Christ Page 35 II. That the whole Reformation even Calvin Beza and those of their Communion were zealous Asserters of Episcopacy Page 58 A DISCOURSE Shewing who they are that are now qualify'd to Administer BAPTISM and the LORD's SUPPER SECT I. The Necessity of an Outward Commission to the Ministers of the Gospel SOme Quakers having perus'd my Discourse of Baptism think the Quaker Arguments against it sufficiently Answered And they have but one Difficulty remaining that is who they are among the various Pretenders that are duly Qualify'd to Administer it And if satisfaction can be given to them herein they promise a perfect Compliance to that Holy Institution The Chief thing they seem to stand upon is the Personal Holyness of the Administrator thinking that the spiritual Effects of Baptism cannot be convey'd by the means of an Unsanctify'd Instrument But yet they Confess that there is something else Necessary besides the Personal Holiness of the Administrator Otherwise they wou'd think themselves as much Qualify'd to Administer it as any others because I presume they suppose themselves to have as great a Measure of the Spirit as other Men. This Requisit which they want is that of Lawful Ordination But the Presbyterians Independents and Baptists do pretend to this Therefore their Title to it is to be Examin'd And that we may proceed the more clearly in this Matter with Respect still to that Difficulty upon which the Quakers lay the stress we will Inquire concerning those Qualifications which are Requisit in any Person that shall take upon him to Administer the Sacraments of Christ's Institution And These Qualifications are of two sorts Personal or Sacerdotal I. Personal The Holiness of the Administrator And though this is a great Qualification to Fit and Prepare a Man for such an Holy Administration yet this Alone does not sufficiently Qualifie any Man to take upon him such an Administration II. But there is moreover requir'd 2ly A Sacerdotal Qualification that is an Outward Commission to Authorize a Man to execute any Sacerdotal or Ministerial Act of Religion For This Honour no Man taketh unto himself but he that is called of God Heb. v. 4. as was Aaron so also Christ glorify'd not himself to be made an High-Priest But he that said unto him thou art my Son Thou art a Priest c. Accordingly we find that Christ did not take upon Him the Office of a Preacher till after that Outward Commission given to Him by a Voice from Heaven at His Baptism for it is written Matth. iv 17. From that time Jesus began to Preach Then He Began and He was then about Thirty Years of Age Luke iii. 23. Now no Man can doubt of Christ's Qualifications before that time as to Holiness Sufficiency and all Personal Endowments And if all these were not sufficient to Christ Himself without an Outward Commission what other Man can pretend to it upon the Account of any Personal Excellencies in Himself without an outward Commission III. And as Christ was outwardly Commissionated by His Father so did not He leave it to His Disciples every ones Opinion of his own sufficiency to thrust himself into the Vineyard but Chose Twelve Apostles by Name and after them Seventy others of an Inferior Order whom He sent to Preach IV. And as Christ gave outward Commissions while He was upon the Earth Act. xiv 23. so we find that His Apostles did Proceed in the same Method after His Ascension They ordained them Elders in every Church V. But had they who were thus Ordained by the Apostles Power to Ordain others Yes Tit. 1.5 1 Tim. v 22. For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest Ordain Elders in every City Lay hands suddenly on no Man c. St. Clement in his first Epistle to the Corinthians writing concerning the Schism which was then risen up amongst them says Parag. 44. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Apostles fore-knowing there wou'd be Contests concerning the Episcopal Name or Office did themselves appoint the Persons And not only so lest that might be said to be of force only during their time But that they afterwards established an Order how when those whom they had Ordained shou'd Die others fit and approved Men shou'd succeed them in their Ministry Par. 43. that they who were intrusted with this Work by God in Christ did Constitute these Officers But this Matter depends not upon the Testimony of him or many more that might be produced It is such a Publick Matter of Fact That I might as well go about to quote particular Authors to prove that there were Emperors in Rome as that the Ministers of the Church of Christ were Ordained to succeed one another and that they did so succeed SECT II. The Deduction of this Commission is continu'd in the Succession of Bishops and not of Presbyters BUT here is a Dispute whether this Succession was preserv'd in the Order of Bishops or Presbyters or whether both are not the same I. Answ 1. This is the Contest betwixt the Presbyterians and us But either way it operates against the Quakers who allow of no Succession deriv'd by outward Ordination II. Answ 2. But because the Design of this Discourse is to shew the Succession from the Apostles I answer that this Succession is preserv'd and deriv'd only in the Bishops As the continuance of any Society is deduc'd in the Succession of the Chief Governors of the Society not of the Inferior Officers Thus in Kingdoms we reckon by the Succession of the Kings not of Sheriffs or Constables and in Corporations by the Succession of the Mayors or other Chief Officers not of the Inferiour Bailiffs or Serjeants So the Succession of the Churches is Computed in the Succession of the Bishops who are the Chief Governours of the Churches and not of Presbyters who are but Inferiour Officers under the Bishops III. And in this the Matter of Fact is as Clear and Evident as the Succession of any Kings or Corporations in the World To begin with the Apostles we find not only that they Constituted Timothy Bishop of Ephesus and Titus of Crete as in the Subscriptions of St. Paul's Epistles to them But in Eusebius and other Ecclesiastical Historians you have the Bishops Nam'd who were Constituted by the Apostles themselves over the then famous Churches of Jerusalem Antioch Rome and Alexandria and many other Churches and the Succession of them down all along St. Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna was Disciple to St. John the Apostle and St. Irenaeus who was Disciple to St. Polycarp was Constituted Bishop of Lyons in France I mention this because it is so near us for in all other Churches throughout the whole World where ever Christianity was Planted Episcopacy was every where Establish'd without one Exception as is Evident from all their Records And so it was with us in England whither it is generally suppos'd and with very good Grounds that St. Paul first brought the
and to the Deacons Without the Bishop do nothing In his Epistle to the Smyrneans he says Flee Divisions as the beginning of Evils All of them follow their Bishops as Jesus Christ the Father and the Presbyters as the Apostles and Reverence the Deacons as the Institution of God Let no man do any thing of what appertains to the Church without the Bishop Let that Sacrament be judg'd Effectual and Firm which is Dispenced by the Bishop or him to whom the Bishop has Commited it Where-ever the Bishop is there let the People be as where Christ is there the Heavenly Host is gathered together It is not lawful without the Bishop either to Baptize or celebrate the Offices But what He approves of according to the good Pleasure of God that is firm and safe and so we do every thing securely I salute your most worthy Bishop your venerable Presbytery and the Deacons my Fellow Servants Anno Domini 70. St. Clement Bishop of Rome and Martyr of whom mention is made Phil. iv 3. in his 1st Epist to the Corinthians N. 42. p. 89. of the Edition at Oxford 1677. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In his Epistle to St. Policarp Bishop of Smyrna and Martyr who together with himself was Disciple to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist He gives these Directions If any can remain in Chastity to the glory of the Body of the Lord let him remain without Boasting if he Boast he Perishes and if he pretends to know more than the Bishop he is corrupted It is theduty both of Men and Women that Marry to be joyn'd together by the Approbation of the Bish that the Muriage may be in the Lord and not according to our own Lusts Let all things be done to the Glory of God Give heed to your Bishop that God may Harken unto you My Soul for theirs who subject themselves under the Obedience of their Bishop Presbyters and Deacons and let me take my Lot with them in the Lord. And he says to Bishop Policarp Let nothing be done without thy sentence and approbation In his Epistle to St. Policarp Bishop of Smyrna and Martyr who together with himself was Disciple to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist He gives these Directions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A.D. 180. St. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons in France who was Disciple of St. Polycarp he flourish'd about the year of Christ 180. We can reckon those Bishops who have been Constituted by the Apostles and their Successors all the way to our times And if the Apostles knew hidden Mysteries they wou'd certainly deliver them chiefly to those to whom they committed the Churches themselves and whom they left their own Successors and in the same Place of Government as themselves We have the Successions of the Bishops to whom the Apostolick Church in every place was committed All these Hereticks are much later than the Bishops to whom the Apostles did deliver the Churches The true Knowledge is the Doctrin of the Apostles and the Ancient State of the Church â—hrough the whole World and the Character of the Body of Christ according to the Succession of the Bishops to whom they committed the Church that is in every Place and which has Descended even unto us A.D. 180. St. