Coemeteria or Church-yard distinct in those times from their places of Publick Worship and at a great distance from them as being commonly without the Cities Here their burying places where in large Cryptae or Grots under ground where they celebrated these memorials and whither they used to retire for their common devotions in times of great persecution when their Churches were destroyed or taken from them And therefore when Aemilian the Governour of Egypt under the Reign of Valerian would screw up the persecution against Christians he forbad their meetings and that they should not so much as assemble in the places which they called their Church-yards the same priviledge which Maximinus also had taken from them By reason of the darkness of these places and their frequent assembling there in the night to avoid the fury of their Enemies they were forced to use Lights and Lamps in their publick meetings but they who make this an argument to patronize their burning of Lamps and Wax-Candles in their Churches at Noon-day as 't is in all the great Churches of the Roman Communion talk at a strange rate of wild inconsequence I am sure S. Hierom when charged with it denied that they used any in the day time and never but at night when they rose up to their night-devotions He confesses indeed 't was otherwise in the Eastern Churches where when the Gospel was to be read they set up Lights as a token of their rejoycing for those happy and glad tidings that were contained in it light having been ever used as a symbol and representation of joy and gladness A custom probably not much elder than his time Afterwards when Christianity prevailed in the world the devotion of Christians erected Churches in those places the Temples of the Martyrs says Theodoret being spacious and beautiful richly and curiously adorned and shining with great lustre and brightness These Solemnities as the same Author informs us were kept not like the Heathen Festivals with luxury and obsceneness but with devotion and sobriety with divine Hymns and religious Sermons with fervent prayers to God mixed many times with sighs and tears Here they heard Sermons and Orations joined in publick prayers and praises received the holy Sacrament offered gifts and charities for the poor recited the names of the Martyrs then commemorated with their due elogies and commendations and their virtues propounded to the imitation of the hearers For which purpose they had their set Notaries who took the acts sayings and sufferings of Martyrs which were after compiled into particular Treatises and were recited in these annual meetings and this was the first original of Martyrologies in the Christian Church From this custom of offering up prayers praises and alms at those times it is that the Fathers speak so often of oblations and sacrifices at the Martyrs Festivals Tertullian often upon an anniversary day says he we make oblations for them that are departed in memory of their Natalitia or Birth days and to the same purpose elsewhere As oft says Cyprian as by an anniversary commemoration we celebrate the passion days of the Martyrs we always offer sacrifices for them and the same phrases oft occur in many others of the Fathers By which 't is evident they meant no more than their publick prayers and offering up praises to God for the piety and constancy and the excellent examples of their Martyrs their celebrating the Eucharist at these times as the commemoration of Christs Sacrifice their oblation of alms and charity for the poor every one of which truly may and often is stiled a sacrifice or oblation and are so understood by some of the more moderate even of the Romish Church and with good reason for that they did not make any real and formal sacrifices and oblations to Martyrs but only honour them as holy men and friends to God who for his and our Saviours honour and the truth of Religion chose to lay down their lives I find expresly affirmed by Theodoret. These Festivals being times of mirth and gladness were celebrated with great expressions of love and charity to the poor and mutual rejoycings with one another Here they had their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Feasts every one bringing something to the common Banquet out of which the poor also had their share These Feasts at first were very sober and temperate and such as became the modesty and simplicity of Christians as we heard before out of Theodoret and is affirmed before him by Constantine in his Oration to the Saints But degenerating afterwards into excess and intemperance they were every where declaimed against by the Fathers till they were wholly laid aside Upon the account of these Feasts and for the better making provisions for them we may conceive it was that Markets came to be kept at these times and places for of such S. Basil speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Markets held at the memorials and Tombs of Martyrs these he condemns as highly unsuitable to those Solemnities which were only instituted for prayer and a commemoration of the virtues of good men for our incouragement and imitation and that they ought to remember the severity of our otherwise meek and humble Saviour who whipt the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple when by their marketings they had turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves And the truth is these anniversary commemorations though in their primitive institution they are highly reasonable and commendable yet through the folly and dotage of men they were after made to minister to great superstition and idolatry so plain is it that the best and usefullest things may be corrupted to bad purposes For hence sprung the doctrine and practice of prayer and invocation of Saints and their intercession with God the worshipping of Reliques Pilgrimages and visiting Churches and offering at the Shrines of such and such Saints and such like superstitious practices which in after Ages over-run so great a part of the Christian Church things utterly unknown to the simplicity of those purer and better times CHAP. VIII Of the persons constituting the body of the Church both people and Ministers The people distinguished into several ranks Catechumens of two sorts Gradually instructed in the principles of the Christian Faith Accounted only Christians at large The more recondite mysteries of Christianity concealed from persons till after baptism Three reasons assigned of it How long they remained in the state of Catechumens The several Classes of Penitents the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the faithful Their particular stations in the Church Their great reverence for the Lords Supper The Clergie why called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of two sorts the highest Bishops Presbyters and Deacons Bishops as superiour to Presbyters how ancient by the most learned opposers of Episcopacy Their office and priviledge what Chorepiscopi who Their power and priviledge above Presbyters
The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Visiters in every Diocess Of Metropolitans what their power and authority above ordinary Bishops their antiquity Of Patriarchs and in what respects superiour to Metropolitans and Archbishops An account of conforming the external jurisdiction of the Church to the Civil Government of the Roman Empire Presbyters their place and duty Whether they preached in the presence of the Bishop Deacons their Institution office number The Arch-Deacon Of inferiour orders The Subdeacon The Acolythus The Exorcist The Reader The Door-keeper What the nature of their several places Ordination to these Offices how managed The people present at and consenting to the Ordination Sacerdotes praedicarii what The Christian discipline in this case imitated by the Emperour Severus in appointing Civil Officers Great tryals and testimonials to be had of persons to be ordained Clergie-men to rise by degrees The age usually required in those that were to be promoted to the several orders Of Deaconesses their antiquity age and office The great honour and respect shewed to Bishops and Ministers Looked upon as common Parents Nothing of moment done without their leave Their welcome and the honour done them where-ever they came this made good by several instances Bishops invested with power to determine civil controversies The plentiful provision made for them The great priviledges and immunities granted by Constantine and his Successors to the Bishops and Clergie noted out of the Theodosian Code FRom the consideration of time and place we proceed to consider