendus rogatus recedat invitatus effugiat sola sibi suffragetur necessitas excusandi Profecto enim est indignus Sacerdotio nisi fuerit invitatus invitus Chrysostom in his third Book de Sacerdotio cap. 10. among the qualifications of a Bishop reckons for a chief one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nam si ad eum principatum adipiscendum vehementi animi affectu rapietur eo adepto impotentiorem sane suae ambitionis flammam incendet ac vi tandem captus ut sibi adeptum honorem stabiliat nulli non peccato serviet seu adulandum seu servile quidpiam atque indignum sustinendum seu res magno pecuniae sumptu tentanda nam quod nonnulli caedibus Ecclesias compleverint contaminarintque tum ejus honoris gratiâ depugnantes civitates aliquot funditus everterunt dicere hic praetermitto ne quibusdam videar ea in medium afferre quae fide majora sunt And to preoccupy the objection from 1 Tim. 1.3 he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And among other advantages of one who wants this too forward desire he reckons this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And with a great deal of ingenuity he confesseth how strong that unlawful desire was in himself which frighted him from entering in holy Orders How far Nazianzen was from all ambitus the whole tract of his life doth fully discover He was no sooner ordained a Presbyter than he with his friend Basile at that time likewise ordained fled to Pontus where they lived a great while purifying their souls in the exercise of prayer and mortification After which they returned home Nazianzen out of compassion to his Father who pressed his return and Basile out of zeal to Religion and the Church then out of zeal to Religion and the Church then over-run with Arrians S. Basile by the means of old Nazianzen was chosen and ordained Biship of Cesarea and he ordained Nazianzen Bishop of Sasime but he what through his love of retirement what because Sasime being a stage of the Waggoners was full of stirs and disorders immediately left that place in which he was set against his heart And some say that he never ordained any in it nor consecrated the Eucharist while he was there neither could ever his Father obtain of him to return to it And when his Father dealt earnestly with him not without threatning of imprecations that he would accept the charge of Nazianzen in his old age he with great aversion yielded to his entreaty declaring he would stay no longer there than his Father lived During which time he managed that See with a great deal of success and applause but after his Father died which was in the hundred year of his age he continued a little longer there till his Mother who survived her Husband sometime died also And then he retired to a House of holy Virgins in Seleucia that in his absence they might chuse another Bishop but returning thither a little after he found they had chosen none yet he continued stiff as an Oak and neither prayers nor tears could prevail with him Afterward Constantinople was in great disorder through the Heresies of was in great disorder through the Heresies of Apollinaris and Macedonius lately sprung up beside the Arrian which was there before and he being inwardly called of God to go thither and prompted by his Friend Basile and invited by many Bishops and honourable Citizens went and laboured among them not behaving himself as their Bishop but as a temporary Overseer And though all the Churches were then possess'd by the Hereticks none remaining for the Orthodox save only Anastasia yet through his labours the face of affairs was quickly altered in Constantinople When Theodosius came to Constantinople he possessed him of the great Church and all the people desired that he might be enthroned the Emperour concurring with them in that but he declined it And though the Emperour took great pleasure in him yet he went seldom to the Palace Then was the second General Council called to Constantinople and he was by the authority of Miletus Bishop of Antioch of whom we made mention before confirmed in the Bishoprick of Constantinople by the Council But after this there arose some contention by Timotheus Bishop of Alexandria who came later to the Council and alledged upon the prerogative of his See that that matter should not have been decided without him Upon this hot and sharp contentions arose among the Bishops not so much out of any displeasure they had at Nazianzen as out of their mutual jealousies though he that writes his life faith that this was occasioned by Miletus his death But therein he was mistaken for Miletus out-lived not only this action and gave the lift to Theodosius of those who were designed to succeed him Sozom. lib. 7. cap. 8. but he also out-lived the Council and subscribed its acts and died a little after that in Constantinople Upon this contention Nazianzen finding many of those who had before established him beginning to resile told them how at first he had refused that Government tho the Church there had been by his labours and pains setled and enlarged but for that he expected his reward from GOD yet it seemed strange to him that after he had been forced to accept of it out of his love to the Flock and pressed to it with their united suffrages they should now think of undoing what themselves had done This he said not that he desired Riches or the nobleness of that Seat and to be called Bishop of the Imperial City But he confessed the loss of his Children could not but affect him besides he feared they might seem to proceed out of envy or lenitv However if they desired it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mihi quidem solitudo olim chara fuit nunc eft 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whereupon he went out and retired from the house wherein he dwelt to one