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons in France who was Disciple of St. Polycarp he flourish'd about the year of Christ 180. Advers Haereses l. 3. c. 3. Habemus muncrare qui ab Aposolis Instituti sunt Episcopi in Ecclesiis successores corum usque ad nos Et si Recondita mysteria Scissent Apostoli vel his maxime traderent ea quibus etiam ipsas Ecclesias committebant quos successores relinquebant suum ipsorum locum Magisterii tradentes lib. 4. c. 63. Habemus successiones Episcoporum quibus Apostolicam quae in unoquoque loco est Ecclesiam tradiderunt l. 5. c. 20. Omnes enim ii Haeretici valde Posteriores sunt quam Episcopi quibus Apostoli tradiderunt Ecclesias L. 4. c. 6. Agnitio vera est Apastolorum Doctrina Antiquus Ecclesia status in universo Mundo Character Corporis Christi secundam successiones Episcoporum quibús illi eam quae in unoquoque lico est Ecclesiam tradiderunt quae pervenit usque ad nos Tertullian A.D. 203. of the Prescription of Hereticks A.D. 203. c. 32. Let them produce the Original of their Churches let them shew the Order of their Bishops that by their Succession deduc'd from the beginning we may see whether their first Bishop had any of the Apostles or Apostolical Men who did likewise persevere with the Apostles for his Founder and Predecessor For thus the Apostolical Churches do derive their Succession As the Church of Smyrna from Polycarp whom John the Apostle placed there The Church of Rome from Clement who was in like manner ordain'd by Peter And so the other Churches can produce those Constituted in their Bishopricks by the Aposiles c. 36. Reckon over the Apostolical Churches where the very Chairs of the Apostles do yet Preside in their own Places At Corinth Philippi Ephesus Thessalonica c. Of Baptism c. 17. The High-Priest who is the Bishop has the Power of conferring Baptism and under him the Presbyters and Deacons but not without the Authority of the Bishop Origen Names the distinct Orders of Bishop Presbyter and Deacon Such a Bishop says he speaking of one who sought vain Glory c. doth not desire a good Work and the same is to be said of Presbyters and Deacons The Bishops and Presbyters who have the Chief Place among the People The Bishop is called Prince in the Churches And speaking of the Irreligious Clergy he directs it to them whether Bishops Presbyters or Deacons Tertullian A.D. 203. of the Prescription of Hereticks Edant ergo Origines Ecclesiarum suarum evolvant ordinem Episcoporum suâ—rum ita ut per successiones ab initio decurrentem ut primus ille Episcopus aliquem ex Apostolis vel Apostolicis viris qui tamen cum Apostolis perseveraverit habuerit Auctorem Antecessorem Hoc emm modo Ecclesiae Aposlolicae census suos deferunt sicut Smyrneorum Ecclesia Polycarpum ab Johanne conlocatum refert sicut Romanorum Clementem à Petro ordinatum itidem Perinde utique Ceterae exhibent quos ab Apostolis in Episcopatum Conslitutes Apostolici
atque Levitae in Templo fuerunt hoc sibi Episcopi Presbyteri Deaconi vendicent in Ecclesia Ad Nepotianum Esto sujectus Pontisici tuo quasi animi Parentem suscipe Advers Luciferianos Ecclaesiae salus in summi Sacerdotis Dignitate pendet cui nisi exors quaedam ab emnibus Eminens detur Potestas tot in Ecclaesia efficientur Schismata quot Sacerdotes Inde venit ut sine Episcopi jussione neque Presbyter neque Diaconus jus haebeant Baptizandi Ad eos qui per Presbyteros Diaconos Baptizati sunt Episcopus ad Invocationem sancti Spiritus manum Impositurus excurrat Epitaphium Nepotiani à Heliodorum Episcopum venerebatur In publico Episcopum domi Patrem noverat Inter Presbyteros Co-aequales primus in opere c. Principes futuros Ecclesiae Episcopos Nominavit In script Ecclesiast De Jacobo Jacobus post Passionem Domini statim ab Apostolis Hierosolimorum Episcopus est ordinatus Ep. 54 contra Montanum Apud nos Apostolorum locum Episcopi tenent St. Augustine Bishop of Hippo in Africa A. D. 420. Epistle 42. A. D. 420. The Root of the Christian Society is diffus'd throughout the World in a sure Propagation by the Seats of the Apostles and the Succession of the Bishops Quest veter novi Test N. 97. Ther is none but knows that our Saviour did Constitute Bishops in the Churches for before He Ascended into Heaven He laid His Hands upon the Apostles and Ordained them Bishops l. 7. c. 43. The Sentence of our Lord Jesus Christ is clear who sent His Apostles and gave to Them alone that Power which He had Received from His Father to whom we have Succeeded Governing the Church of God by the same Power Ep. 162. speaking of the Bishops being call'd Angels Rev. 2. he says By the voice of God the Governor of the Church is Praised under the Name of an Angel Of the words of our Lord Serm. 24. If He said to the Apostles alone he that despiseth you despiseth me then despise us But if those words of His come down even unto us and that He has Called us and Constituted us in their Place see that you do not despise us Against Faustus We embrace the Holy Scripture which from the Times of the Presence of Christ himself by the Disposition of the Apostles and the Successions of other Bishops from their Seats even to these Times has come down to us safely kept commended and honour'd through the whole Earth Against Petilian What has the Chair of the Church of Rome done to thee in which Peter sat and in which at this day Anastasius sits or of the Church of Jerusalem in which James did sit and in which John does now sit Against Julian Irenaeus Cyprian Reticius Olympius Hilary Gregory Basil John Ambrose these were Bishops Grave Learned c. Questions upon the Old Testament Quest 35. The King bears the Image of God as the Bishop of Christ Therefore while he is in that Station he is to be Honour'd if not for himself yet for his Order St. Augustine Bishop of Hippo in Africa A. D. 420. Epistle 42. Radix Christianae Societatis per sedes Apostolorum Successiones Episcoporum certa per orbem Propagatione diffunditur Nemo ignorat Salvatorem Episcopos Ecclesiis Instituisse Ipse enim priusquam Coelos Ascenderet Imponens Manus Apostolis ordinavit eos Episcopos Quod dixit Clarus à Muscula in Concilio Carthag Repetit August de Baptismo contra Donatist Manifesta est sententia Domini nostri Jesu Christi Apostolos suos mittentis ipsis solis Potestatem à Patre sibi traditam permittentis quibus nos nos Successimus eadem Potestate Ecclesiam Domini Gubernantes Divina voce sub nomine Angeli Laudatur Praepositus Ecclesiae De verbis Domini Serm. 24. Si solis Apostolis dixit Qui vos spernit me spernit spernite nos Si autem Sermo Ejus pervenit ad nos vocavit nos in eorum loco Constituit nos videte ne spernatis nos Contra Faust Lib. 33. cap. ult Scripturam amplectimur quae ab Ipsius Presentiae Christi temporibus per Dispensationes Apostolorum caeteras ab eorum sedibus Successiones Episcoporum usque ad haec tempora toto Orbe terrarum custodita commendata clarificata pervenit Lib. 2. contra Literas Petiliani C. 51. Cathedra quid tibi fecit Ecclesiae Romanae in qua Petrus sedit in qua hodie Anastasius sedet aut Ecclesiae Hierosolimitanae in qua Jacobus sedit in qua hodie Joannes sedet Vid. contra Crescon l. 2. c. 37. Contra Julianum l. 2 cap. ult Irenaeus Cyprianus Reticius Olympius Hilarius Gregorius Basilius Joannes Ambrosius isti erant Episcopi Docti Graves c. in Ecclesiae Regimine Clari. Quest. ex vet Test qu. 35. Dei enim Imaginem habet Rex sicut Episcopus Christi Quamdiu ergo in ea traditione est Honorandus est si non propter se vel propter Ordinem Let this suffice as to the Testimonies of particular Fathers of the Church tho' many more may be produc'd in that compass of time to which I have confin'd our present Inquiry And now that no Conviction might be wanting I will set down some of the Canons of the Councils in those times to the same purpose whereby it will appear that Episcopacy as distinct from and superior to Presbytery was not only the Judgment of the first Glorious Saints and Martyrs of Christ but the current Doctrin and Government of the Church both Greek and Latin in those early Ages of Christianity In the Canons of the Apostles the distinction of Bishop Presbyter and Deacon is so frequent that it is almost in vain to give Citations The 1st and 2d Can. shew the difference to be observ'd in the Ordaining of them Let a Bishop be Consecrated by two or three Bishops Let a Presbyter and Deacon be Ordained by one Bishop See the same Distinction of these Orders Can. 3.4 5 6 7 8. 17 18 25. 27 28 29. 32 33. 36. 42. 44 45. 51 52 53. 63. 68 69 70 83. Can. 15. shews the Jurisdiction of the Bishops over the Presbyters and Deacons If any Presbyter or Deacon or any of the Clerical Order shall leave his own Parish and go to another without the Bishop's leave he shall officiate no longer especially if he obey not the Bishop when he exhorts him to Return persisting in his Insolence and disorderly Behaviour but he shall be reduc'd there to Communicate only as a Lay-man And Can. 31. If any Presbyter despising his own Bishop shall gather Congregations apart and erect another Altar his Bishop not being Convict of Wickedness or Irreligion let him be Depos'd as an Ambitious Person for he is a Tyrant And likewise such other Clergy or Laity who shall joyn themselves to him shall be Excommunicated But let this be after the first second and third Admonition of the Bishop Can. 39.
