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power_n	act_n	church_n	ecclesiastical_a	3,017	5	8.3552	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86352	A breif [sic] enquiry into the ground, authority, and rights, of ecclesiastical synods; upon the principles of Scripture and right reason occasion'd by a late book, intitul'd, Municipium ecclesiasticum: &c.	Hill, Samuel, 1648-1716.; Hill, Samuel, 1648-1716. Municipium ecclesiasticum, or, The rights, liberties, and authorities of the Christian church.	1699 (1699)	Wing H2005B; ESTC R178160	16,608	46

Law of God and the reason of things As indeed there is for Parliaments or such sort of Assemblies in the State as well as for Synods in the Church For if no other Rule or Law can be found excepting only first the voluntary Agreement of the Church it self and afterwards the Laws of Civil States when they became Christian either first for the calling of any such Assemblies at all Or the appointing of time or place for their meeting Or secondly for prescribing and determining who and what Persons shall compose them Or Thirdly for the empowering them to Act or obliging others to submit to them Then it must follow that they are purely and altogether of Human Institution According to what I have laid down § 4. But no other Law or Rule for any of these things did ever yet appear to me upon the most impartial search that I have been able to make And therefore I cannot judge them to be of any other Institution than what I have already said And let thus much suffice for the first Enquiry 11. As to the Second Enquiry viz. What right Ecclesiastical Synods have to meet and Act antecedent to the Laws of each Kingdom and Commonwealth By a right to do any thing I understand not only a Natural but such a Moral Power of performing such an Action as that it would be unlawful for another man to hinder or obstruct the same Thus every man has a Right to make use of those things which he has honestly gotten for the preserving and sustaining of his own Life And also to worship God according as he has appointed in order to his own Salvation Nor can it at least ordinarily be Lawful for any man to debar or prohibit another in or from the doing of either of these things Let us then but set our Selves to enquire how far and in what cases it may be either Lawful or Unlawful for any Persons to hinder an Ecclesiastical Synod from Acting or Meeting And this will lead us to an exact knowledge of their Right to Meet and Act together with the just extent and measure of it 12. In the first place then Where any Persons meet together in order to do good And it also sufficiently appears that there is no probability of any evil Consequence of their meeting Such an Assembly as this ought not upon any account or by any one either to be prohibited or disturbed For as every man is under an obligation himself to do all the good which he has an opportunity for so ought he not by parity of Reason to be any hindrance to any other men in their doing whatever good may lie in their power 13. But Secondly Wherever there is a just and well grounded Suspicion that such a Meeting or Assembly will prove in the end to be of Evil Consequence However well it may perhaps by some be designed As far as any Person or Persons lie under an Obligation to prevent the Evil that is so justly beforehand suspected so far are they obliged to hinder as much as they can the Convening of such an Assembly I mean upon a supposition that the Evil Consequence is not by any other way to be avoided This I take to be as plain as any thing almost can be And therefore if the Civil Magistrate according to the best of his Understanding foresees and believes that the meeting of any Assembly altho' upon the design and business of Religion will probably create feuds and animosities among the People or keep up and heighten those which are already rais'd which in the end may tend to Faction or Division in the Church or State As he is obliged by the Trust reposed in him to preserve and maintain Peace and quietness and good order in the Commonwealth so will it Consequently be his Duty as far as he is Invested with Lawful Power for it to prevent and put a stop to any such Meetings 14. Thirdly Altho' any number and of any men whatsoever may Lawfully assemble together whensoever it is for a good end and no evil Consequence of such a Meeting is foreseen or justly to be suspected Yet even The Bishops and Presbyters of the Church have no right to meet together as an Ecclesiastical Synod That is to say they can have no Authority so to transact matters as to lay an Obligation upon others § 1. Except they have a Lawful Power and Commission for their so doing For whosoever in any case Acts without a sufficient Commission may undoubtedly be Opposed by every man who is any way concerned in the matter and may justly be obstructed and hindered in their proceedings by those who have Lawful Authority over them 15. Here then for the full and final determination of this Second Enquiry let this Question be proposed viz. From whence does an Ecclesiastical Synod derive its Power and Authority to sit and Act as a Synod In