need of some force to draw men to accept of it whereas all are so forward to rush toward it blown up with pride or provoked by covetousness We saw already how averse Nazianzen was from entring in sacred Orders but no less memorable is the History of Chrysostome who with his Friend Basil having engaged in a Monastick life was struck with fear when a rumour rose that they were both to be ordained Presbyters And by the way observe that he calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But Chrysostome was silent lest the expressing of his aversion should have deterred Basil and his his silence was judged by Basil a consent and so proved one of his chief inducements to accept of Orders But when the day came wherein Chrysostome knew that the Bishops designed to ordain them he withdrew privately so that he could not be found yet the Bishops upon another pretence carried Basil to the Church and there ordained him much against his mind But when he first met with his Friend Chrysostome he melted down in tears challenging him severely for his withdrawing from him whereof Chrysostome gives his Apology at large in these six excellent Books of his de Sacerdotio wherein by way of Dialogue betwixt him and his Friend he layeth out the great dignity and weight of that Charge chiefly in the third Book where he shews That a Priest should be like one of the Angels of GOD cap. 4. And he blames these Elections that were rashly made cap. 10. upon which he charges most of the disorders that were then in the Church And cap. 11. he confesseth how guilty himself was of that unlawful ambitus for Church employment which being yet unmortified in him did frighten him from entring in holy Orders Cap. 14. he saith Episcopum convenit studio acri perpetuâ vitae continentia tanquam adamantinis armis obseptum esse In the fourth Book he speaks of the great caution was to be used in Elections and Ordinations complaining that in these Regard was rather had to Riches and Honor than true worth Through the fifth Book he shews the great evil and hazard of popular applause and the sin of being much pleased with it And lib. 6. cap. 2. he hath that excellent saying That the soul of the Priest should be purer than the very beams of the Sun themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And cap. 12. he accuses himself of his vain desires and other faults whence it was that he had so great a horrour of attempting at that for which he knew himself so unworthy preoccupying that Objection that a Man in that is to submit to the judgment of others by the Examples of one who hath no skill in Physick and knowing himself ignorant is not to administer Physick though all the World should desire him to undertake a Cure declaring their Opinion and confidence of his skill for if upon another mans opinion of his skill he should offer to meddle in it and give Physick he might as well kill as cure So neither one unacquainted in military affairs was to undertake the leading of an Army knowing his own unfitness though never so much solicited to it whence he subsumes more strongly that none should undertake the leading of Souls as long as he knew his own unfitness were the importunities and solicitations of others never so many And so far of the qualifications of those who were to be ordained Presbyters Their Election hath been touched already for it went the same way with the Elections of Bishops and so was partly popular at least was to be ratified by the approbation and consent of the people Possidius in vita Augustini tells how he was chosen a Presbyter by the people We have the Ordination of the Presbyters set down thus Conc. Carth. 4. Canon 3. Presbyter quum ordinatur Episcopo eum benedicente manum super caput ejus tenente etiam omnes Presbyteri qui praesentes sunt manus suas juxta manum Episcopi super caput illius teneant Dionysius the Areopagite in the forecited place tells That the Presbyter whom he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was ordained in the same form that a Bishop was ordained save only that the Gospel was not laid on his head From which simplicity of the primitive forms we may see how far they were from all these superstitious Fopperies now used in the Romish Church in Ordination And so much concerning Presbyters Deacons are next to be treated of The Original of them is by the general current of the Ancients taken from the Levites under the Temple and therefore in not a few of the antient Councils they go under that designation But as was formerly observed it is more probable that the Christian Church took its immediate Model from the Synagogue tho that might have been taken from the Temple Now in the Synagogue as there was a Bishop and Presbyters so there were also Deacons called Parnasin There were three of them in each Synagogue two were to gather the Collections and all the three together did distribute them The first