the Persons that constituted and made up their Religious Assemblies and they were either the body of the people or those who were peculiarly consecrated and set apart for the publick ministrations of Religion For the Body of the people we may observe that as Christianity at first generally gain'd admission in great Towns and Cities so all the Believers of that place usually assembled and met together the Christians also of the Neighbour-Villages resorting thither at times of publick Worship But Religion encreasing apace the publick Assembly especially in the greater Cities quickly began to be too vast and numerous to be managed with any order and conveniency and therefore they were forced to divide the body into particular Congregations who had their Pastors and spiritual Guides set over them but still were under the superintendency and care of him that was the President or Bishop of the place And according as the Church could form and establish its discipline the people either according to their seniority and improvement or according to the quality of the present condition they were under began to be distinguished into several ranks and Classes which had their distinct places in the Church and their gradual admission to the several parts of the publick Worship The first were the Catechumens and of these there were two sorts the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or more perfect such as had been Catechumens of some considerable standing and were even ripe for Baptism these might stay not only the reading of the Scriptures but to the very last part of the first Service The others were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the more rude and imperfect who stood only amongst the Hearers and were to depart the Congregation as soon as the Lessons were read these were as yet accounted Heathens who applied themselves to the Christian Faith and were catechized and instructed in the more plain grounds and rudiments of Religion These principles were gradually delivered to them according as they became capable to receive them first the more plain and then the more difficult Indeed they were very shye of imparting the knowledge of the more recondite Doctrines of Christianity to any till after Baptism So S. Cyril expresly assures us where speaking to the illuminate or Baptized if during the chatechetical exercise says he a Catechumen shall ask thee what that means which the Preachers say tell him not for he is yet without and these mysteries are delivered to thee only The weak understanding of a Catechumen being no more able to bear such sublime mysteries than a sick mans head can large and immoderate draughts of Wine And at the end of his Preface he has this note These Catechetical discourses may be read by those that are to be baptized or the faithful already baptized but to Catechumens or such as are no Christians thou mayst not impart them for if thou dost expect to give an account to God S. Basil discoursing of the Rites and Institutions of Christianity divides them into two parts the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were those parts of Religion which might 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be familiarly preached and expounded to the people The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were the more sublime and hidden Doctrines and parts of the Christian Faith and these were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things not rashly and commonly to be divulged but to be lock'd up in silence Of this nature were the Doctrines of the Trinity and Hypostatick Vnion and such like especially of the two Sacraments Baptism and the Lords Supper For though they acquainted their young hearers with so much of them as was necessary to stir up their desires yet as to the main of the things themselves the sacramental Symbols the manner of their celebration the modus of the divine presence at the holy Eucharist the meaning of all those mystical Rites and Ceremonies that were used about them these were carefully concealed both from Strangers and Catechumens and communicated only to those who were solemnly initiated and baptized Hence that ancient form so common in the Sermons and Writings of the Fathers whereby when accidentally discoursing before the people of any of these mysterious parts of Religion they used to fetch themselves off with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Those that are initiated know what is said This was so usual that this phrase occurs at least fifty times in the Writings of S. Chrysostom only as Casaubon hath observed who has likewise noted three reasons out of the Fathers why they so studiously concealed these parts of their Religion First the nature of the things themselves so sublime and remote from vulgar apprehensions that they would signifie little to Pagans or Catechumens not yet fully instructed and confirmed in the faith and would either be lost upon them or in danger to be derided by them Secondly that hereby the Catechumens and younger Christians might be inflamed with a greater eagerness of desire to partake of the mysteries and priviledges of the Faithful humane nature being desirous of nothing more than the knowledge of what is kept and conceal'd from us To help them forwards in this S. Augustine tells us that in their publick prayers they were wont to beg of God to inspire the Catechumens with a desire of baptismal regeneration The same account Chrysostom gives us this
his particular lot and portion comprehending the body of the people in general But afterwards this title was confin'd to narrower bounds and became appropriate to that Tribe which God had made choice of to stand before him to wait at his Altar and to minister in the services of his Worship And after the expiration of their Oeconomy was accordingly used to denote the ministry of the Gospel the persons peculiarly consecrated and devoted to the service of God in the Christian Church the Clergie being those qui divino cultui ministeria religionis impendunt as they are defin'd in a Law of the Emperour Constantine who are set apart for the ministeries of Religion in matters relating to the Divine Worship Now the whole 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 't is often called in the Apostles Canons the roll of the Clergie of the ancient Church taking it within the compass of its first four hundred years consisted of two sorts of persons the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who were peculiarly consecrated to the more proper and immediate acts of the Worship of God and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as were set apart only for the more mean and common services of the Church Of the first sort were these three Bishops Presbyters and Deacons The first and principal Officer of the Church was the President or Bishop usually chosen out of the Presbyters I shall not here concern my self in the disputes whether Episcopacy as a superior order to Presbytery was of divine institution a controversie sufficiently ventilated in the late times it being enough to my purpose what is acknowledged both by Blondel and Salmasius the most learned defenders of Presbytery that Bishops were distinct from and superior to Presbyters in the second Century or the next Age to the Apostles The main work and office of a Bishop was to teach and instruct the people to administer the Sacraments to absolve Penitents to eject and excommunicate obstinate and incorrigible offenders to preside in the Assemblies of the Clergy to ordain inferiour Officers in the Church to call them to account and to suspend or deal with them according to the nature of the offence to urge the observance of Ecclesiastical Laws and to appoint and institute such indifferent Rites as were for the decent and orderly administration of his Church In short according to the notation of his name he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Watchman and Sentinal and therefore oblig'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 diligently and carefully to inspect and observe to superintend and provide for those that were under his charge This Zonaras tells us was implied in the Bishops Throne being placed on high in the most eminent part of the Church to denote how much 't was his duty from thence to overlook and very diligently to observe the people that were under him These and many more were the unquestionable rights and duties of the Episcopal Office which because it was very difficult and troublesom for one man to discharge especially where the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Diocess