answer to which I take it First to be very plain from what I have said § 5. that Ecclesiastical Synods do not derive their Power and Authority immediately from God For if they did they must be of Divine Institution And Secondly as for the Civil Magistrate our very Enquiry supposes him as yet to have no hand in the matter Thirdly then it must remain that Ecclesiastical Synods do immediately derive their power and Authority Antecedently to the Civil Laws only from the Church its self Immediately I say For that all Lawful Power and Authority whatsoever is Mediately and Ultimately derived from God I freely grant For neither can we find any other person from whom immediately to fetch the Power of such Synods Nor is it to be doubted but that By virtue of that Power which God has given to all men over themselves the Church may in some Cases Invest a Synod with an Authority over its self as well as the People in their Civil capacity may do the same thing by a Parliament 16. The Sum then is this that as Ecclesiastical Synods are of Human Institution so antecedently to the Civil Laws their Power and Authority is immediately derived only from the Church As the Power of a Parliament is from the People in their Civil capacity And whenever a Synod is duly appointed by the Church it has a right to sit and Act Nor ought it to be therein hindered or obstructed by the Civil Magistrate except he has just ground to believe that some ill consequence will unavoidably follow from their Sitting and Acting which it is his duty to prevent And let this suffice for the Second Enquiry 17. The Third Enquiry contains two distinct Questions viz. First In what things And Secondly Over what Persons may an Ecclesiastical Synod have Authority But still antecedent to the Civil Laws And here I shall lay this down as a fundamental proposition viz. That as no Assembly can have greater Authority than what is Originally lodged in those Persons by whom they are appointed and empowered so neither can

they justly claim or Exercise this Authority but only in such a measure or degreé as it is Actually Communicated to them Which being premised And the truth thereof I take to be so evident as neither to need nor be capable of any proof I shall from thence draw some very plain Corollaries in Answer to the Two Questions but just now proposed 18. And First if it be demanded In what things may an Ecclesiastical Synod have Authority From the Proposition now laid down I answer First That the Authority of an Ecclesiastical Synod cannot possibly be so great as to make that Doctrine which is false become true or that to become Lawful which is against God's Law For this would be to alter the very Nature of things or Laws of God which Power is not in the Church nor in all mankind taken together Nor yet Secondly can they have any Authority to make that a part of Religion which Almighty God has not alreadly made so For altho' the Modes and Circumstances of Worship and Religion may be settled and determined by the Church Yet to make any thing become a part of Religion that is to say essential to it and thereby immutably and perpetually necessary to Salvation is a Prerogative that belongs to God alone But Thirdly in doubts or Controversies concerning matters of Faith or Points of Doctrine an Ecclesiastical Synod may have Power to consult and debate the things in dispute and to declare their Sense and Opinion concerning them For this is no more than what may Lawfully be done not only by the whole Church but even by any prudential Assembly of wise and good Men there being no Law of God which forbids or any way hinders them so to do But Fourthly when an Ecclesiastical Synod has thus determined any Point of Faith or Doctrine Their Authority cannot extend so far as to oblige any man either to believe the Truth of what they have so determined if it be against his perswasion or to profess it if he does not believe it to be true The former of these being impossible and contrary to the Nature of things and the later Unlawful as being forbidden by God And therefore both of them excluded by the first of those Corollaries which I have laid down in this present Section Fifthly But if an Ecclesiastical Synod shall determine any thing in favour of an Errour and even directly contrary to the truth Yet if the Error be an Innocent one that is to say contains nothing which is any way contrary either to the necessary Articles of Faith or the Rules of a good life altho' a man cannot be oblig'd to believe or profess such an errour contrary to the convictions of his own mind yet still he may be bound in Conscience to be quiet and not to give any publick opposition to such a determination for fear of disturbing the Peace or breaking the Unity of the Church thereby For altho' every Christian is required according to his ability earnestly to contend for that Faith i. e. that Religion which was once delivered to the Saints Yet for such truths as have no necessary influence either upon Faith or Practice we are no where Commanded to contend And if we cannot stand up for such a truth without the hazard of Confusion or disturbance in the Church we ought to be quiet