Bishop The Presbyter ought to consult the Bishop and receive his Orders in it as is declar'd in the 7. Can. Can. 10. If any Presbyter being puff'd up with Pride shall make a Schism against his own proper Bishop let him be Anathema Can. 11. Gives leave to a Presbyter who is Condemn'd by his Bishop to Appeal to the Neighbouring Bishops but if without this he flies off and makes a Schism from his Bishop it confirms the Anathema upon him Can. 12. Orders what is before Recited out of Can. xi of the Council of Carthage That a Bishop who is Accus'd shall be try'd by twelve Bishops if more may not be had a Presbyter by six Bishops with his own Bishop and a Deacon by three Can. 14. Orders that in Tripeli because of the smaller number of Bishops in those Parts a Presbyter shall be judg'd by Five Bishops and a Deacon by Three his own proper Bishop Presiding Can. 46. That a Presbyter shall not Reconcile a Penitent without the knowledge of the Bishop unless upon necessity in the absence of the Bishop Can. 59. That one Bishop may ordain many Presbyters but that it was hard to find a Presbyter who was fit to be made a Bishop Can. 65. That a Clergy man being Condemned by the Bishops cannot be deliver'd by that Church to which he did belong or by any Man whatsoever Can. 126. That Presbyters and Deacons may Appeal from their own Bishop to the Neighbouring Bishops chosen by consent of their own Bishop and from them to the Primate or Provincial Synod but not to any Trans-marine or Forraign Jurisdiction under pain of Excommunication The Council of Carthage A. D. 419. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Council of Chalcedon being the Fourth General Council A. D. 451. Can. 9. If any Clergy-man have a Cause of complaint against another Clergy-man let him not leave his own proper Bishop and have Recourse to the Secular Courts-Whoever does otherwise shall be put under the Canonical Censures Can. 13. That a Forreign Clergy-man and not known shall not officiate in another City without Commendatory Letters from his own Bishop Can. 18. If any of the Clergy shall be found Conspiring or Joyning in Fraternities or Contriving any thing against the Bishops they shall fall from their own Degree Can. 29. To reduce a Bishop to the Degree of a Presbyter is Sacrilege The Council of Chalcedon being the Fourth General Council A. D. 451. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These Authorities are so plain and full as to prevent any Application or Multiplying of further Quotations which might easily be done For if these can be answer'd so may all that can possibly be produc'd or framed in words And ther is no Remedy left to the Presbyterians and other Dissenters from Episcopacy but to deny all these by whole-sale to throw off all Antiquity as well the first Ages of Christianity even that wherein the Apostles themselves Liv'd and Taught as all since and to stand upon a New Foundation of their own Invention But this only shews the Desperatness of their Cause and the Impregnable Bulwork of Episcopacy which I must say it stands upon so Many Clear and Authentick Evidences as can never be overthrown but by such Topicks as must render Christianity it self Precarious And if from the Etymology of the Words Bishop and Presbyter any Argument can be drawn against all the Authorities Produc'd to prove them the same we may by this way of Reasoning prove Cyrus to be Christ for so he is call'd Isa XLV 1. Or if the Presbyterians will have their Moderator to be a Bishop we will not Quarrel with them about a word Let us then have a Moderator such as the Bishops before describ'd viz. A Moderator as a standing Officer during Life to whom all the Presbyters are to be obedient as to Christ i. e. to the Moderator as Representing the Person of Christ That nothing be done in the Church without Him That He be understood as the Principle of Unity in His Church so that they who unjustly break off from his Communion are thereby in a Schism That he shew his Succession by Regular Ordination convey'd down from the Apostles In short that He have all that Character and Authority which we see to have been Recogniz'd in the Bishops in the very Age of the Apostles and all the succeeding Ages of Christianity and then call Him Moderator Superintendent or Bishop For the Contest is not about the Name but the Thing And if we go only upon the Etymology of the Word how shall we prove Presbyters to be an Order in the Church more than Bishops as Athanasius said to Dracontius of those who persuaded him not to accept of a Bishoprick Why do they persuade you not to be a Bishop when they themselves will have Presbyters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will end this Head with the Advice of that great Father to this same Drasontius If the Government of the Churches do not please you and thâ—t you think the Office of a Bishop has no Reward thereby making your self a Despiser of our Saviour who did Institute it I beseech you surmise not any such things as these nor do you Entertain any who advise such things for that is not worthy of Dracontius For what things the Lord did Institute by His Apostles those things remain both good and sure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas Epist ad Dracont II. Having thus Explain'd those Texts of Scripture which speak of Episcopacy by the Concurrent sense of those who liv'd with the Apostles and were taught the Faith from their Mouths who liv'd zealous Confessors and dy'd glorious Martyrs of Christ and who Succeeded the Apostles in those very Churches where themselves had sat Bishops And having deduc'd their Testimonies and of those who Succeeded them down for Four Hundred and Fifty Years after Christ from which time ther is no doubt rais'd against the Universal Reception of Episcopacy and this not only from their Writings apact but by their Canons and Laws when Assembl'd together in Council which one wou'd think sufficient Evidence against none at all on the other side that is for the Succession of Churches in the Presbyterian Form of which no one Instance can be given so much as of any one Church in the World so Deduc'd not only from the days of the Apostles as is shewn for Episcopacy but before Calvin and those who Reform'd with him about 160 Years last past I say tho' what is done is sufficient to satisfie any Indifferent and Un-byass'd Judgment yet ther is one Topick yet behind which with our Dissenters weighs more than all Fathers and Councils
Christian Faith Clemens Romanus in his First Epist to the Corinthians Paragr 5. Says that St. Paul went Preaching the Gospel to the farthest bounds of the West 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which Term Britain was then Understood And Theodoret expresly Names the Britains among the Nations Converted by the Apostles To. 4. serm 9. p. 610. And Eusebius in his Evangelical Demonstration l. 3. c. 7. p. 113. Names likewise the Britains as then Converted But whether St. Paul or as some Conjecture Joseph of Arimathea or any other Apostolical Person was the first who Preached Christ in England it matters not as to our Present Purpose who Enquire only concerning Episcopacy And it is Certain by all our Histories that as far up as they give us any Account of Christianity in this Island they tell us likewise of Bishops and the Succession of this Church of England has been Deduc'd in the Succession of Bishops and not of Presbyters And particularly in the Diocess of London which was the first Archi-Episcopal See before Augustin the Monk came hither after which it was Establish'd in Canterbury And the Saxon Writers have Transmitted the Succession of their Bishops in Canterbury Rochester London c. And in Countries so Remote and Barbarous as Island it self we find the same care taken Ara or Aras an Islandish Priest Surnam'd Hinfrode the Leurned who flourish'd in the Eleventh Century and was 25 Years Old when Christianity was brought thither in his Book of that Country written in Islandish has Transmitted to Posterity not only the Succession but the Genealogies of the Bishops of Skalholt and Hola the two Episcopal Sees of Island as they Succeeded one another in his Time I mention this of Island to show that Episcopacy has Extended it self Equally with Christianity which was carry'd by it into the Remotest Corners of the Earth upon which account the Bishops of Skalholt and Hola and their Succession are as Remarkable Proofs of Episcopacy tho' not so Famous as the Bishops of Canterbury and London IV. If the Presbyterians will say because they have nothing left to say that all London for Example was but one Parish and that the Presbyter of every other Parish was as much a Bishop as the Bishop of London because the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bishop and Presbyter are sometimes