as we now call it was any thing large therefore upon the multiplying of Country Churches it was thought fit to take in a subordinate sort of Bishops called Chorepiscopi Country or as amongst us they have been called suffragan Bishops whose business it was to superintend and inspect the Churches in the Country that lay more remote from the City where the Episcopal See was and which the Bishop could not always inspect and oversee in his own person These were the Vicarii Episcoporum as they are called in Isidores Version of the thirteenth Canon both of the Ancyran and Neocaesarean Council the Bishops Deputies chosen out of the fittest and gravest persons In the Canon of the last mentioned Council they are said to be chosen in imitation of the seventy not the seventy Elders which Moses took in to bear part of the Government as some have glossed the words of that Canon but of the seventy Disciples whom our Lord made choice of to send up and down the Countries to preach the Gospel as both Zonaras and Balsamon understand it and thereupon by reason of their great care and pains are commanded to be esteemed very honourable Their authority was much greater than that of Presbyters and yet much inferior to the Bishop Bishops really they were though their power confin'd within narrow limits they were not allowed to ordain either Presbyters or Deacons unless peculiarly licens'd to it by the Bishop of the Diocess though they might ordain sub-Deacons Readers and any inferiour Officers under them They were to be assistant to the Bishop might be present at Synods and Councils to many whereof we find their subscriptions and had power to give Letters of peace i. e. such Letters whereby the Bishop of one Diocess was wont to recommend any of his Clergy to the Bishop of another that so a fair understanding and correspondence might be maintained between them a priviledge expresly denied to any Presbyter whatsoever But lest this wandring employment of the Chorepiscopi should reflect any dishonour upon the Episcopal Office there were certain Presbyters appointed in their room called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Visiters often mentioned in the ancient Canons and Acts of Councils who being tied to no certain place were to go up and down the Country to observe and correct what was amiss And these doubtless were those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spoken of in the thirteenth Canon of the Neocaesarean Council those rural Presbyters who are there forbid to consecrate the Eucharist in the City Church in the presence of the Bishop or the Presbyters of the City As Christianity encreased and overspread all parts and especially the Cities of the Empire it was found necessary yet farther to enlarge the Episcopal Office and as there was commonly a Bishop in every great City so in the Metropolis as the Romans called it the Mother City of every Province wherein they had Courts of Civil Judicature there was an Archbishop or a Metropolitan who had Ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all the Churches within that Province He was superior to all the Bishops within those limits to him it belonged either to ordain or to ratifie the elections and ordinations of all the Bishops within his Province insomuch that without his confirmation they were looked upon as null and void Once at least every year he was to summon the Bishops under him to a Synod to enquire into and direct the Ecclesiastical affairs within that Province to inspect the lives and manners the opinions and principles of his Bishops to admonish reprove and suspend them that were disorderly and irregular if any controversies or contentions happened between any of them he was to have the hearing and determination of them and indeed no matter of moment was done within the whole Province without first consulting him in the case Besides this Metropolitan there was many times another in the same
strictly taken for lifting up the hand in suffrage commonly used at Athens and some of the States of Greece in the designing and electing persons to be publick Magistrates But more particularly in use amongst the Jews and from them doubtless as many other of the Synagogue-rites transferred into the Christian Church and there constantly used both as to the lifting up and laying on the hands as the rite of conferring ordination upon the Ministers of Christ. Only it is here to be remembred that there was a double imposition of hands in setting apart Ecclesiastical Officers the one was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or by way of consecration and this was the proper way of ordaining the first rank of Officers Bishops Presbyters and Deacons the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of blessing hands being laid upon them only as in the absolution of Penitents by way of solemn benediction and thus the inferiour Officers Subdeacons Readers c. and Deaconesses were set apart All orders under Bishops were ordained by the Bishop the Bishop himself by all the Bishops of that Province who used to meet together for that purpose if nearness of place and other conveniencies would allow otherwise three and in cases of necessity two might do it the rest testifying their consent in writing and the person thus ordained was to be confirmed by the Metropolitan of that Province And whereas the Council of Antioch provides that no Bishop shall be ordained without the Metropolitan being present it is to be understood as Balsamon tells us of his leave and permission or his appointing it to be so For the ordination of the rest of the Clergy Priests Deacons c. the act and presence of one Bishop might suffice and as no more than one was required so one at least was necessary the power of conferring order being even by those who otherwise have had no mighty kindness for Episcopacy acknowledged an unquestionable right of the Episcopal Office Insomuch that in the case of Athanasius it was a just exception against Ischyras that he had been ordained by Colythus who was no higher than a Presbyter and consequently his ordination by the Council was adjudged null and void At all ordinations especially of superiour Officers the people of the place were always present and ratified the action with their approbation and consent And indeed it cannot be denied but that the people in some places especially were very much considered in this affair it being seldom or never done without their presence and suffrage To this end the Bishop was wont before every ordination to propound and publish the names of those who were to have holy Orders conferred upon them that so the people who best knew their lives and conversations might interpose if they had any thing material to object against it By which means the unworthy were discovered and rejected the deserving honoured and admitted the ordination became legitimate and satisfactory having past the common vote and suffrage without any exception made against it as Cyprian speaks Hence the Clergie of what order soever were said Praedicari to be propounded or published And this way seemed so fit and reasonable that Severus the Emperour a wise and prudent Prince in imitation of the Christians established it in the disposal of Civil Offices For when he had a mind to send out any Governours of Provinces or to appoint Receivers of his Revenues he propounded the names of those he intended desiring the people to except against the persons if they knew them guilty of any crimes which they were able to make good against them affirming it to be unfit says his own Historian that when the Christians and Jews did it in publishing those who were to be ordained their Priests and Ministers the same should not be observed in the election of Governours of Provinces who had the lives and fortunes of men committed to them When the case so hapned that the ordination was more remote or private they were then required to bring sufficient testimonials thus Cyprian when ordaining Saturus and Optatus to be Readers we examined says he whether the Testimonials agreed to them which they ought to have who are admitted into the Clergy And indeed they proceeded in this affair with all imaginable care and prudence they examined mens fitness for the place to which they were set apart enquired severely what had been the course and manner of their life how they had carried themselves in their youth and whether they had governed it by the strict rules of piety This ancient custom as S. Basil calls it was ratified by the Nicene Council declaring that none should be ordained Presbyter without