right trade of your apologie to pretend the Church and meane the Pope And so you make the Church but a cloak-bag to carry the Popes titles after him Our Cathedralists pretend the Church but meane the Bishops and themselves and so the Church is made but a cloak-bag to carry the Diocesans titles of honour after him But why I pray you may not a particular private congregation be stiled the pillar and ground of truth There is no Orthodoxe Divine can be ignorant that the Church is said to be the pillar of truth Non ratione architect onica sed sorensi not as the notion of a pillar is taken by Architects in building for that which doth uphold and beare up the roofe or loft that lyeth on it as if the Church did give supportance and stabilitie to the truth but as a pillar in the market-place to which the Kings Proclamation is fastned that all his subjects may take notice of it Hath Christ fastned his truth to a Cathedrall only that there it is to be found and no where else The sad experience of that ignorance superstition and profaneness which reigne in places neerest unto them hath verified the Proverbe The neerer the Church the further from God Lyra though a popish Fryar and one that lived in times of much blindnesse yet saw so much light that he could say h Lyra in Matt. c. 16. The Church consists not in men of dignity and power either Ecclesiasticall or Secular for many Princes and Popes with other inferiour persons have revolted from the faith wherefore the Church consists in those persons in whom is the true knowledge and confession of the faith I would we had not too much cause to confesse the same of many of our Church-men Prelates and their adherents the Cathedrall Diocesan crew with others but albeit there hath been an apostasie in them yet blessed be the Lord for it we may truly say of the Church of England at this day what once a i Dr Potter in his answer to Charitie mistaken Cathedralist spake in favour of the Church of Rome The errours have been the errours of the domineering faction in the Court of England not the errours of the Church of England I hope they will give us leave to speake as favourably of our mother the Church of England as they of theirs the Church of Rome which is with them a true Church I will shut up all that I shall say concerning Timothy and Titus and the pretended Episcopall power committed unto them the same as our Hierarchists say with what they exercise with the observation of a Friar yet an k Historie of the Counc of Trent lib. 4. pag. 332. Historian of good esteeme It is denyed in words that Ecclesiasticall Jurisdiction is dominion as is the secular yet one knoweth not how to put a difference between them But St Paul did when he wrote to Timothy and repeated it to Titus that a Bishop should not be greedy of gaine nor a striker Now on the contrary they make men pay for processes and imprison the parties as is done in the secular Courts In the next place according to promise I come to view the writings of the Apostles and to enquire whether in them there be any such Superiority and Distinction in Order and in Office between a Bishop and a Presbyter as is pretended by our Prelatists If in this Scripture may be judge it is as cleare as the Sunne in my apprehension that a Bishop and a Presbyter are one and the same in Order and in Office For when the Apostle doth set downe the sacred orders we find no other but these Bishops and Deacons that which is by the Hierarchists made a middle order between both to wit of Presbyters is not at all expressed in distinction from the former which doth evidently prove that the distinction between a Bishop and a Presbyter is but an institution of man not of God nor hath it foundation in the Word of God Consider the Inscription of St Pauls Epistle to the Philippians it is directed to l Phil. 1. â— All the Saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons When Paul directeth Timothy how he should carry himself in the Church of God that is saith a late m Bishop Hall pag. 108.109 Patron of Episcopacie how he must carry himselfe as a Diocesan in such a Church where there would be need of all varietie of Church-Officers we have no other Orders set downe then the fore-mentioned n 1 Tim. 3. Bishops and Deacons together with the qualifications of the one and the other I demand then of our Diocesans now how comes it to passe that the order of Presbyters is left out If Presbyters were a distinct order from Bishops and inferiour to them in place and power would the Apostle have omitted them as unnecessary and superfluous in such a Church as the Diocesse of Ephesus yea of Asia rather for of that extent is the Church there mentioned by the Apostle said to be by our fore-mentioned Bishop Come we from Timothy to Titus and view the Epistle directed unto him o Tit. 1.5 He is left by the same Apostle at Creete that he should set in order the things that are wanting and ordain Elders in every city Of what ranke and order these Presbyters