us'd in the same â—eâ—… They may as well prove that Christ was but a Deacon because He is so call'd Rom. xv 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we rightly â—raâ—â— are a Minister And Bishop signifies an Overseer and Presbyter an Ancient Man or Elder Man whence our Term of Aldermâ—n And this is as good a Foundation to Prove that the Apostles were Aldermen in the City acceptation of the Word or that our Aldermen are all Bishops and Apostles as to Prove that Presbyters and Bishops are all one from the Childish Gingle of the Words It wou'd be the same thing if one shou'd undertake to Confront all Antiquity and Prove against all the Histories that the Emperors of Rome were no more than Generals of Armies and that every Roman General was Emperor of Rome because he cou'd find the word Imperator sometimes apply'd to the General of an Army Or as if a Common-wealth-man shou'd get up and say that our former Kings were no more than our Dukes are now because the Stile of Grace which is now given to Dukes was then given to Kings And suppose that any one were put under the Pennance of Answering to such Ridiculous Arguments what Method wou'd he take but to shew that the Emperors of Rome and former Kings of England had Generals of Armies and Dukes under them and Exercis'd Authority over them Therefore when we find it given in Charge to Timothy the first Bishop of Ephesus how he was to Proceed against his Presbyters when they Transgressed to Sit in Judgment upon them Examine Witnesses against them and pass Censures upon them it is a most Impertinent Logoâ—…chy to argue from the Etymology of the Words that notwithstanding of all this a Bishop and a Presbyter are the same thing Therefore that one Text 1 Tim. v. 19. is sufficient to silence this Pitiful Clamour of the Presbyterians our English reads it against an Elder which is the Literal Translation of the word Presbyter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 against a Presbyter receive not an Accusation but before two or three Witnesses and them that sin Rebuke before all that others also may fear Now upon the Presbyterian Hypothesis we must say that Timothy had no Authority or Jurisdiction over that Presbyter against whom he had Power to Receive Accusations Examine Witnesses and pass Censures upon him And that such a Presbyter had the same Authority over Timothy which is so Extravagant and against Common Sense that I will not stay longer to Confute it and think this enough to have said concerning the Presbyterian Argument from the Etymology of the words Bishop and Presbyter And this likewise Confutes their other Pretence which I have mention'd that the Ancient Bishopricks were only Single and Independent Congregations or Parishes This is a Topick they have taken up but of late being Beaten from all their other Holds and Launched by Mr. David Clarkson in a Book which he Entitules Primitive Episcopacy which has given occasion to an Excellent Answer by Dr. Hen. Maurice call'd A Defence of Diocesan Episcopacy Printed 1691. which I suppose has ended that Controversie and hindred the World from being more troubl'd upon that Head And their other little Shift and as Groundless that the Primitive Bishops were no other than their Moderators advanced more lately by Gilb. Rule late Moderator of the General Assembly in Scotland has been as Learnedly and with great Clearness of Reason Confuted by the Worthy J. S. in his Principles of the Cyprianick Age Printed 1695. But as I said that Text 1 Tim. v. 19. has made all these Pretences wholly useless to the Presbyterians For supposing their most Notorious false supposition as if the Bishopricks of Jerusalem Rome Alexandria or London consisted but of one single Congregation and that such Bishops had no Presbyters under them but that all Presbyters were Equally Bishops I say supposing this then it must follow from what we Read of Timothy that one Bishop or Presbyter had Jurisdicton over other Bishops or Presbyters which will Destroy the Presbyterian Claim of Parity as much as their Confession to the Truth and plain Matter of Fact that Bishops had Presbyters under their Jurisdiction and that they were Distinct Orders Notwithstanding that a Bishop may be call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Deacon or Minister of Christ and likewise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Elder or Grave Man which is a Term of Magistracy and Dignity and not ty'd to Age. And a Presbyter may likewise in a sound Sense be call'd a Bishop that is an Overseer or Shepherd which he truly is over his Particular Flock without denying at all
his Dependance upon his Bishop and Overseer V. As under the Term of Priest the High-Priest was Included without Destroying his Supremacy over the other Priests Against which Korah and his Presbyters or Inferiour Priests arose And if the Presbyterians will take his word whom of all the Fathers they most Admire and Quote often on their side that is St. Jerom he will tell them in that very Epistle ad Evagr. which they Boast favours them so much That what Aaron and his Sons and the Levites were in the Temple that same are Bishop Presbyter and Deacon in the Church And long before him Clemens Romanus in his 1 Epist to the Corinthians makes frequent Allusion to the Episcopacy of the Levitical Priesthood and argues from thence to that of the Christian Church Thus Paragraph 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To the High-Priest says he were allotted his proper Offices to the Priests their proper place was assigned and to the Levites their services were appointed and the Lay-men were Restrain'd within the precepts to Lay-men And Paragraph 42. he applies that Scripture Isa LX. 17. to the Officers of the Christian Church and renders it thus I will Constitute their Bishops in Righteousness and their Deacons in Faith The Greek Translation of the LXX has it thus I will give thee Rulers or Princes in Peace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and thy Bishops in Righteousness It was the frequent Method of these Primitive Fathers to Reason thus from the Parallel 'twixt the Law and the Gospel the one being an Exact Type of the other and therefore being fulfill'd in the other And in this they follow'd the Example of Christ and the Apostles who argu'd in the same manner as you may see Matth. v. 1 Cor. x. the whole Epistle to the Hebrews and many other Places of the New Testament VI. Now the Presbyterians are desir'd to shew any one Disparity betwixt their Case and that of Korah who was a Priest of the second Order that is a Presbyter and withdrew his Obedience from the High-Priest with other Mutinous Levites For ther was no matter of Doctrine or Worship betwixt them and Aaron nor any other Dispute but that of Church-Government And by the Parallel betwixt the Old Testament and the New Korah was a Presbyterian who Rose up against the Episcopacy of Aaron But this Case is brought yet nearer home for we are told Jude xi of those under the Gospel who perish in the gain-saying of Korah And in the Epist. of Clem. Rom. to the Corinthians before Quoted Paragraph 43. He plainly applys this Case of Korah to the state of the Christian Church shewing at large that as Moses by the Command of God Determin'd the Pretensions of the Twelve Tribes to the Glory of the Priesthood by the Miraculous Budding of Aaron's Rod which was after the Schism and Punishment of Korah and his Company So likewise he says the Apostles sore-knowing by Christ that Dissentions wou'd arise also in the Christian Church by various Pretenders to the Evangelical Priesthood did Settle and Establish not only the Persons themselves But gave Rules and Orders for continuing the Succession after their Deaths as I have before Quoted his Words So that it is plain from hence That the Evangelical Priesthood is as Positively and Certainly Establish'd and Determin'd in the Succession of Ecclesiastical Ordination as the Levitical was in the Succession of Aaron And consequently that the Rebellion of Presbyters from under the Government of their Bishops is the same Case as the Rebellion for so it is call'd Numb xvii 10. of Korah and his Levites against Aaron who had as good a Pretence against him from the word Levite which was Common to the whole Tribe as the Presbyterians have against Bishops from the Name Bishop and Presbyter being us'd sometimes promiscuously and apply'd to the Clergy in General which is a Term that Includes all the Orders of the Church as Levite did among the Jews VII But to leave the fruitless Contest about Words let this Matter be Determin'd as other Matters of Fact are If I pretend to succeed any Man in an Honour or Estate I must name him who had such an Estate or Honour before me and the Man who had it before him and who had it before