previous examination especially a strict enquiry into his life and manners For the Apostolick Church says Joseph the Egyptian in his Arabick Paraphrase of that Canon admits none in this case but him that is of great innocency and an unspotted life free from those crimes and enormities which he there particularly reckons up They suffered not men in those days to leap into Ecclesiastical Orders but by the usual steps and staying the appointed times Cyprian commends Cornelius Bishop of Rome that he did not skip into the Chair but passed through all the Ecclesiastical Offices ascending through all the degrees of Religion till he came ad sacerdotii sublime fastigium to the top of the highest order A thing expresly provided for by the Synod of Sardis that no man though never so rich though furnished with never so good a knack of speech and oratory should yet be made Bishop before he had passed through the preceding Orders of Reader Subdeacon Deacon and Presbyter that having been found fit in each of these he might step by step ascend up to the Episcopal Chair and that he should spend some considerable time in each of these degrees that so his faith and the innocency and excellency of his life his constancy and moderation might be made known to all and his fitness for that sacred function being made apparent might procure him the greater honour and reverence from others Men were then forced to stay their full time before they could be promoted to any higher Order they did not commence Divines and Bishops in a day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nazianzen elegantly calls them like some he complains of in his time who were not polished by time and study but fitted and made Bishops all at once whom therefore he wittily compares to the Dragons teeth which the Fable tells us Cadmus sowed at Thebes which immediately sprung up Giants out of the earth arm'd Cap-a-pe perfect men and perfect Warriours in one day and just such says he were some Prelates consecrated made wise and learned in one day who yet understood nothing before nor brought any thing to the Order but only a good will to be there For the Age of the persons that were to be ordained they usually
the time of penance might be shortned In what sence communion is denied by some antient Canons to penitents at the hour of death This discipline administred primarily by Bishops By his leave Presbyters and in necessity Deacons might absolve The publick penitentiary when and why instituted when and why laid aside Penitents taken into communion by Martyrs and Confessors This power abused to excess Cyprian's complaint of the excessive numbers of Libells of peace granted by the Martyrs to the lapsed without the knowledge of the Bishop The form of these Pacifick Libells exemplified out of Cyprian other sorts of Libells The Libellatici who Thurificati Several sorts of Libellatici The Libellatici properly so called Their manner of address to the Heathen Magistrate to procure their exemption from sacrificing That they did not privately deny Christ proved against Baronius The piety and purity of the Primitive Church matter of just admiration HAving travelled through the several stages of the subject I had undertaken I should here have ended my journey but that there one thing remains which was not properly reducible under any particular head being of a general relation to the whole and that is to consider what Discipline was used towards offenders in the antient Church only premising this that the Christian Church being founded and established by Christ as a Society and Corporation distinct from that of the Common-wealth is by the very nature of its constitution besides what positive ground and warrant there may be for it in Scripture invested with an inherent power besides what is borrowed from the Civil Magistrate of censuring and punishing its members that offend against the Laws of it and this in order to the maintaining its peace and purity For without such a fundamental power as this 't is impossible that as a Society it should be able to subsist the very nature of a community necessarily implying such a right inherent in it Now for the better understanding what this power was and how exercised in the first Ages of the Church we shall consider these four things What were the usual crimes that came under the discipline of the antient Church what penalties were inflicted upon delinquent persons in what manner offenders were dealt with and by whom this discipline was administred First What the usual crimes and offences were which came under the discipline of the antient Church in the general they were any offences against the Christian Law any vice or immorality that was either publick in it self or made known and made good to the Church For the holy and good Christians of those times were infinitely careful to keep the honour of their Religion unspotted to stifle every sin in its birth and by bringing offenders to publick shame and penalty to keep them from propagating the malignant influence of a bad example For this reason they watched over one another told them privately of their faults and failures and when that would not do brought them before the cognizance of the Church 'T is needless to reckon up particular crimes when none were spar'd Only because in those days by reason of the violent heats of persecution the great temptation which the weaker and more unsettled Christians were exposed to was to deny their profession and to offer sacrifice to the Heathen-gods therefore lapsing into Idolatry was the most common sin that came before them and of this they had very frequent instances it being that which for some Ages mainly exercised the Discipline of the Church This sin of Idolatry or denying Christ in those times was usually committed these three ways Sometimes by exposing the Scriptures to the rage and malice of their enemies which was accounted a virtual renouncing Christianity This was especially remarkable under the Diocletian persecution in the African Churches For Diocletian had put forth an Edict that Christians should deliver up their Scriptures and the Writings of the Church to be burnt This command was prosecuted with great rigour and fierceness and many Christians to avoid the storm delivered up their Bibles to the scorn and fury of their enemies Hence they were styled Traditores of whom there is frequent mention in Optatus and S. Augustin with whom the Orthodox refusing to joyn after the persecution was over the difference broke out into Schism and faction and gave birth to that unhappy Sect of the Donatists which so much exercised the Christian Church Otherwhiles Christians became guilty of Idolatry by actual sacrificing or worshipping Idols these were called Thurificati from their burning incense upon the altars of the Heathen Deities and were the grossest and vilest sort of Idolaters Others again fell into this sin by basely corrupting the Heathen Magistrate and purchasing a warrant of security from him to exempt them from the penalty of the Law and the necessity of sacrificing and denying Christ These were called Libellatici of whom we shall speak more afterwards Secondly What penalties and punishments were inflicted upon delinquent persons and they could be no other than such as were agreeable to the nature and constitution of the Church which as it transacts only in spiritual matters so it could inflict no other than spiritual censures and chastisements 'T is true indeed that in the first Age especially the Apostles had a power to inflict bodily punishments upon offenders which they sometimes made use of upon great occasions as S. Peter did towards Ananias and Saphira striking them dead upon the place for their notorious couzenage and gross hypocrisie And S. Paul punished Elymas with blindness for his perverse and malicious opposition of the Gospel and this doubtless he primarily intends by his delivering over persons unto Satan for no sooner were they excommunicated and cut off from the body of the faithful but Satan as the common Serjeant and Jaylor seized upon them and either by actual possessing or some other sign upon their bodies made it appear that they were delivered over into his power This could not but strike a mighty terrour into men and make them stand in awe of the censures of the Church and questionless the main design of the divine providence in affording this extraordinary gift was to supply the defect of civil and coercive power of which the Church was then wholly destitute and therefore needed some more than ordinary assistance especially at its first constitution some visible and sensible punishments to keep its sentence and determinations from being sleighted by bold and contumacious offenders How long this miraculous power lasted in the Church I know not or whether at all beyond the Apostles age The common and standing penalty they made use of was Excommunication or suspension from communion with the Church the cutting off and casting out an offending person as a rotten and infected member till by repentance and wholesome discipline he was cured and restored and then he was re-admitted into Church-society and to a participation of the ordinances and priviledges of Christianity This way of punishing