or Elders were the verses immediately following will informe us The qualifications of those which should be admitted to this order and be made Presbyters follow If any be blamelesse Vers 6. the husband of one wife having faithfull children not accused of riot or unruly Why must a Presbyter be such an one Vers 7. the next verse gives the reason For a Bishop must be blamelesse as the steward of God not selfe-willed c. Therefore must a Presbyter be blamelesse because he is Gods steward a Bishop an Overseer as the Greeke word properly imports and so it is rendred by our late Translators Act. 20. set over the House of God In a word if the Apostles had in their dayes instituted any such distinct order of Bishops above Presbyters then surely either in their last and valedictory speeches to those Presbyters whom they ordained and Churches which they planted or in their Epistles sent unto them we should have some expressions tending to this purpose some charge or other given either to the Bishop how he should carry himselfe towards the Presbyters under his power and Jurisdiction or to the Presbyters how they should behave themselves toward the Bishop set over them But we finde not the least intimation of any such thing nor of one Bishop set over many flocks and congregations but rather of more Bishops then one which had the oversight of a flock The command given to the Hebrewes is this p Heb. 13.17 Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your soules as they that must give an account
est qui inter Presbyteros primus He is the Bishop who is the first among the Presbyters is a cleare testimonie confirming what hath been delivered For it doth declare manifestly as i Paust tom â— l. 9. de Oec Pont. c. 5. n. 8. nihil abud quam inter Presbyteros is qui plures annâ—s in eo muncie Presbyteratus ministriasset Chamier hath well observed what was the degree of a Bishop in the first and purest times of the Church that it was no more then this He was accounted the Bishop who among the Presbyters had ministred longest in the office of a Presbyter Hence the forenamed French Divine doth conclude k Ibid. that at first there was no other difference between a Bishop and the Presbyters then what is between the Deane and Canons in a Cathedrall In reference to this l Sum. contr tract 2. q. 22. Rivetus doth conceive that Tertullian speakes when he saith Praesident probati quique Seniores Approved Elders doe sit as Presidents who have obtained that honour not by price but by testimonie In testimonie of that reverence and respect which age and Senioritie in the Ministery did bespeake at the hands of his fellow Presbyters was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chiefe seat in the Ecclesiasticall Senate assigned unto him to whom the name of Bishop began now to be restrained on the fore-mentioned grounds Like as in the more publike conventions of Bishops and Presbyters assembled in a Councell the chiefest seat was deputed for him that was the ancientest and most venerable On this ground as Eusebius reports saith Rivetus m Hist l. 5. c 22. when the Bishops of Pontus met together Palmos was made President because he was antiquissimus maximè venerabilis the Eldest and most reverend amongst them Hence n Hom. 3. in Act. Apost Chrysostome doth compare the Preeminence of the Bishops over the Presbyters to the Preeminence of the Eldest brother or first-born over his younger brethren who hath indeed a certain preeminence over them but it is a brotherly preeminence not a Lordly or Jurisdictionall prelation as o Fraternam quidem non despoticam neque jurisdâ—ctionatem Spal de rep eccl l. 1. ca. 5. n. 13. Spalatensis doth expresse it the rest of his brethren being by ordinary right his equals in all things excepting age and that honour which is due to him in respect of it the precedencie of primogeniture which doth not invest him with any commanding power over them or put them in subjection unto him The name of Bishop being thus limitted to him that was the Elder Presbyter occasioned the mention of one alone in the writings of those who set downe the succession of Bishops Learned Salmasius hath illustrated this by two examples p Dissert 1. de presb episc ca. â— p. 274. When Athens was governed by nine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Riders the first of them onely gave the name to the yeere whence he was stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Romane Emperours did oft-times make many Consuls in a yeer which were called Consules per suffectionem yet these though they had full Consular authority were not registred among the Consuls but onely those which were created in t he beginning of the yeere because they were the Eldest the first Consuls 2. That Primacy which was granted unto him which was the first and eldest Presbyter and was now peculiarly called the Bishop was only at first a Primacy of order no Superiority of power or Jurisdictive dominion that Church affaires should