him and so up all the way to him who first had it and from whom all the rest do derive and how it was lawfully deduc'd from one to another This the Bishops have done as I have shewn and can name all the way backward as far as History goes from the Present Bishop of London for example to the first Plantation of Christianity in this Kingdom So from the present Bishop of Lyons up to Irenaeus the Disciple of St. Polycarp as before is told The Records are yet more certain in the Great Bishopricks of Rome Antioch Alexandria and others while they lasted in the World And tho' the Records may not be Extant of every small Bishoprick which was less taken notice of as the Names of many Kings are lost in obscure Nations of many Mayors or Sheriffs who notwithstanding have as certainly Succeeded one another as where the Records are Preserv'd I say tho' every Bishop in the World cannot tell the Names of all his Predecessors up to the Apostles yet their Succession is certain And in most Christian Nations there are Bishops who can do it which is a sufficient Proof for the rest all standing upon the same Bottom and being Deriv'd in the same Manner Now to Ballance this it is Desir'd that the Presbyterians wou'd shew the Succession of any one Presbyter in the World who was not likewise a Bishop in our acceptation of the Word in the like manner from the Apostles Till when their small Criticisms upon the Etymology of the Words Bishop or Presbyter is as poor a Plea as if I shou'd pretend to be Heir to an Estate from the likeness of my Name to somebody who once had it And here I cannot choose but apply the Complaint of our Saviour John v. 43. If any come in the Name of Christ that is by a Commission from Him deriv'd down all the way by Regular Ordination him ye will not Receive Nay tho' he be otherwise a Man without Exception either as to his Life and Conversation or as to his Gifts and Sufficiency for the Ministry you make this his Commission an Objection against him For that Reason alone you will not accept him But if another come in his own Name that is with no Commission but what he has from himself his own Opinion of his own Worthiness giving out that himself is some Great One Act. viii 9. him ye will Receive and Follow and Admire him Heaping to your selves Teachers having Itching Ears as it was Prophesy'd of these most degenerate Times 2 Tim. iv 3. But as to those well-dispos'd Quakers for whose Information Chiefly I have wrote this Discourse I must suppose that their Inquiry is wholly concerning the
Episcopis atque Calcatis Pax à Presbyteris verbis fallacibus Prodicetur ibid. Antichristi jam propinquantis adventum Imitantur Ep. LXXX Successo Rescripsisse valerianum ad Senatum ut Episcopi Presbyteri Diacones in continenti animadvertantur Firmillanus Cypriano Ep. LXXV p. 225. Potestas ergo Peccatorum remittendorum Apostolis data est Episcopis qui eis Ordinatione vicaria successerunt Ep. XVI p. 36. Cyprianus Presbyteris Diaconibus Quod enim periculum metuere non debemus de offensa Domini quando aliqui de Presbyteris nec Evangelu nec Deci sue memores sed ne que futurum Domini Judicium neque sibi praepositum Episcopum cogitantes quod nunquam omnino sub Antecessorthus factum est cum Contumelia Contemptu Praepositi totum sibi vendicent Contumeliam Episcopatus nostri dissimulare ferre possum sed dissimulandi nunc locus non est Optatus Milevitanus Bishop of Mileve or Mela in Numidia in Africa A. D. 365. A.D. 365 In his 2d Book against Parmenian The Church has her several Members Bishops Presbyters Deacons and the Company of the Faithful You found in the Church Deacons Presbyters Bishops you have made them Lay-men acknowledge that you have Subverted Souls St. Ambrose Bishop of Milan A. D. 370. upon Eph. iv 11. Speaking of the several Orders of the Church And he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and Evangelists c. Says that by the Apostles there were meant the Bishops by Prophets the Expounders of the Scriptures and by the Evangelists the Deacons But says that they all met in the Bishop for that he was the Chief Priest that is says he the Prince of the Priests and both Prophet and Evangelist to supply all the Offices of the Church for the Ministry of the Faithful And upon 1 Cor. xii 28. says that Christ Constituted the Apostles Head in the Church and that these are the Bishops And upon v. 29. are all Apostles i.e. all are not Apostles This is true says he because in the Church ther is but one Bishop And because all things are from one God the Father therefore hath He appointed that one Bishop shou'd Preside over Each Church In his Book of the Dignity of the Priesthood c. 3. he says That ther is nothing in this World to be found more Excellent than the Priests nothing more Sublime than the Bishops And speaking of what was Incumbent upon the several Orders of the Church he does plainly distinguish them For says he in the same place God does require one thing from a Bishop another from a Presbyter another from a Deacon and another from a Lay-man Optatus Milevitanus Bishop of Mileve or Mela in Numidia in Africa A. D. 365. l. 2. Contra Parmenianum Certa Membra sua habet Ecclesia Episcopos Presbyteros Diaconos turbam Fidelium Invenistis Diaconos Presbyteros Episcopos fecisiis Laâ—cos agnoscite vos animas evertisse Quosdam dedit Apostolos A.D. 37â— quosdam Prophetas c. Apostoli Episcopi sunt Prophetae Explanatores sunt Scripturum sicut Agabus Evangelist Diaconi sunt sicut fuit Philippus Nam in Episcopo omnes ordines sunt quia Princeps Sacerdos est hoc est Princeps est Sacerdotum Propheta Evangelista Caetera adimplenda officâ—â— Ecclesiae in Ministerio Eidelium Caput in Ecclesia Apostolos posuit Ipsi sunt Episcopi Verum est quia in Ecclesia unus Episcopus est Quia ab uno Deo Patre sunt omnia singulos Episcopos singulis Ecclesiis Prae-esse Decrevit De Dignat Sacerdot c. 3. ut ostenderemus nihil esse in hoc seculo Excellentius Sacerdotibus nihil Sublimius Episcopis reperiri Aliud est enim quod ab Episcopo requirit Deus aliud quod à Presbytero aliud quod à Deacono aliud quod à Laico St. Jerom A. D. 380. A. D. 380. In his Comment upon the Ep. to Titus When it began to be said I am of Paul I of Apollos c. and every one thought that those whom he Baptized belong'd to himself and not to Christ it was Decreed thro' The whole Earth that one Chosen from among the Presbyters shou'd be set over the rest that the Seeds of Schism might be taken away In his Epist to Evagrius From Mark the Evangelist to Heraclas and Dionysius the Bishops the Presbyters of Egypt have always chosen out one from among themselves whom having plac'd in an higher Degree than the rest they called their Bishop He that is Advanc'd is Advanc'd from less to greater The Greatness of Riches or the Humility of Poverty does not make a Bishop greater or less seeing all of them are the Successors of the Apostles That we may know the Apostolical Oeconomy to be taken from the Pattern of the Old Testament the same that Aaron and his Sons and the Levites were in the Temple the Bishops Presbyters and Deacons are in the Church of Christ To Nepotianus Be subject to your Bishop or Chief-Priest and receive him as the Father of your Soul Against the Luciferians The safety of the Ch. depends upon the Dignity of the High-Priest to whom unless a sort of absolute and eminent Power be given above all ther will be as many Schisms in the Church as ther are Priests Thence it is that without the Command of the Bishop neither a Presbyter nor a Deacon have Power to Baptize And the Bishop is to impose his Hands upon those who are Baptized by Presbyters or Deacons for the Invocation of the Holy Spirit And Comforting Heliodorus a Bishop upon the Death of Nepotian his Presbyter and his Nephew he Commends Nepotian in that he Reverenc'd his Bishop He Honour'd Heliodorus in publick as his Bishop at home as his Father But among his Presbyters and Co-equals he was the first in his Vocation c. Upon the 60th of Isa He calls the future Bishops Princes of the Church Of the Ecclesiastical Writers Concerning James James after the Passion of our Lord was immediatly by the Apostles ordained Bishop of Jerusalem The like he tells of the first Bishops of other Places Epist 54. against Montanus With us the Bishops hold the Place of the Apostles St. Jerom A. D. 380. A. D. 380. In his Comment upon the Ep. to Titus Postquam unusquisque eos quos Baptizabat suos putabat esse non Christi IN TOTO ORBE Decretum est ut unus de Presbyteris Electus superponeretur Caeteris ut Schismatum semina tollerentur A Marco Evangelista ad Heraclum usqâ—ad Dionysium Episcopos Presbyrari Aegypti semper unum ex se Electum in Clesiori Gradu collocatum Episcopum Nominabant Qui provehitur à Minori ad Majus provehitur Potentia Divitiarum Paupertatis Humilitas sublimiorum vel inferiorem Episcopum non facit Ceterum Omnes Apostolorum Successores sunt Ut sciamus Traditiones Apostolicas sumptas de veteri Testamento Quod Aaron Filii ejus