more than ordinary rank and dignity or of a more tender and delicate Constitution Chrysostome determines that in chastising and punishing their offences they be dealt withal in a more peculiar manner than other men lest by holding them under over-rigorous penalties they should be tempted to fly out into despair and so throwing off the reins of modesty and the care of their own happiness and salvation should run headlong into all manner of vice and wickedness So wisely did the prudence and piety of those times deal with offenders neither letting the reins so loose as to patronize presumption or encourage any man to sin nor yet holding them so strait as to drive men into despair The fourth and last circumstance concerns the Persons by whom this discipline was administred now though 't is true that this affair was managed in the Publick Congregation and seldom or never done without the consent and approbation of the people as Cyprian more than once and again expresly tells us yet was it ever accounted a ministerial act and properly belonged to them Tertullian speaking of Church censures adds that the Elders that are approv'd and have attain'd that honour not by purchase but testimony preside therein and Firmilian Bishop of Caesarea Cappadocia in a Letter to S. Cyprian speaking of the Majores natu the Seniors that preside in the Church tells us that to them belongs the power of baptizing imposing hands viz. in penance and ordination By the Bishop it was primarily and usually administred the determining the time and manner of repentance and the conferring pardon upon the penitent sinner being acts of the highest power and jurisdiction and therefore reckoned to appertain to the highest order in the Church Therefore 't is provided by the Illiberine Council that penance shall be prescribed by none but the Bishop only in case of necessity such as sickness and danger of death by leave and command from the Bishop the Presbyter or Deacon might impose penance and absolve Accordingly we find Cyprian amongst other directions to his Clergy how to carry themselves towards the lapsed giving them this that if any were over-taken with sickness or present danger they should not stay for his coming but the sick person should make confession of his sins to the next Presbyter or if a Presbyter could not be met with to a Deacon that so laying hands upon him he might depart in the peace of the Church But though while the number of Christians was small and the bounds of particular Churches little Bishops were able to manage these and other parts of their office in their own persons yet soon after the task began to grow too great for them and therefore about the time of the Decian persecution when Christians were very much multiplyed and the number of the lapsed great it seem'd good to the prudence of the Church partly for the ease of the Bishop and partly to provide for the modesty of persons in being brought before the whole Church to confess every crime to appoint a publick penitentiary some holy grave and prudent Presbyter whose office it was to take the confession of those sins which persons had committed after baptism and by prayers fastings and other exercises of mortification to prepare them for absolution He was a kind of Censor morum to enquire into the lives of Christians to take an account of their failures and to direct and dispose them to repentance This Office continued for some hundreds of years till it was abrogated by Nectarius S. Chrysostomes predecessor in the See of Constantinople upon the occasion of a notorious scandal that arose about it A woman of good rank and quality had been with the Penitentiary and confessed all her sins committed since baptism he enjoyn'd her to give up her self to fasting and prayer but not long after she came to him and confessed that while she was conversant in the Church to attend upon those holy exercises she had been tempted to commit folly and leudness with a Deacon of the Church whereupon the Deacon was immediately cast out but the people being excedingly troubled at the scandal and the Holy Order hereby exposed to the scorn and derision of the Gentiles Nectarius by the advice of Eudaemon a Presbyter of that Church wholly took away the Office of the publick Penitentiary leaving every one to the care and liberty of his own conscience to prepare himself for the Holy Sacrament This account Socrates assures us he had from Eudaemon's own mouth and Sozomen adds that almost all Bishops follow'd Nectarius his example in abrogating this Office But besides the ordinary and standing office of the Clergy we find even some of the Laity the Martyrs and Confessors that had a considerable hand in absolving penitents and restoring them to the communion of the Church For the understanding of which we are to know that as the Christians of those times had a mighty reverence for Martyrs and Confessors as the great Champions of Religion so the Martyrs took upon them to dispense in extraordinary cases for it was very customary in times of persecution for those who through fear of suffering had lapsed into Idolatry to make their address to the Martyrs in prison and to beg peace of them that they might be restored to the Church who considering their petitions and weighing the circumstances of their case did frequently grant their requests mitigate their penance and by a note signed under their hands signifie what they had done to the Bishop who taking an account of their condition absolved and admitted them to communion Of these Libelli or Books granted by the Martyrs to the lapsed there is mention in Cyprian at every turn who complains they were come to that excessive number that thousands were granted almost every day this many of them took upon them to do with great smartness and authority and without that respect that was due to the Bishops as appears from the note written to Cyprian by Lucian in the name of the Confessors which because 't is but short and withall shews the form and manners of those pacifick Libells it may not be amiss to set it down and thus it runs All the Confessors to Cyprian the Bishop Greeting Know that we have granted peace to all those of whom you have had an account what they have done how they have behaved themselves since the commission of their crimes and we would that these presents should by you be imparted to the rest of the Bishops We wish you to maintain peace with the holy Martyrs Written by Lucian of the Clergy the Exorcist and Reader being present This was looked upon as very peremptory and magisterial and therefore of this confidence and presumption and carelesness in promiscuously granting these letters of peace Cyprian not without reason complains in an Epistle to the Clergy of Rome Besides these Libells granted by the Martyrs there