Origine of them in the Christian Church is set down Acts 6. where their primitive institution shews that their first design was for looking to the necessities of the poor who had been neglected in the daily distribution of the Charity and there they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is true that term Luke 4.20 is used in another sense for there the Minister of the Synagogue to whom CHRIST delivered the Book could be no other than their Chazan or Bishop whose Office it was to call out any to read the Law in the Synagogue But since all Church-Office is for service and not for domination Christ himself not coming to be ministred unto but to minister it is no wonder if that term should then have been promiscuously used We also find S. Paul applying to himself 1 Cor. 4. a term equivalent to this But though the primitive institution of Deacons import only their looking to the necessities of the poor yet from the Levites ministring to the Priest in the Sacrifices it came to be generally received and used the Deacons should serve the Bishops and Presbyters in the administration of the Sacraments The institution of them doth also discover that they were persons to be separated for that holy service and consecrated for it by an imposition of hands and so were to be no more secular but Ecclesiastical persons and the usual practice of the Church was to account that Office a step degree and probation in order to ones being made a Presbyter And therefore our mungrel Lay-Deacons differ vastly both from the first institution of the Scripture and current of all Antiquity The Arcopagite gives the account of their Ordinations thus That the Deacon being brought to the Bishop kneeled down on one knee and so received imposition of hands The fourth Canon of the fourth Council of Carthage is Diaconus quum ordinatur solus Episcopus qui
of age Mention is made of them by Pliny lib. 10. Epist 97. who writing to Trajan of the enquiry he was making of the Christians saith Necessarium credidi ex duabus ancillis quae ministrae dicebantur quid effet veri per tormenta quaerere They were received by an Ordination in Tertullian's time for he speaking of them saith De castit cap. 13. Ordinari in Ecclesia solent And ad uxorem lib. 1. cap. 7. Viduam allegi in ordinationem nisi univiram non concedit The 19. Canon of the Council of Nice reckons the Deaconesses among those that were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but saith that they had no imposition of hands so that in all things they were reckoned among the Laicks but hints that they had a particular habit calling them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Balsamon's Gloss on this is that the Virgins who dedicated themselves to GOD continued in a Laical habit till they were forty years of age and were then if found worthy ordained Deaconesses by a particular imposition of hands To this Zonar as adds that the Virgins in the twenty fifth year of their age got a particular habit from the Bishop The 74 Canon of Nice according to the Arabick Edition appoints the Office of a Deaconess to be only the receiving of Women in Baptism Epiph. baeres 79. after he hath proved that a Woman is not capable of the publick service of the Church adds That the Order of the Deaconesses was instituted out of reverence to that Sex that when the Womans body was naked in Baptism they might not be so seen by the Priest And with this agrees the 12th Canon of the fourth Council of Cartbage Vidue vel sanctimoniales quae ad ministerium baptizandarum mulierum eliguntur tam instructae sint ad officium ut possint apto sano sermone docere imperitas rusticus mulieres tempore quo baptizandae sint qualiter baptizatori interrogatae respondeant qualiter accepto baptismate vivant This is also confirmed by the 6. Chap. of the 6. Novel which appoints the age both for Virgins and Widows to be fifty years Sicque sacram promereri ordinationem And their Office is denied to be adorandis ministrare baptismatibus aliis adesse secretis quae in venerabilibus ministeriis per eas rite aguntur And the rest of that Chapter gives divers other rules concerning them The 15. Canon of Chalcedon appoints a Deaconess not to be ordained till she were forty years of age it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Canon and it is appointed that it be done after a strict examination but that after she was ordained and continued some time in the Ministery if she gave her self in Marriage she as one that had reproached the grace of GOD was to be anathematized with her Husband Zonaras reconciles this age with the Apostle that the Apostle speaks of Widows and this Canon of Virgins tho it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Canon Yet it seems some of these Deaconesses have given scandal in the Church and perhaps proved like the Females among the Pharisees whom the Rabbins reckoned among these who destroyed the World And so we find the Western Church being scandalized at some miscarriages in this Order they are discharged to be ordained by the first Council of Orange Can. 26. Diaconissae omnimodo non ordinandae si quae jam sunt benedictioni quae populo impenditur capita submittunt And in the beginning of the sixth Century it seems they gave great scandal for Canon 22. Council Epaun. they are simply discharged Viduarum consecrationem quas Diacoâ—as vocant ab omni regione nostra penitus abrogamus solam eis poenitentia benedictionem si converti ambiant imponendo And Anno 536. Con. Aurel. 