Let the Presbyters and Deacons do nothing without the Consent of the Bishop for it is He to whom the People of the Lord are committed and from whom an account of their Souls will be Requir'd Can. 41. We Ordain the Bishop to have power of the Goods of the Church And to Administer to those who want by the hands of the Presbyters and Deacons Can. 55. If any Clergy man shall Reproach his Bishop let him be Depos'd For Thou shalt not speak Evil of the Ruler of the People 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After the Canons of the Apostles I produce next a Great Council of 87 Bishops held at Carthage in the Year of Christ 256 under St. Cyprian Archbishop of that Place which is Published in St. Cyprian's Works before quoted p. 229. where he tells us That besides the Bishops ther met there both Presbyters and Deacons and great Numbers of the Laity Episcopi plurimi cum Presbyteris Diaconibus c. The Council of Eliberis in Spain about the Year of Christ 305. Cap. 18. and 19. Bishops Presbyters and Deacons are Nam'd distinct And c. 32. Presbyters and Deacons are forbid to give the Communion to those who had grievously offended without the Command of the Bishop c. 75. Of those who shall falsly accuse a Bishop Presbyter or Deacon c. 77. It is ordained that those who are Baptiz'd by a Deacon without the Rishop or Presbyter shall afterwards be Confirm'd by the Bishop The Council of Eliberis in Spain about the Year of Christ 305. Cap. 18. and 19. Episcopi Presbyteri Diaconi c. Non est Presbyterorum aut Diaconorum Communionem talibus praestare debere nisi eis jusserit Episcopus Si quis Episcopum Presbyterum vel Diaconum falsis Criminibus appetierit c. Si quis Diaconus sine Episcopo vel Presbytero aliquos Baptizaverit Episcopus eos per Benedictionem perficere debebit The Council of Arles in France about the Year of Christ 309. c. 18. It is ordain'd that the Deacons shou'd be subject to the Presbyters And c. 19. That the Presbyters shou'd be subject to their Bishop and do nothing without his consent The Council of Arles in France about the Year of Christ 309. c. 18. It is ordain'd that the Deacons shou'd be subject to the Presbyters And c. 19. Presbyteri sine Conscientia Episcopi nihil faciant The Council of Ancyra A. D 315. A. D. 315. c. 1. and 2. Having Prohibited those Presbyters and Deacons who had in times of Persecution Offer'd to Idols from the Execution of their Office says that notwithstanding the Bishop may Dispence with them if he sees their Repentance sincere for that this Power is lodg'd in the Bishop The Council of Ancyra A. D 315. A. D. 315. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Council of Laodicea A. D. 321. A. D. 321. Can. 41. That no Clergy-man ought to Travel without the consent of his Bishop Can. 56. That the Presbyters ought not to go into the Church and sit in their Stales till the Bishop come and to go in with the Bishop The Council of Laodicea A. D. 321. A. D. 321. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The First and Great Council of Nice A. D. 325. Can. 16. That if any Presbyters or Deacons leave their own Churches they ought not to be receiv'd into another Church And that if any shall ordain such in his Ch. as belong to another without the consent of his proper Bishop let such Ordination be void The First and Great Council of Nice A. D. 325. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Council of Gangra 326. A. D. 326. Can. 6. If any have private Meetings out of the Church without their Preshyter let 'em be Anathematiz'd by the Sentence of the Bishop Can. 7. If any will take or give of the Fruits offer'd to the Church out of the Church without leave of the Bishop let him be Anathema The Council of Gangra 326. A. D. 326. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Council of Antioch A. D. 341. A. D. 341. Can. 3. If any Presbyter or Deacon leaving his own Parish shall go to others and refuse to return when his own Bishop shall summon him let him be Depos'd Can. 4. If any Bishop being Depos'd by a Synod or a Presbyter or Deacon being Depos'd by his own proper Bishop shall presume to exercise his Function let no room be left them either for Restauration or Apology Can. 5. If any Presbyter or Deacon despising his own Bishop shall separate himself from the Church and gather a Congregation of his own and set up a different Altar and shall refuse to submit himself to his Bishop calling him the first and second time let him be absolutely Depos'd Can. 12. If any Presbyter or Deacon being Depos'd by his own proper Bishop or a Bishop by the Synod dare Appeal to the King seeing his Appeal lies to a greater Synod of more Bishops where he is to expect the Examination of his Cause and to teserr the Decision to them But if making light of these he trouble the King with it such an one is worthy of no Pardon nor ought to be admitted to make any sort of Apology or to have hopes of his being ever Restor'd any more Can. 22. That a Bishop ought not to Ordain Presbyters or Deacons in another Bishop's Diocess without his leave The Council of Antioch A. D. 341. A. D. 341. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the Council of Carthage A. D. 348. C. xi The Case is put where a Deacon being accus'd shall be Try'd by three Neighbouring Bishops a Presbyter by six and a Bishop by twelve In the Council of Carthage A. D. 348. A tribus vicinis Episcopis si Diaconus est arguatur si Presbyter à sex si Episcopus à duedecim Consacerdotibus audiatur The second Oecumenical Council of Constantineple A. D. 381. Can. 6. Ranks those with Hereticks who tho' they prosess the true Faith yet run into Schism and gather Congregations apart from and in opposition to our Canonied Bishops The second Oecumenical Council of Constantineple A. D. 381. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Council of Carthage A. D. 419. Can. 3. Mentions the three distinct Orders of Bishop Presbyter and Deacon and compares them to the High-Priest Priests and Levites In the same manner they are as distinctly mention'd Can. 4. Bishop Presbyter and Deacon and their Powers distinct For Can. 6. It is declar'd not to be lawful for Presbyters to Consecrate Churches or Reconcile Penitents but if any be in great Danger and desirous to be Reconcil'd in the absence of the
to the People And apply to this what I have before shewn in the words of St. Clement whose Name is written in the Book of Life That the Evangelical Priesthood is as surely fixed in the Bishops of the Church and its Succession continu'd in those Ordain'd by them as the Levitical Priesthood was confirm'd by the Budding of Aaron's Rod and to be continu'd in that Tribe III. And here let our Korahites of several sizes take a view of the Heinousness of their Schism and let them not think their Crime to be nothing because they have been taught with their Nurses Milk to have the utmost abhorrence to the very Name of a Bishop tho' they cou'd not tell why Let them rather consider seriously the misfortune of their Education which shou'd make them Strangers to all the rest of the Christian World but themselves in a Corner and to all the former Ages of Christianity They have been told that Episcopacy is Popery because the Papists have Bishops So have they Presbyters too that is Parish Priests They have the Creed likewise and the Holy Scriptures and all these must be Popish if this be a good Argument But are they willing to be undeceived Then they must know that Episcopacy has none so great an Enemy as the Papacy which wou'd Engross the whole Episcopal Power into the single See of Rome by making all other Bishops absolutly dependent upon that which only they call the Apostolical Chair And no longer since than the Council of Trent the Pope endeavor'd with all his Interest to have Episcopacy except only that of the Bishop of Rome to be declar'd not to be Jure Divino By which no other Bishops cou'd claim any other Power but what they had from Him But that Council was not so quite Degenerated as to suffer this to pass And the Jesuits and Others who Disputed there on the Pope's part us'd those same Arguments against the Divine Right of Episcopacy which from them and the Popish Canonists and Schoolmen have been lick'd up by the Presbyterians and others of our Dissenters They are the same Arguments which are us'd by Pope and Presbyter against Episcopacy When the Pope cou'd not carry his Cause against Episcopacy in the Council of Trent he took another Method and that was to set up a vast Number of Presbyterian Priests that is the Regulars whom he Exempted from the Jurisdiction of their respective Bishops and fram'd them into a Method and Discipline