Province who enjoyed nothing but that name and title his Episcopal See being by the Emperours Pragmatic erected into the dignity of a Metropolis He was only an Honorary Metropolitan without any real power and jurisdiction and had no other priviledge but that he took place above other ordinary Bishops in all things else equally subject with them to the Metropolitan of the Province as the Council of Chalcedon determines in this case When this Office of Metropolitan first began I find not only this we are sure of that the Council of Nice setling the just rights and priviledges of Metropolitan Bishops speaks of them as a thing of ancient date ushering in the Canon with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let ancient customs still take place The original of the institution seems to have been partly to comply with peoples occasions who oft resorted to the Metropolis for dispatch of their affairs and so might fitly discharge their Civil and Ecclesiastical concerns both at once and partly because of the great confluence of people to that City that the Bishop of it might have preheminence above the rest and the honour of the Church bear some proportion to that of the State After this sprang up another branch of the Episcopal Office as much superiour to that of Metropolitans as theirs was to ordinary Bishops these were called Primates and Patriarchs and had jurisdiction over many Provinces For the understanding of this it 's necessary to know that when Christianity came to be fully setled in the world they contrived to model the external Government of the Church as near as might be to the Civil Government of the Roman Empire the parallel most exactly drawn by an ingenious person of our own Nation the sum of it is this The whole Empire of Rome was divided into Thirteen Dioceces so they called those divisions these contained about one hundred and twenty Provinses and every Province several Cities Now as in every City there was a temporal Magistrate for the executing of justice and keeping peace both for that City and the Towns round about it so was there also a Bishop for spiritual order and Government whose jurisdiction was of like extent and latitude In every Province there was a Proconsul or President whose seat was usually at the Metropolis or chief City of the Province and hither all inferiour Cities came for judgment in matters of importance And in proportion to this there was in the same City an Archbishop or Metropolitan for matters of Ecclesiastical concernment Lastly in every Diocess the Emperours had their Vicarii or Lieutenants who dwelt in the principal City of the Diocess where all imperial Edicts were published and from whence they were sent abroad into the several Provinces and where was the chief Tribunal where all Causes not determinable elsewhere were decided And to answer this there was in the same City a Primate to whom the last determination of all appeals from all the Provinces in differences of the Clergie and the Soveraign care of all the Diocess for sundry points of spiritual Government did belong This in short is the sum of the account which that learned man gives of this matter So that the Patriarch as superiour to Metropolitans was to have under his jurisdiction not any one single Province but a whole Diocess in the old Roman notion of that word consisting of many Provinces To him belonged the ordination of all the Metropolitans that were under him as also the summoning them to Councils the correcting and reforming the misdemeanours they were guilty of and from his judgment and sentence in things properly within his cognizance there lay no appeal To this I shall only add what Salmasius has noted that as the Diocess that was governed by the Vicarius had many Provinces under it so the Praefectus Praetorio had several Diocesses under him and in proportion to this probably it was that Patriarchs were first brought in who if not superiour to Primates in jurisdiction and power were yet in honour by reason of the dignity of those Cities where their Sees were fixed as at Rome Constantinople Alexandria Antioch and Jerusalem a title and dignity which they retain to this day The next Office to Bishops was that of Presbyters to whom it belonged to preach to the people to administer Baptism consecrate the Eucharist and to be assistent to the Bishop both in publick ministrations and in dispatching the affairs of the Church The truth is the Presbyters of every great City were a kind of Ecclesiastical Senate under the care and presidency of the Bishop whose counsel and assistance he made use of in ruling those Societies of Christians that were under his charge and government and were accordingly reckoned next in place and power to him thus described by S. Gregory in his Iambics 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The venerable Senate of Presbyters that preside over the people and possess the second Throne i. e. the place next to the Bishop they are called Clerici superioris loci and otherwhiles unless we understand it of the Chorepiscopi Antistites in secundo ordine and accordingly in Churches had seats of eminency placed for them next to the Bishops Throne Whereby was implied says Zonaras that they ought to use a proportionable care and providence towards the people to inform and teach them to direct and guide them being appointed as Fellow-labourers with and Assistants to the Bishop But though Presbyters by their ordination had a power conferred upon them to administer holy things yet after that the Church was setled upon foundations of order and regularity they did not usually exercise this power within any Diocess without leave and authority from the Bishop much less take upon them to preach in his presence This custom however it might be otherwise in the Eastern Church we are sure was constantly observed in the Churches of Afric till the time of Valerius S. Augustine's Predecessor in the See of Hippo. Who being a Greek and by reason of his little skill in the Latine tongue unable to preach to the edification of the people admitted S. Augustine whom he had lately ordained Presbyter to preach before him Which though at first 't was ill resented by some Bishops in those parts yet quickly became a president for other Churches to follow after After these came Deacons What the duty of their place was appears from their primitive election the Apostles setting them apart to serve or minister to the Tables i.e. to attend upon and take charge of those daily provisions that were made for poor indigent Christians but certainly it implies also their being destinated to a peculiar attendance at the service of the Lords Table And both these may be very well meant in that place it being the custom of Christians then to meet every day at the
made against their spiritual Guides and Governours and therefore according to the right art of Orators he first commends them for their eminent subjection to them that he might with the more advantage reprove and censure them for their schism afterwards which he does severely in the latter part of the Epistle and towards the end of it exhorts those who had laid the foundation of the Sedition to become subject to their Presbyters and being instructed to repentance to bow the knees of their hearts to lay aside the arrogant and insolent boldness of their tongues and to learn to subject and submit themselves The truth is Bishops and Ministers were then looked upon as the common Parents of Christians whom as such they honoured and obeyed and to whom they repaired for counsel and direction in all important cases 'T is plain from several passages in Tertullian that none could lawfully marry till they had first advised with the Bishop and Clergy of the Church and had asked and obtained their leave which probably they did to secure the person from marrying with a Gentile or any of them that were without and from the inconveniencies that might ensue upon such a match No respect no submission was thought great enough whereby they might do honour to them they were wont to kiss their hands to embrace their feet and at their going from or returning home or indeed their coming unto any place to wait upon them and either to receive or dismiss them with the universal confluence of the people Happy they thought themselves if they could but entertain them in their houses and bless their roofs with such welcome guests Amongst the various ways of kindness which Constantine the Great shewed to the Clergie the Writer of his life tells us that he used to treat them at his own Table though in the meanest and most despicable habit and never went a journey but he took some of them along with him reckoning that thereby he made himself surer of the propitious and favourable influence of the divine presence What honours he did them at the Council of Nice where he refused to sit down till they had given him intimation with what magnificent gifts and entertainments he treated them afterwards the same Author relates at large The truth is the piety of that devout and excellent Prince thought nothing too good for those who were the messengers of God and ministers of holy things and so infinitely tender was he of their honour as to profess that if at any time he should spye a Bishop overtaken in an immodest and uncomely action he would cover him with his own imperial Robe rather than others should take notice of it to the scandal of his place and person And because their spiritual authority and relation might not be sufficient to secure them from the contempt of rude and prophane persons therefore the first Christian Emperours invested them with power even in Civil cases as the way to beget them respect and authority amongst the people Thus Constantine as Sozomon tells us and he sets it down as