THE ARCH-REBEL found OR AN ANSWER TO Mr. M. H's Brief Enquiry into the true Nature of SCHISM By T. W. Citizen of Chester and a Sincere lover of Truth EZEK 13 Verse 10. Because even because they have seduced my People saying Peace and there was no Peace Printed for the Author in the Year 1690. TO THE READER THO by many Learned and Pious Clergy-men of our Church the Folly and Schism of our Dissenters has been clearly and sufficiently evinced and demonstrated yet you see how restless their Spirits are and with what little shifts they continue to buoy up their Faction The little Book of Mr. M. H's Enquiry c. shall by them be vastly prefer'd to and Dogmatically affirm'd to have the Conquest over all the Learned Orthodox and â—laborate Writings of Hooker Bramhall Hammond â—aunderson and divers others I have heard some of his Disciples boast that it was not nor could be Answer'd by any of the Church-men which considering and withall how it was as much below a Clergy-man to spend his precious time about such a trifle of a Book as it is for a Lyon to concern himself with a little insignificant barking Whelp I undertook my Lay-brother with a Resolution of Patience and Courâ—ge without any Apology being not skill'd therein to undergo the censures of all that read these papers If thou be a true Member of our Church I have confidence and am well assured thy precious Balm will never break my Head thy Religion hath taught thee Charity and Candor sufficient to cover any weakness that thou mayest discover and if thou art pleased with my attempt it is my great satisfaction If thou be a Dissenter who has not Sacrificed thy Name to the Factious so as to divest thy self of all Christian Temper of Humility and Consideration there is hope of thy Reconciliation and that thou wilt consider thy desperate State and Condition and if my weak endeavours may contribute to the snatching thee as a Fire-brand out of the Fire I shall exceedingly rejoyce but not I only for the Blessed Angels in Heaven will have joy among them for thy Addition to the Catholick Church of which they are the most Glorious Members If thou be Sceptical a slighter of our Religion Obstinate and Perverse a Despiser and Reviler of our Clergy whom I esteem as the Stewards of the Mystery of God and the Ministers of Reconciliation I shall altogether glory in thy Scoffs and have a low esteem of thy good words THE ARCH-REBEL found OR AN ANSWER TO Mr. M. H's Brief Enquiry into the true nature of Schism c. SIR HAD your Enquiry been to find out the true Notion of the Ninth Article in the Apostles â—reed viz. I believe the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints â—ou had then found the true Standard by which you might have made a far clearer discovery of Schism than you have done by your Enquiry For which purpose I offer to your Consideration first the Origination and first Existance of the Catholick Church which was before the day of Pentecost Acts 1. v. 15. The number of the Names together were about an Hundred and Twenty This Number consisted of the Apostles and Disciples That this was the Church appears Cap 2. v. 47. And the Lord added to the Church that is to the Apostles and Disciples dayly such as should be saved To encrease his Church and to plant it in all Nations Christ Jesus the head thereof gave unto the Apostles Universal power Saint John 20.21 As the Father sent me even so send I you to Preach the Gospel to all the World that in every Nation they that believe might be Baptiz'd and made Members of this Church which is the Mystical Body of Christ And the Apostles according to the Command of our Saviour and by Virtue of that Power wherewith he invested them and those extraordinary gifts which they received by the Descent of the Holy Ghost enabling them mightily for so great a work did preach the Gospel to all Nations and so wonderfully prevail'd that in the life time of St. John there were Seven Churches Established in Asia under Seven Bishops each Church having a Bishop presiding over it which is very manifest by the name Angel which St. John gives them Now though there be a Multiplication or Plurality of Churches by the encrease of Believers yet no variation they are all one with that Church first mentioned at Jerusalem and all one with one another being all United into one Spiritual Society or Body under one Head Christ Jesus and are in all things the same with that first Church United in one Baptism and in one Faith and all pertake at the same Table eating the same Bread being the Symbol of the same Body which suffered on the Cross and drinking all of the same Cup the Cup of the New Testament the Symbol of the Blood of Christ which he shed for his Church and so United all in the visible external Worship and Service of God This is â— Original and first being of the Church The next thing Sir I offer to your consideration is the Continuance oâ— Duration of this Church on Earth and that is till our Blessed Saviour's second Advent St. Mat. 28.20 And lo I am with you always even to the end of the World Amen The power wherewith our Blessed Saviour vested the Apostles was not to cease or expire with them but as they had received the power of Governing and Conferring Orders in the Church from Christ Jesus so they conferr'd the same on others that the Church might for ever retain this Apostolical power and thus in this respect our Lord is with his Church to the end of the World And this Apostolical Succession was begun in Timothy and Titus the former being Ordained by the Apostles Bishop of Ephesus the other Bishop of Creet that they were both invested with power of jurisdiction and conferring Orders and that though in each Diocess there were many Presbyters yet that none had Authority to ordain Elders or Priests but they is most manifest by Saint Paul's Epistles to them both To propagate this Apostolical Succession Linus by Apostolical Consecration Succeeded the Apostles in the See of Rome Symeon Succeeded Saint James in the Chair of Jerusalem Anianus Succeeded Saint Mark in the Jurisdiction of the Church of Alexandria And this Succession in the right line from the Apostles to secure the Church from Impostors and Pretenders was so sacredly carryed on and propagated with such certainty that Saint Irenaeus affirms Lib. 3. adv Her c. 3. he could name all the Successors of the Apostolick Churches unto his days And accordingly this line of Apostolick Succession of Bishops hath continued in all Ages without interruption to this present time Now whoever he be that is out of this line of Apostolick Succession and exercises any Ministerial Office without the Commission of Episcopal Ordination can be no more or other than a Lay-Impostor and a