and permit other men to abound in their own Sense untill such time as God shall think fit to bring their understandings to a better disposition and not to Sacrifice Peace and Unity which the Laws of God require us carefully to maintain unto such a truth as we are not Commanded to teach to others or zealously our selves to contend for And Lastly if an Ecclesiastical Synod duly empowered shall make any Decree to determine our Practice in any thing which is indifferent in it self and no way determined by the Law of God from thence I do conceive will arise an undoubted obligation to Obedience and Conformity to be paid unto such a Decree which is so made For if the Church by a voluntary Agreement might Lawfully lay a restraint upon themselves in such things as are indifferent which no man I presume will doubt what can hinder but that they may give a power unto a Synod to lay the like restraint upon them For whatever Obligation People of their own accord may Lawfully lay themselves under The very same Obligation to all intents and purposes may certainly be laid upon them by their Representatives duly chosen and Authorized 19. Secondly if it be demanded Over what Persons may an Ecclesiastical Synod have Authority From that Fundamental Proposition which I have laid down § 17. together with the Third Proposition which I have laid down § 15. these following Conollaries will evidently arise which will make up a full Answer to it viz. First that an Ecclesiastical Synod can have no more Authority than what is vested in the Body of that Church by which they are empowered to Sit and Act. For the Church can give no more Authority than what it first has in it self Nor can a Synod which is but a part of the Church have any greater Power than what the whole is Originally endowed with Secondly But whatsoever Authority is Lawfully vested in the Collective Body of the Church the same may by them be delegated to an Ecclesiastical Synod For neither is there any thing which should hinder such a delegation as this And where a Society is very numerous as the Church is it is morally impossible for it to exert and exercise that Power and Authority which is Originally diffused throughout the whole Body otherwise than by appointing and delegating their Representatives to do it for them As the legislative Power which in a Common-wealth is Originally founded in the Body of the People could never be brought to any useful effect if there were not appointed Parliaments or Assemblies of the Estates on purpose to represent and Act for them Thirdly therefore it will follow That an Oecumenical Synod may have Authority over the whole Church but a National Provincial or Diocesan One can extend its Authority no farther than the People Province or Diocess for and from which it is appointed and chosen Because one such Limited or particular Church is not vested with any Power or Superiority over another And Fourthly that the Authority of any Synod is greater or less according as it is given them by the Church which chuses and appoints them Provided that the Church does not pretend to Communicate greater Power to them than what is Originally vested in its self 20. To conclude this point As the Bishops and Pastors of the Church who derive their Succession down from the Apostles have thereby a divine Authority communicated to them to perform their respective Offices and to teach and Govern their respective Flocks according to the Rules prescribed by God's Law From which no variation must upon any account be allowed of or admitted So is

there no manner of Restraint laid by God either upon the Universal or any Particular Churches But that with a due subordination to his Law they may in all other things which are not thereby already provided for manage and govern themselves as other Societies do by the Rules of Reason and Prudence And appoint their Synods or Representative Assemblies to agree upon and lay down such Rules as they think most necessary to be observed And not only he who violates the immediate Divine Law and so continues without Repentance but even he also who Obstinately refuses to be conformable to the Lawful and wholesome Constitutions of the Church it self and thereby causes disturbance and division in it which is as really tho' not so immediately contrary to God's Command as the other is justly to be excluded from the Communion and privileges of the Society And so much for the Third Enquiry 21. I proceed then to the Fourth and Last Point proposed viz. How far the right of Meeting and Acting of Ecclesiastical Synods or their Authority over others may be Restrained Limited or Qualified by the Concessions of the Church to the Civil Magistrate Or otherwise by the Laws of any Kingdom or Common-wealth And in order to the clearing of this matter I shall lay down these two preliminary Propositions First that neither the Consent of the Church it self nor any Civil Law whatsoever can lay any Obligation upon the Church or any part or member thereof to do or forbear any thing If by such doing or forbearing true Religion is any way so obstructed or discouraged as that God is thereby dishonoured or the Salvation of