a great argument of that Princes reverence for Religion ordained that persons contending in Law might if they pleased remove their cause out of the Civil Courts and appeal to the judgment of the Bishops whose sentence should be firm and take place before that of any other Judges as if it had been immediately passed by the Emperour himself and cases thus judged by Bishops all Governours of Provinces and their Officers were presently to put into execution which was afterwards ratified by two Laws one of Arcadius another of Honorius to that purpose This power the Bishops sometimes delegated to their inferior Clergy making them Judges in these cases as appears from what Socrates reports of Silvanus Bishop of Troas that finding a male-administration of this power he took it out of the hands of his Clergie and devolved the hearing and determining causes over to the Laity And to name no more S. Augustine more than once and again tells us how much he was crowded and even oppressed in deciding the contests and causes of secular persons It seems they thought themselves happy in those days if they could have their causes heard and determined by Bishops A pious Bishop and a faithful Minister was in those days dearer to them than the most valuable blessings upon earth and they could want any thing rather than be without them when Chrysostom was driven by the Empress into banishment the people as he went along burst into tears and cryed out ' t was better the Sun should not shine than that John Chrysostom should not preach and when through the importunity of the people he was recalled from his former banishment and diverted into the Suburbs till he might have an opportunity to make a publick vindication of his innocency the people not enduring such delays the Emperour was forced to send for him into the City the people universally meeting him and conducting him to his Church with all expressions of reverence and veneration Nay while he was yet Presbyter of the Church of Antioch so highly was he loved and honoured by the people of that place that though he was chosen to the See of Constantinople and sent for by the Emperours Letters though their Bishop made an Oration on purpose to perswade them to it yet would they by no means be brought to part with him and when the Messengers by force attempted to bring him away he was forced to prevent a tumult to withdraw and hide himself the people keeping a Guard about him lest he should be taken from them nor could the Emperour or his Agents with all their arts effect it till he used this wile he secretly wrote to the Governour of Antioch who pretending to Chrysostom that he had concerns of moment to impart to him invited him to a private place without the City where seizing upon him by Mules which he had in readiness he conveyed him to Constantinople where that his welcome might be the more magnificent the Emperour commanded that all persons of eminency both Ecclesiastical and Civil should with all possible pomp and state go six miles to meet him Of Nazianzen who sat in the same Chair of Constantinople before him I find that when he would have left that Bishoprick by reason of the stirs that were about it and delivered up himself to solitude and a private life as a thing much more suitable to his humour and genius many of the people came about him with tears beseeching him not to forsake his Flock which he had hitherto fed with so much sweat and labour They could not then lose their spiritual Guides but they looked upon themselves as Widows and Orphans resenting their death with a general sorrow and lamentation as if they had lost a common Father Nazianzen reports that when his
though he recovered afterwards To this custom of Clinic Baptism some not improbably think the Apostle has reference in that famous place where he speaks of those that are baptized for the dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which they expound with reference to the state of the dead and that 't is meant of such who in danger of death would be baptized that it might fare well with them after death This Epiphanius thinks the truest interpretation that it 's meant of Catechumens who being suddenly surprised with death would be baptized that so their sins being remitted in Baptism they might go hence under the hope of that eternal life which awaits good men after death and testifie their belief and expectation of their future happy resurrection Others think it may refer to the place of Baptism those who are baptized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 over the Graves or Sepulchres of the dead it being an ancient and general custom to have their religious meetings and to perform their publick exercises at the Tombs of Martyrs there being numerous instances in the acts of the Martyrs of such as were baptized in the Coemeteria over the Monuments of the dead Which soever of these is most sutable yet certainly either of them is far more probable than that which many talk so much of as if the Apostle meant it of a custom common in those primitive times amongst the Cerinthians and other Hereticks where when any died without Baptism they used to place another under his Bed who was baptized for him in his stead whence Tertullian calls it a vicarious Baptism it being highly improbable that the great Apostle would fetch an argument to confirm so solemn and fundamental a principle of the Christian Faith as the doctrine of the Resurrection is from such an absurd and ridiculous rite used only by the worst of Hereticks But this only by the way For the Place where this solemn action was performed it was at first unlimited any place where there was water as Justin Martyr tells us in Ponds or Lakes at Springs or Rivers as Tertullian speaks but always as near as might be to the place of their publick Assemblies for it was seldom done without the presence of the Congregation and that for very good reason both as 't is a principal act of religious Worship and as 't is the initiating of persons into the Church which therefore ought to be as publick as it could that so the whole Congregation might be spectators and witnesses of that profession and engagement which the person baptized then took upon him and this they so zealously kept to that the Trullan Council allows not Baptism to be administred in a private Chappel but only in the publick Churches punishing the persons offending if Clergy with deposition if Laity with excommunication which yet as both Zonaras and Balsamon expound the Canon is to be understood unless it be done with the leave and approbation of the Bishop of the Diocess for this reason they had afterwards their Baptisteria or as we call them Fonts built at first near the Church then in the Church-Porch to represent Baptisms being the entrance into the mystical Church afterwards they were placed in the Church it self they were usually very large and capacious not only that they might comport with the general custom of those times of persons baptized being immersed or put under water but because the stated times of Baptism returning so seldom great multitudes were usually baptized at the same time In the middle of the Font there was a partition the one part for men the other for women that to avoid offence and scandal they might be baptized asunder Here it was that this great rite was commonly performed though in cases of necessity they dispensed with private Baptism as in the case of those that were sick or shut up in prison of which there were frequent instances in times of persecution Many there were in those days such especially as lived in the parts near to it whom nothing would serve unless they might be baptized in Jordan out of a reverence to that place where our Saviour himself had been baptized this Constantine tells us he had a long time resolved upon to be baptized in Jordan though God cut him short of his desire and Eusebius elsewhere relates that at Bethabara beyond Jordan where John baptized there was a place whither very many even in his time used to resort earnestly desiring to obtain their Baptism in that place This doubtless proceeded from a very devout and pious mind though otherwise one place can contribute nothing more than another nothing being truer than what Tertullian has observed in this case that it 's no matter whether we be haptized amongst those whom John baptized in Jordan or whom Peter baptized in Tyber The last circumstance I propounded concerns the manner of the celebration of this Sacrament and for this we may observe that in the Apostles Age Baptism was administred with great nakedness and simplicity