Schismatick And consequently all Societies of Christians who withdraw themselves from the Government of their Bishops who are the Apostles Successors and from communicating with those Presbyters lawfully set over them by Episcopal Ordination and Institution and frame themselves into any other kind of Government are guilty of Schism This 〈◊〉 the true formal Notion of Schism in the sense of the Fathers in the â—tive Church Of which more anon This Church so constituted and established to continue to the end of the â—orld from its Universallity was by the Primitive Fathers called the Catholick Church and from its Unity the Communion of Saints Which is now to be considered What this Union and Communion of Saints is appears by Holy Scripture St. John 13. v. 35. By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have love one for another Love is the Badge of a Disciple of Christ and Member of the Catholick Church but there must be more in the command to the Disciples to love one another than commonly the acceptation Love hath for the Christian Religion enjoyns Love and Charity to all men To Love our Enemies to pray for them that hate us and to do good to them that despitefully use us and persecute us is the command of our Blessed Saviour and Gal. 6. v. 10. As we have therefore opertunity let us do good unto all men So that this Love which one Disciple is to have for another must be such as distinguisheth Chrstians from all other men Now what can that be but to love one another as members of the same Body whereof Christ is the Head and what can that be but to live in Christian Communion and Fellowship one with another Iâ— cannot be the bare loving one another for there are some who are not Christians who are so bountiful and loving towards all men that if this were the only Charactâ—ristical mark of a Christian they would and must pass for Christians without believing in Christ And who seeth not that Pyrats and Robbers and the vilest of men love one another So that it is as before is said not the bare loving one another by which men are known to be Christians but the being admitted by Baptism into the Society of the Christian Church and loving one another in the Communion of that Church this is that which makes true Christian Charity Saint Paul commands 1 Cor. 12.25 26. that there be no Schism in the Body but the Members should have the same care one for another and whether one Member suffers all the Members suffer with it or one Member be honored all the Members rejoyce with it now ye are the Body of Christ and Members in particular Christians to love one another is to love like Members of the same Body to preserve the Body from all Rents and Schisms and to maintain Sympathy and Chriâ—â—â— Charity in the Communion of Christs Body whereof we are all Mâ—â—bers So that Christian Charity unites us to Christs Body and nothinâ—â— Christian Love and Charity that doth not unite us in one Body 〈◊〉 one Communion that is one external visible Communion of the Christian Church Thus you see that by the words Christian Love and Charity so much used in Scripture must be understood the Communion of Saints and that out of the Communion of Saints there can be no Christian Charity And so is the same thing meant expressed by other words namely Brotherly Love Rom. 10.12 and by the name Brethren Heb. 13. v. 1. Let brotherly Love continue This term Brother was given to none but those who liv'd in Communion with the Church not the Gnosticks who seperated from it under pretence of greater Knowledge nor any who separate upon any pretence whatsoever And aâ—ter the Apostles the Primitive Church did confine the Christian Brother-hood to the Communion of the Church all the Precepts relating to Brotherly Love either in the Evangelists or Apostles suppose Christians to be Members of the Mystical Body of Christ that is his Câ—urch and to be all United there in full Communion and this is what tâ—e â—postle means to have no Schism in the Body out of all which it appears Fiâ—thly to assent to and believe all the Articles of Faith contained in the Apoâ—â—les Nicene and Saint Athanasius's Creed allow'd and receiv'd in the Primitive Church to pertake all of the same Table where we aâ— pertake of the same Body which was broken for us and of the same Blood which was shed for us and to joyn all in the same holy Prayers and Supplications Intercessions and giving of thanks made as the Aposâ—le expresâ—ly commands for all men to be Subject and Obedient to ouâ— Spiritual Rulers and Governors who have derived their Power and Authority â—rom the Apostles by a due succession to this present Age in all things pertaining to Godly Life Decency and Order as the Catholicks did in the Primitive times this is true Christian Charity in the Language of the Scriptures and this is the Communion of Saints To hold Communion in the Articles of Faith only or what you call Fundamentals without any visible Sign of being in Communion with some Church that is a true Member of the Catholick Church is not sufficient to make a Catholick or one in the Communion of Saints though without such a Communion of Faith it is imposible to be so Corah and his