men hindered For neither our own voluntary Act nor any Law that is enacted by an inferiour Power can free us from an Obligation which is laid upon us by an Authority that is Superiour But by the Law of God which is above all we are All obliged to promote the Interest of true Religion and thereby both to advance his Glory and set forward the Salvation of other men And therefore if we have consented to any thing or if the Civil Law has enacted any thing which proves to be contrary to this Obligation under which we beforehand indispensably lay both our consent so given and the Law so enacted must be looked upon as void I mean so far as they are thus prejudicial to Religion and all Obligations of this Inferiour sort must ever be construed with a tacit exception that they be not contrary to any former and superiour Obligation But Secondly If the Church Universal or any particular Church shall consent or if without such consent the Civil Authority of any place shall by Law enact or require any thing which no way tends to the real prejudice of true Religion nor any way obstructs either God's Glory or Men's Salvation Such a consent so given until it is duly revoked and such a Law until it is by Lawful Authority repealed shall certainly oblige all such as are members of the Church which so consented or Subjects of that Kingdom or Commonwealth in which such a Law is enacted For who can doubt but that any Society may by general consent lay an obligation upon themselves in such things as are no way Unlawful And as for the Authority of the Civil Laws the command of God runs in the most general and comprehensive terms that Every Soul should be Subject to the higher Powers And that we should submit our selves to every Ordinance of Man Nor does either reason or Scripture furnish us with any other Limitation of or Exception to this Precept save only that one of the Apostles Act. 5.29 We ought to obey God rather than Men. Which sufficiently proves that nothing can excuse us from giving Obedience unto all such Laws as are made by the Legislative Power of the Kingdom or Commonwealth of which we are Members Except it be that something is thereby required which is contrary to the Laws of God From these two General Propositions these following Corollaries with particular relation to Ecclesiastical Synods do most evidently follow in Answer to the Last Enquiry viz. First That the Church may consent and the Civil Authority may either with or without such consent Enact whatever Laws they please concerning the calling modelling manner of proceeding and Limitation of the Authority of Ecclesiastical Synods Provided that nothing is thereby done which is prejudicial to true Religion and Piety Secondly But if true Piety or Religion or any part thereof be really in danger by the breaking in of Atheism Heterodoxy or Immorality And no other way can be taken or found to prevent or redress such a mischief but onely the Assembling and free Acting of an Ecclesiastical Synod Let the Civil Law say what it will The Church notwithstanding any consent of hers given or pretended to be given to the contrary is bound to convene an Ecclesiastical Synod freely to consult and determine what is fit to be done for the redressing of such evils as these And as Dr. Wake judiciously observes If the Civil Magistrate shall so far abuse his Authority Authorit of Christian Princes pag. 43. as to render it necessary for the Clergy by some extraordinary methods to provide for the Churches wellfare That necessity will warrant their taking of them But Thirdly If any other way may as effectually be found for the preservation of the true Religion and Piety The Church ought by no means to break in upon the Civil Law Nor to Assemble or Act in an Ecclesiastical Synod in any other manner than what is agreeable to its Constitutions 23. But if any man shall be so hardy as to demand What Authority the Civil Power has to make any Laws at all in Ecclesiastical matters Their proper business being only to secure the Peace and promote the welfare of the people under them in this World alone and not to watch over their Souls or direct them in the way of Eternal Salvation which is the Office of those of another Function and mediately or immediately ought ever to be the design of all Ecclesiastical Constitutions I answer First that since Experience abundantly assures us how great an influence the due management of the affair of Religion generally has upon the Peace and Temporal welfare of any People I will follow that the Civil Government whether it be heathen or Christian to whose care the latter is committed must needs be vested in a Power of making Laws concerning the former so far as is necessary for the performance of their Office and the Execution of that Trust which is committed to them by the People And if the Temporal Magistrate at any time apprehends that differences about Religion among his Subjects may likely be improved into farther disorders and breaches of the Peace of which he is appointed the Supreme keeper and Guardian He certainly may I mean with the concurrence of the Legislative Authority enact and make such Laws as may best put