probably without any more formality than a short prayer and repeating the words of institution and indeed it could not well be otherwise considering the vast numbers that many times were then baptized at once But after-ages added many rites differing very often according to time and place I shall not undertake to give an account of all but only of the most remarkable and such as did generally obtain in those times keeping as near as I can to the order which they observed in the administration which usually was thus Persons having past through the state of the Catechâ—mens and being now ripe for Baptism made it their request to the Bishop that they might be baptized whereupon at the solemn times they were brought to the entrance of the Baptistery or Font and standing with their faces towards the West which being directly opposite to the East the place of light did symbolically represent the Prince of darkness whom they were to renounce and defie were commanded to stretch out their hand as it were in defiance of him in this posture they were interrogated by the Bishop concerning their breaking of all their former leagues and commerce with sin and the powers of Hell the Bishop asking dost thou renounce the Devil and all his works powers and service to which the party answered I do renounce them dost thou renounce the world and all its pomps and pleasures Answer I do renounce them This renunciation was made twice once before the Congregation probably at their obtaining leave to be baptized and presently after at the Font or place of Baptism as Tertullian witnesses Next they made an open confession of their Faith the Bishop asking Dost thou believe in God the Father almighty c. in Jesus Christ his only Son who c. dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost the holy Catholick Church and in one Baptism of
that is next to God we sacrifice for his safety but 't is to his and our God and so as he has commanded only by holy prayer for the great God needs no blood or sweet perfumes these are the banquets and repast of devils which we do not only reject but expel at every turn But to say more concerning this were to light a candle to the Sun Julian the Emperour though no good friend to Christians yet thus far does them right that if they see any one mutinying against his Prince they presently punish him with great severities And here we may with just reason reflect upon the iniquity of the Church of Rome which in this instance of Religion has so abominably debauched the purity and simplicity of the Christian faith For they not only exempt the Clergy where they can from the authority and judgment of the secular powers whereby horrible enormities do arise but generally teach that a Prince once excommunicate his Subjects are absolv'd from all fealty and allegiance and he may with impunity be deposed or made away How shall such a Prince be thundred against with curses and deprivations every bold and treacherous Priest be authorized to brand his sacred person with the odious names of Infidel Heretick and Apostate and be Apostolically licensed to slander and belibel him and furnished with Commissions to free his Subjects from their duty and allegiance and to allure them to take up arms against him And if these courses fail and men still continue loyal they have disciples ready by secret or suddain arts to send him out of the world And if any man's conscience be so nice as to boggle at it his scruples shall be removed at worst it shall pass for a venial crime and the Pope perhaps with the help of a limitation that it be done for the interest of the Catholick cause by his omnipotence shall create it meritorious Cardinal Bellarmine whose wit and learning were imployed to uphold a tottering cause maintains it stiffly and in express terms that if a King be an Heretick or an Infidel and we know what they mean by that nay he particularly names the reformed Princes of England amongst his instances and seeks to draw his Dominions unto his Sect it is not only lawful but necessary to deprive him of his Kingdom And although he knew that the whole course of antiquity would fly in the face of so bold an assertion yet he goes on to assert that the reason why the Primitive Christians did not attempt this upon Nero Dioclesian Julian the Apostate and the like was not out of conscience or that they boggled out of a sense of duty but because they wanted means and power to effect it A bold piece of falshood this and how contrary to the plain and positive Laws of Christ to the meek and primitive spirit of the Gospel But by the Cardinals leave it could not be for want of power for if as Seneca observes he may be Master of any man's life that undervalues his own it was then as easie for a Christian to have slain Nero or Dioclesian as it was of later times for Gerard to pistol the Prince of Orange or Ravillac to stab the King of France Nay take one of his own instances Julian the Apostate a Prince bad enough and that left no method unattempted to seduce his Subjects to Paganism and Idolatry yet though the greatest part of his Army were Christians they never so much as whispered a treasonable design against him using no other arms as we noted out of Nazianzen but prayers and tears Had S. Paul been of their mind he would have told the Christian Romans quite another story and instead of bidding them be subject to Nero not only for wrath but for conscience sake would have instructed them to take all opportunities to have murdered or deposed him But I shall not reckon up the villanies they have been guilty of in this kind nor pursue the odious and pernicious consequences of their doctrine and practice thus much I could not but take notice of being so immediately opposite to the whole tenor of the Gospel and so great a scandal to Christianity And I verily believe that had the Primitive Christians been no better Subjects than their Emperours were Princes had they practised on them those bloody artifices which have been common amongst those that call themselves the only Catholicks that barbarous dealing would have been a greater curb to the flourishing of the Gospel than all the ten persecutions For how could an impartial Heathen ever have believed their doctrine to have been of God had their actions been so contrary to all principles of natural Divinity Sure I am Pagan Rome was in this case more Orthodox and their Pontifices far better Doctors of Divinity Their Lex Julia as Vlpian their great Lawyer tells us allotted the same penalty to sacriledge and treason placing the one the very next step to the other thereby teaching us that they looked upon treason against the Prince as an affront next to that which was immediately done against the Majesty of Heaven And Marcellus the great Statesman in Tacitus lays it down for a Maxim that Subjects may wish for good Princes but ought to bear with any And shame it is that any should call themselves Christians and yet be found worse than they their principles and practices more opposite to the known Laws of God and nature more destructive to the peace and welfare of mankind CHAP. V. Of their Penance and the Discipline of the Antient Church This why last treated of The Church as a Society founded by Christ has its distinct Laws and Priviledges What the usual offences that came under the Churches discipline All immorality open or confessed Lapsing into Idolatry the great sin of those times How many ways usually committed The Traditores who what their crime What penalties inflicted upon delinquent persons Delivering over to Satan what this extraordinary coercive power why vested in the Church The common and standing penalty by Excommunication This practised amongst the antient Gauls an account of it out of Caesar In use amongst the Jews Thence derived to the Christians This punishment how expressed by Church-writers Managed according to the nature of the fault The rigour of it sometimes mitigated Delinquent Clergy-men degraded and never admitted but to Lay-communion instances of it An account of the rise of Novatianism and the severity of its principles styl'd Cathari condemn'd by the Synod at Rome Offenders in what manner dealt with The Procedure of the action described by Tertullian Penitents how behaving themselves during their suspension The greatest not spar'd the case of Philippus and Theodosius This severity why used Penances called satisfactions and why The use of the word satisfaction in the antient Fathers Penitents how absolved After what time In the power of Bishops to extend or shorten these penitentiary humiliations Four particular cases observed wherein