Company were of the same Creed with Moses and Aaron yet were Schismatical wretches and were punished with a Vengeance The Donâ—tiâ—â—s whom you acknowledge to be Scismaticks held the Fundamentals of Religion but their separate Communion from the Catholick Church upon pretence of greater purity excluding all other Churches as not Catâ—o ick this made 'em Schismaticks in the judgment of the Fathers in the Catholick Church at that time So that all particular Churches who agree with the Primitive Catholick Church in all the Articles of Faith and in the external visible Worship and Service of God are true Members of the Catholick Church and in the Communion of Saints and no other The Church of England then having from the first planting of the Gospel here retained the Apostolick power of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Ordaining Priests by an unterrupted Succession of Arch Bishops and Bishops in the right line from the Apostles to this present time and agreeing with and no way repugnant to the Primitive Catholick Church in Doctrin Discipline and Worship is truly a Member of the Universal Catholick Church out of which there is no Communion of Saints The necessary consequence whereof is that they who live within the Jurisdiction of the Church of England and refuse Communion with her in the external visible Worship and Service of God do exclude themselves from being Members of the Catholick Church or in the Communion of Saints and are consequently guilty of Schism The reason is plain because there is no other way for any to hold Communion with the Universal Catholick Church but
this digression which I think not impertinent and then I 'll close The Prayers made for the the Wednesday Fast cannot be Charged with Popery as your Party have the Liturgy Supplications fitted to the Occasion and for all capacities imposed by Lawful Authority by them who have the Rule over us What account can you give to God to the Government and to your own Conscience why you omit or refuse so indispensible a duty The Apostle saith Obey them that have the Rule over you and Commands this duty of Obedience to our Governors upon the Severest and Highest Penalties Rom. 13. v. 1 2. Whosoever therefore resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation How can you reconcile your Practice with this Apostolical Injunction Unless you can charge the Prayers with something not lawful or not reasonable to be offered to God you are highly Criminal in the Apostles Judgment God Almighty hath now settled the Government where there is as true and real Abhorence of Popish Delusions as you or any of your Party can pretend to yet you yield not obedience to them even in a Religious Duty All your pretence is that your Prayers are more purely Spiritual you seek God in more apt and pleasing words words which immediately flow from the Spirit What is this but to limit and restrain the Holy Scripture to your way and to your Faction as if no Prayers but those hammered out of your own Brains could bear the stamp of the Holy Spirit of God and is it * Swoppery in Robbery not highly Prophane if not Blasphemy to impure all your Levites and Impertinencys to the immediate dictates of the Spirit of God though this Holy Spirit you pretend to can no where be found but in the Holy Catholick Church and Communion of Saints where alone our Blessed Lord hath Promised it shall be to the end of the World All the Impostors in the world who have set up before you even Mahomet himself and a great number of Hereticks and Schismaticks in the Christian Church pretended to inspiration and by it have deceived many But this your pretence to inspiration can never proselyte any but the Ignorant and Undescerning and those who are given to Change unless you can produce the Credentials of a Miracle All our Prayers in our Liturgy are directed to God Almighty and are presented in the name of the Blessed Jesus and all we supplicate for are for no other things but what is allowed of and required in our holy Religion Now why any but Atheists and those that are Antichristian joyn not with us in those Prayers and Praises especially considering that it is the Apostle Saint Paul's Judgment Rom. 15.6 That we might with one mind and with one Mouth glorifie God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ I know not unless for the same Reason that you refuse those Prayers for the Fast added to the Liturgy viz. Obstinacy and Disobedience Now Sir to close up all you cannot but see your Guilt I Address to you in all Meekness and Christian Charity that you will seriously consider the dangerous and desperate State and Condition you are in for all the great and precious promises made by God in Christ Jesus are only to them who are Members of the Mystical Body of Christ the Holy Catholick Church and Communion of Saints they who are not of the Catholick Church and Communion of Saints may flatter themselves with Unwarrantable and Groundless Fancies but can have no real Title or Right to any of those precious Promisses and therefore as you love your Soul suffer not filthy Lucre Interest or Pride to with-hold you any longer out of the Catholick Church wherein alone Salvation can be had it is not your purer Administrations or any other pretence can avail or stand you in any stead they only who are of this Society which is the Mystical Body of Christ here on earth have any Right Heb. 12 vers 22.23.24 to come to the Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable Company of Angels to the General Assembly and Church of the first born which are Written in Heaven And to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of just men made perfect And to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant that you may have Right and Title to all this I heartily Pray with the Church in the Liturgy That it may please God to bring you into the way of Truth and all such as have erred and are deceived Amen FINIS