2. Câ—â— 17. Benedictio Diaconatus is said to be given to the Women contra interdicta Canonum And the next Canon of that Council is Placuit etiam ut nulli postmodum foeminae Diaconalis benedictio pro conditionis hujus fragilitate credatur Yet they are mentioned in the Council of Worms in the year 868. Canon 73. where the 15. Canon of Chalcedon is wholly insert One scandal we find occasioned by these Deaconesses was that they presumed to distribute the Elements in the Eucharist which Gelasius blames in his ninth Epistle written to the Bishops of Lucaniâ— Quod foeminae sacris altaribus ministrare ferantur And this it seems hath continued longer For we find Ratherius of Verona in the tenth Century appoints in his Synodal Epistle which in the Tomes of the Councils is printed as a Sermon of Pope Leo the fourths Nulla foemina ad altare Domini accedat And Matthaeus Blastaris in his Syntagma lit 1. cap. 11. concludes it to be unknown what the Office of the Deaconesses was Some judged that they ministred to Women who being in age received Baptism it being accounted a crime for a Man to see a Woman naked Others thought that they might enter to the Altar and exercise the Office of Deacons who proved this from many things particularly from some words of Nazianzen's Oration at his Sisters Funeral but that was afterwards forbidden 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet he doubts much the truth of that it not agreeing with reason that Women who were not suffered publickly to teach should be admitted to the Office of a Deacon whose duty it was by the ministery of the word to purifie these who were to be baptized And after that he gives an account of the form of their Ordination Mention likewise is made of them in the Council in Trullo Canon 14. A Deaconess was not to receive imposition of band 's before she was forty years of age Which is more expressly appointed in the 40. Canon where they decree that though the Apostle made the age 60. yet the Canons had allowed their Ordination at 40. because they found the Church was become firmer in the grace of GOD and had advanced forward and by the 48. Canon of that Council a Bishop's Wife when separated from her Husband by consent was to live in a Monastery and if found worthy might be made a Deaconess Basil by his 18. Canon allows Virgins to be received at the sixteenth or seventeenth year of their age but by his 24. he reckons it a fault to receive a Widow into the Order under 60 yet it seems that was not peremptorily observed For in his 44 Canon he speaks of Deaconesses found in Fornication who might not be allowed to communicate before seven years had been past in penitence Whence this Order failed in the Greek Church we know not but Balsamon on the 15. Canon of Chalcedon tells That in his time Deaconesses were no more ordained and his reason is because no Woman was suffered to enter unto the Altar though saith he some Women were abusively so called As for the inferiour degrees of Subdeacon Acolyth c. as they were only Iuris Ecclesiastici so they were not
in his 35. tract on Matth. condemns the form of doing it by adjuring the Devils saying that CHRIST hath given us power to command them Est enim Iudaicum adjurare Daemonia Cyprian speaks of an Exorcism ordinarily preceding Baptism but prefers the vertue of Baptism to that of Exorcism Epist. 76. Hodie etiam geritur ut per Exorcist as voce humanâ potestate divinâ flagelletur uratur torqueatur Diabolus cum exire se dimittere homines DEI saepe dicat in eo tamen quod dixerit fallat Cum tamen ad aquam salutarem c. And ad Demetrianum he saith O si audire eos velles videre quando à nobis adjurantur turquentur spiritalibus flagris verborum tormentis de obsessis corporibus ejiciuntur quando ejulantes gementes voce humanâ potestate divinâ flagella verbera sentientes venturum judicium confitentur And much of this nature is to be met with among the primitive Writers which shews that the power of Exorcising was an Authority over Devils Yet if this had been a formal Office Reason will say it should rather have been among the highest than lowest Orders the work being so great and miraculous But from the Areopagite and others we are told that before Baptism there was used a renunciation of the Devil with a Prayer for casting him out And there is some probability that these called Exorcists were only Catechists who had some formuls whereby they taught such as they instructed to renounce the Devil and this with the Prayer that accompanied it was called an Exorcism Nazianz. Orat. in Bapt. Ne exorcismi medicinam asperneris nec ob illius prolixitatem animo concidas nam vel ut lapis quidam Lydius est ad quem exploratur quam sincero quisque pectore ad baptismum accedat Cyril of Ierusalem Praefat. in Catech. Festinent pedes tus ad catecheses audiendas exorcismos studiose suscipe etiamsi exorcizatus inspiratus jam sis salubris enim est tibi res ista The Council of Laodicea Can. 26. discharged all to exorcize either in Churches or Houses except these appointed for it by the Bishops And by the tenth Canon of Antioch the Rural Bishops are warranted to constitute Exorcists from which we see they could not esteem that a wonder-working Office And