of their own accountable only to Superiors of his and their own contriving which is exactly the Presbyterian Model These Usurpations upon the Episcopal Authority made the Famous Archbishop of Spalato quit his great Preferments in the Church of Rome and Travel into England in the Reign of King James I. to seek for a more Primitive and Independent Episcopacy Himself in his Consilium Profectionis gives these same Reasons for it And that this shameful Depression and Prostitution of Episcopacy in the Church of Rome was the cause of his leaving her He observ'd truly that the further we search upward in Antiquity there is still more to be found of the Episcopal and less of the Papal Eminency St. Ignatius is full in every line almost of the high Authority of the Bishop next and immediately under Christ as all the other Writers in those Primitive Times But there is a profound silence in them all of that Supremacy in the Bishop of Rome which is now claim'd over all the other Bishops of the Catholick Church Which cou'd not be if it had been then known in the World This had been a short and effectual Method whereby St. Paul or St. Clement might have quieted the great Schism of the Corinthians against which they both wrote in their Epistles to them to bid them refer their Differences to the Infallible Judge of Contreversy the Supreme Pastor at Rome But not a word like this Especially considering that St. Peter was one for whom some of these Corinthians strove 1 Cor. i. 12. against those who preferred others before Him The Usurp'd Supremacy of the later Bishops of Rome over their Fellow-Bishops has been as Fatal to Episcopacy as the Rebellion of our yet later Presbyters against their Respective Bishops And indeed whoever wou'd write the true History of Presbyterianism must begin at Rome and not at Geneva So very Groundless as well as Malicious is that popular Clamour of Episcopacy having any Relation to Popery They are so utterly Irreconcilable that it is impossible they can stand together For that moment that Episcopacy were Restor'd to its Primitive Independency the Papacy that is that Supremacy which does now distinguish it must ipso facto cease But enough of this for I must not digress into various Subjects I have shewn in Answer to the Objection of the Ages of Popery in this Kingdom that all those Errors even Idolatry it self does not Un-church nor break Succession And 2dly I have Exemplifi'd this from the Parallel of the Jewish Church under the Law Then applying of this to our Case I have vindicared Episcopacy from the Imputation of Popery I will now go on to further Reasons why the Succession of our present Bishops is not hurt by that Deluge of Popery which once cover'd the face of this Land IV. The end of all Government as well in the Church as State is to preserve Peace Unity and Order and this cannot be done if the Male-administration of the Officers in the Government did Vacat their Commission without its being Re-call'd by those who gave such Commission to them For then 1st Every Man must be Judge when such a Commission is Vacated and then no Man is bound to obey longer then he pleases 2dly One may say it is Vacated another not whence perpetual Contention must arise A Man may Forfeit his Commission that is do those things which give just Cause to his Superiors to take it from him But it is not actually Vacated till it be actually Recall'd by those who have lawful Power to take it from him Otherwise their cou'd be no Peace nor Certainty in the World either in Publick or in Private affairs No Family cou'd subsist No Man enjoy an Estate No Society whatever cou'd keep together And the Church being an Outward Society as shewn in the Discourse of Water Baptism must consequently subsist by those Laws which are indispensible to every Society Sect. iii. â— 1. And tho' Idolatry does justly Forfeit the Commission of any Church in this sense that God's Promises to Her being Conditional He may justly take her Commission from her and Remove her Candlestick Now tho' her Commission be thus Forfeitable yet it still Continues and is not actually Pacated till God shall please actually to Recall it or take it away For no Commission is Void till it be so Declar'd Thus tho' the Jews did often fall into Idolatry yet as before has been said God did bear long with them and did not Un-church them tho'
from and Superior to Presbyters before the Vaudois in Piedmont the Hugonots in France the Calvinists in Geneva and the Presbyterians thence Transplanted in this last Age into Holland Scotland and England V. If it shou'd be retorted that neither is the Church of England without Opposers for that the Church of Rome opposes Her as do likewise our Dissenters Ans None of them do oppose Her in the Point we are now upon that is the Validity of Episcopal Ordination which the Church of Rome does own and the Presbyterians dare not deny it because they wou'd thereby overthrow all their own Ordinations for the Presbyters who Reformed as they call it from Bishops receiv'd their Ordination from Bishops And therefore tho' the Episcopal Principles do Invalidate the Ordination by Presbyters yet the Presbyterian Principles do not Invalidate the Ordination by Bishops So that the Validity of Episcopal Ordination stands safe on all sides even by the Confession of those who are Enemies to the Episcopal Order and in this the Bishops have no opposers Whereas on the other hand the Validity of the Presbyterian Ordinations is own'd by none but themselves and they have all the rest of the World as opposite to them Therefore to state the Case the most Impartially to receive Baptism from these Dissenters is at least a hazard of many Thousands to One as many as all the rest of Christianity are more than they But to receive it from the Bishops or Episcopal Clergy has no hazard at all as to its Validity even as own'd by the Presbyterians themselves SECT V. The Personal Sanctity of the Administrator of the Sacraments tho' highly Requisite on his Part yet not of Necessity as to the Receivers to Convey to them the Benefits of the Sacraments I. THE only Objection of those Quakers who are otherwise convinc'd of the Obligation of the Sacraments is the Necessity they think ther is of great Personal Holiness in the Administrators without which they cannot see how the Spiritual Effects of the Sacraments can be convey'd But I wou'd beseech them to consider how by this instead of referring the Glory to God and lessening the Performance of Man which I charitably presume and I am confident as to some of whom I speak that it is their true and sincere Intention but instead of that I do in great Good will invite them to reflect whither their well-intended Zeal has turn'd the Point of this Question even to over-magnifie Man and transfer the Glory of God unto His weak Instrument as if any the least Part of the Divine Vertue which God has annexed to His Sacraments did proceed from His Minister If this be not the meaning as sure it is not why so much stress laid upon the Sanctity of the Ministers Act. iii. 12. as if thro' their power or holiness the Holy Ghost was given II. To obviate this pretence our Saviour Christ chose a Devil John vi 70. to be one of His Apostles and he was sent to Baptize and work Miracles as well as the rest And those whom Judas did Baptize were no doubt as well Baptized and did partake of the Communication of the Spirit according to their Preparation for it as much as any who were Baptized by the other Apostles unless you will say that Christ sent him to Baptize who had no Authority to Baptize and that none shou'd receive Benefit by his Baptism which wou'd be to Cheat and Delude the People and is a great Blasphemy against Christ and a distrust of His Power as if it were Limited by the poor Instrument He pleases to make use off whereas III. His Greatness is often most Magnify'd in the meaness of the Instruments by which He works Thus He destroy'd Egypt by Frogs and Lice and the Philistines by Emerods and Mice and sent His Armies of Flies and Hornets to dispossess the Canaanites Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies Psal viii 2. that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger i.e. That the Enemies of God might be confounded when they saw His great Power Exerted by such weak and contemptible Instruments The Walls of Jericho the Type of Spiritual wickedness were thrown down by the blast of seven Rams Horns when blown by the Priests whom He had commanded And He rebuked the Iniquity of Balaam by the mouth of an Ass to shew that no Instruments are Ineffectual in His Hands and made use of the mouth of Balaam to Prophesie of Christ. For this cause says St. Barnabas in his Catholick Epistle c. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did Christ choose Men who were Exceeding great Sinners to be His Apostles to shew the Greatness of His Power and Grace and put the Inestimable Treasure of His Gospel into Earthen Vessels that the Praise might be to God and not to Men. IV. St. Paul rejoyced in Christ being Preached Ihil i. 16. tho' not sincerely by those who did it because God can bring Good out of Evil and by wicked Instruments Propagate His Gospel turning their malice even of the Devil himself to the furtherance of the Faith Otherwise the Apostle cou'd have no cause to Rejoyce in the Preaching of wicked Men if none cou'd receive benefit by it And he plainly supposes 1 Cor. ix 27. That a Man may save others by his Preaching and yet himself be a cast-away V. And so far as we can know or judge any thing we see daily Experience of this That God has touched Mens Hearts upon hearing the Truth spoken tho' by Men who were great Hypocrites and very Wicked And what reason can be given to the contrary Truth is Truth whoever speaks it And if my Heart be prepared the good Seed receives no evil Tincture of the Hand that sowed it And who can Limit God that His Grace may not go along with me in this I have heard some of the now separate Quakers confess that they have formerly felt very sensible Operations of the Spirit upon the Preaching of some of those whom they have since Detected of gross Errors and Hypocrisies and they now think it strange But this were enough to convince them that the wind bloweth where it listeth otherwise they must condemn themselves and confess that in all that time they had no true Participation of the Spirit of God but that what they mistook for it was a meer Delusion Or else confess that by the Truths which were spoken by these Ministers of Satan for they speak some Truths God might work a good Effect upon the Hearts of some Well-dispos'd tho' then Ignorant and much Deluded People If not so we must judge very severely of all those who live in Idolatrous or Schismatical Countries ther were great Prophets and good Men among the Ten Tribes And if the Words nay Miracles of Christ did render the Hearts of many yet more obdurate Matth. xii from v. 22. to v. 32. even to sin against the Holy
and that is the late Resormation from whence some Date their very Christianity And if even by this too Episcopacy shou'd be Witnessed and Approv'd then is ther nothing at all in the World left to the Opposers of Episcopacy nothing of Antiquity Precedent or any Authority but their own Wilful Will against all Ages of the whole Catholick Church even that of the Reformation as well as all the Rest Let us then Examine First for the Church of England that is thrown off clearly by our Dissenters for that was Reform'd under Episcopacy and continues so to this day And as to our Neighbour Nation of Scotland where the Presbyterians do boast that the Reformation was made by Presbyters that is most Clearly and Authentically Confuted by a Late Learned and worthy Author already mention'd in his Fundamental Charter of Presbytery Printed 1695. so as to stop the Mouths of the most Perverse who will not be Persuaded tho' they are Persuaded Go we then abroad and see the state of the Reformed Churches there The Lutherans are all cut off as the Church of England for they still Retain Episcopacy as in Denmark Sweden c. Ther remains now only the Calvinists Here it is the Presbyterians set up their Rest This is their strong Foundation And this will fail them as much as all the other For be it known unto them however they will receive it that Calvin himself and Beza and the rest of the Learned Reformers of their Part did give their Testimony for Episcopacy as much as any They counted it a most unjust Reproach upon them to think that they condemn'd Episcopacy which they say they did not throw off but cou'd not have it there in Geneva without coming under the Papal Hierarchy They highly Applanded and Congratulated the Episcopal Hierarchy of the Church of England as in their several Letters to Q. Elizabeth to the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and others of our Eaglish Biships They Pray'd heartily to God for the Continuance and Preservation of it Bemoan'd their own unhappy Circumstances that they cou'd not have the like because they had no Magistrate to Protect them and wished for Episcopacy in their Churches the want of which they own'd as a great Defec t but call'd it their Misfortune rather than their Fault As the Learned of the French Hagonots have likewise pleaded on their Behalf As for their Excuse I do not now meddle with it for I think it was not a good one They might have had Bishops from other Places tho' ther were none among themselves but those who were Popish And they might as well have had Bishops as Presbyters without the Countenance of the Civil-Magistrate It might have rais'd a greater Persecution against them but that is nothing as to the Truth of the thing And if they thought it a Truth they ought to have suffer'd for it But whatever becomes of their Excuse here it is plain that they gave their Suffrage for Episcopacy which who so pleases may see at large in Dr. Durel's View of the Government and Worship in the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas who was himself one of them Printed 1662. So that our Modern Presbyterians have departed from Clavin as well as from Luther in their Abhorrence of Episcopacy from all the Christian World in all Ages and particularly from all our late Reformers both of one sort and other Calvin wou'd have Anathematiz'd all of them had he liv'd in our times He say's ther were none such to be found in his time who oppos'd the Episcopal Hierarchy but only the Papal which Aspir'd to an Universal Supremacy in the See of Rome over the whole Catholick Church which is the Prerogative of Christ alone But says he If they wou'd give us such a Hierarchy in which the Bishops shou'd so Excell as that they did not refuse to be subject to Christ and to depend upon Him as their only Head and refer all to Him then I will confess that they are worthy of all Anathemas if any such shall be found who will not Reverence it and submit themselves to it with the utmost Obedience Talem si nobis Hierarchiam exhibeant in qua sic Emineant Episcopi ut Christo subesse non Recusent ab Illo ranquam unico Capite pendeant ad Ipsum referantur c. Tum vero nullo non Anathemate dignos fatear si qui erunt qui non Eam Revereantur summaque Obedientia observent Calvin De necessitat Ecclaes Reformand See he says si qui erunt if ther shall be any such which supposes that he knew none such and that he own'd none such amongst his Reformers And that if ever any such shou'd arise he thought ther were no Anathemas which they did not deserve who shou'd refuse to submit to the Episcopal Hierarchy without such an Universal Head as Excludes Christ from being the only Universal Head for if ther be another tho substitute He is not only Thus He is called the Chief Bishop but never the only Bishop because ther are others deputed under Him But He calls no Bishop the Universal Bishop or Head of the Catholick Church because He has appointed no Substitute in that supreme Office as not of Universal King so neither of Universal Bishop And Beza supposes as Positively as Calvin had done that ther were none who did oppose the Episcopal Hierarchy without such an Universal Head now upon Earth or that oppos'd the Order of Episcopacy and condemns them as Mad-men if any such cou'd be found For thus says he If ther be any which you shall hardly peswade me to believe who reject the whole Order of Episcopacy God forbid that any Man in his wits shou'd assent to the Madness of such Men. Si qui sunt autem quod sane mihi non facile persuaseris qui omnem Episcoporum ordinem Rejiciant absit ut quisquam satis sanae mentis furoribus illorum assentiatur Beza ad Tractat. de Ministr Ev. Grad ab Hadrian Sarav Belga Editam c. 1. And particularly as to the Church of England and her Hierarchy of Archbishops and Bishops he says that he never meant to oppugne any thing of that but calls it a singular Blessing of God and wishes that she may ever enjoy it Fruatur sane â—â—la singulari Dei beneficentia quae utinam sit illi Perpetua Ibid. c. 18. So that our Modern Presbyterians are disarm'd of the Precedent of Calvin Beza and all the Reformers abroad by whose Sentence they are Anathematiz'd and counted as Mad-men Here then let us consider and beware of the Fatal Progress of Error Calvin and the Reformers with him set up Presbyterian Government as they pretended by Necessity but still kept up and Profess'd the highest Regard to the Episcopal Character and Authority But those who pretend to follow their Example have utterly Abdicated the whole Order of Episcopacy as Anti-Christian and an Insupportable Grievance While at the same time they wou'd seem to pay the