Balsamon in his Sholion makes them one with the Catechists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and on the Canon of Laodicea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And towards the end of his Gloss on that Canon he saith That an Exorcist though appointed by the Chorepiscopus and not by the Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Beveregius cites Harmenopolus to the same purpose on the tenth Canon of Antioch From these evidences it is most probable to think that the Exorcists at first were nothing but Catechists but afterwards as all things do in any tract of time degenerate they became corrupt beyond perhaps either these of the Iews or the Gentiles so that the Books of Exorcisms now in the Roman Church are so full of Bombast terms and odd Receipts that they are a stain to the Christian Church And it is the most preposterous thing can be imagined that what was given in the New Testament for the greatest confirmation of the Christian faith should be made a constant Office and put in so mean hands And to this I need not add the base Arts and Cheats discovered among that sort of people I shall conclude this long tedious Account of the sense the Ancient Church had of the several Officers in it with some words of Tertullian which I shall barely set down without any descant on them tho they have occasioned much perplexity to divers good Antiquaries Tertullian in exortatione ad uxorem cap. 7. saith Nonne laici Sacerdotes fumus Scriptum est regnum quoque nos Sacerdotes DEO Patri suo fecit Differentiam inter Ordinem plebem constituit Ecclesiae authoritas honor per Ordinis consessum sanctificatus Ideo ubi Ecclesiastici Ordinis non est consessus offers tingis Sacerdos es tibi solus sed ubi tres sunt Ecclesia est licet laici But others read these words differently their Copies having them thus Sanctificatus à DEO Ubi Ecclesiastici Ordinis est consessus offert tingit Sacerdos qui est ibi solus sed ubi tres Ecclesia est licet laici FINIS POLYHISTOR TO BASILIUS YOUR desire and my own promise have engaged me to send you the enclosed Papers For the trouble the reading them may give you my Apology lies in my Obedience and yet I have contracted things as much as I could and perhaps have exceeded in my abridging For had I let loose my Pen in a descant on every particular these few Sheets had swelled to a Volume And my design was not to act the Critick but to be a faithful Historian These gleanings were intended partly for my own use and partly for the direction of some under my charge in the study of Antiquity and were written some years ago when I had no thoughts of making them more publick than by giving a few transcripts of them But now I leave the Midwifry of them to you that you may either stifle this Embryo or give it a freer Air to breath in I have here only given you what related to the constitution and modelling of Churches referring to my Observations on other Canons matters that come to be treated more properly upon their Texts as of the administration of all the parts of the Pastoral charge of all their forms in Worship and Church-Discipline of their zeal against Heresies and Schisms together with the methods used for reclaiming them and of the poverty simplicity abstraction from secular affairs and sublime sanctity of the primitive Bishops and Presbyters These with many other particulars if well examined as they will make the Work swell to a huge bulk so they will bring pleasure as well as advantage to such as desire a better Acquaintance with the state of the Church of GOD in her best times but what through the entanglements of affairs and other avocations what through their want of Books are not able to engage in so laborious an enquiry by searching the Fountains themselves I assure you I have not gone upon trust having taken my Observations from the Writings themselves that I have vouched for my Warrants I once intended to have cited all the Testimonies I brought in English and so to have avoided the pedantry of a Babylonish Dialect as the French begin now to write But observing that the foul play many have committed hath put a jealousie in most Readers of these Citations where the Author's words are not quoted I chused rather to hazard on the censure of being a Pedant than of an unfaithful wrester in my Translations Only to save the Writer the labour of writing much Greek which I found unacceptable I do often cite the Latin translations of the Greek Authors I shall only add that as I was causing write out these Papers for you there came to my hands one of the best Works this Age hath seen Beveregius his Synopsis Canonum I quickly looked over these learned Volumes that I might give these Sheets such improvements as could be borrowed from them which indeed were not inconsiderable I detain you too long but shall importune you no more I leave this to your Censure which I know to be severely Critical in all such matters Your judgment being the wonder of all who know you especially who consider how little your leisure allows you to look unto things so far without the Orb you move in though nothing be without the vast Circle of your comprehensive understanding if you let loose these Papers to a more publick view let this Paper accompany them which may some way express the zeal of your faithfullest Servant who humbly bids you Adieu