be ordered by him alone without the consent and counsell of the Presbyters Observable to this purpose is that expression of Pius bishop of Rome in his second Epistle to Justus bishop of Vienna q Presbyteri Diaconi non ut majorem sed ut Christi ministrum te observent ap Sal. p. 275. Let the Presbyters and Deacons observe you not as one greater then they but at the Minister of Christ in which you see he doth in plain termes deny that Justus the bishop was greater in point of power and authority then the Presbyters and Deacons You know Reverend and Beloved what was the resolution of r Ad id quod scripserunt mibi compresbyteri nostri Donatus Fortunatus Novatus Gurdius solus rescribere nibil poâ—ui quande à primordio Episcopatus mei staâ—uerim nihil sine consilio vestâ—o fine consensu plebis meae privata sententiagerere Ep. â— exedit Gonlart aliis lib. 3. ep 10. Cyprian Bishop of Carthage from the first entrance to his Episcopacy he determined to doe nothing in the managing of Church affaines of his own head without the counsell of the Presbyters without the consent of the people which he laies down as a reason why he alone could not return an answer to that wherein Donatus and the rest of the Compresbyters did consult him Nor did Cyprian entertaine this resolution and observe it in his practice meerly out of a voluntary humility and condescension as Å¿ De Pent. RoÌ„ li. 1. c. 6. in resp ad tertium arg Bellarmine would beare the world in hand and by this shift elude this pregnant testimonie but he acknowledged himself by his place and Office to be bound thereunto even by that relation wherein he stood to the Presbyters and the Presbyters to him Å¿ Sed cum ad vot per Dei gratiam venero tunc de iis quae velgesta sant vet gerenda sicut mutune bonor poscit in commune tractabimus id ib. by vertue of that honour which they mutually owed one to the other As the Presbyters and people did owe this honour to the Bishop that without his advice and consent they ought not to doe any thing so the Bishop owed the same honour unto them not to doe any thing of his own head without their counsell and consent What Cyprian professeth concerning himself the late learned t Daven det quest q. 41. Bishop of Salisbury confesseth was in all likelihood observed by the rest of the godly Bishops in those dayes How exorbitant from this rule the practices of our Prelates have been the Christian world doth know full well and he that should goe about to reduce them unto it might deservedly be accounted Augiae stabuli repurgator as u Annot. in cypr. loc cit Gonlartius speakes the purger of Augias stable so full of dung and filth that it would be an Herculean labour for to cleanse it True it is that when the title of Bishop was restrained unto one of the Presbyters there did within a little after begin to be a kinde of reservation and restriction of some of those acts and Offices which were before common to all the Presbyters This was done for orders sake pro bono pacis for the preservation of the Churches peace and for the honour of the Bishop who being chosen by the consent of the Presbyters and people had now a
power of administring Baptisme to the power of Ordination Presbyters might baptize therefore they might ordaine Thus did they reason for the power even then when the execution of the power was by canonicall-constitution restrained and shut up sub certis terminis positivis propter meliùs as i Conc. Cath. l. 2. c. 13. Cusanus speaks in the like case within certain positive limits and bounds and that for the good and benefit of the Church as it seemed unto them which first made and afterwards continued those limitations restrictions Thus much for Ordination Jurisdiction is the next thing wherein the Bishops doe claime a peerelesse power this respecteth either Presbyters subjected to censure and power of Jurisdiction in case of delinquency or the people in the sentence of Excommunication The field is very large I will not expatiate but only tender some few gleanings which I had gathered in the course of my studies in this argument I will not insist on that k Episcopus nullius causam audiat absque praesentia clericorum alioquin irrita erit sententia episcopi nifi clericorum praesentia confirmetur Conc. Carth. 4. can 23. Canon of the Councell of Carthage which prohibiteth the Bishop to meddle with the hearing of any cause but in the presence of his Clergie and pronounceth the sentence of the Bishop voide if it were not by them confirmed Concerning which Canon Dr Downham himself thus speakes l Defence of his Sermon ti 1. p. 179. Seeing good lawes arise from bad manners It is to be imagined that the Presence of the Clergie and Assistance of the Presbyters who were the Bishops Coassessors and from the beginning were appointed Judges of causes as himself doth m Ibid. p. 177. acknowledge was neglected and this neglect gave occasion to the making of this Canon What is by the Fathers in this Synod decreed concerning the Cognizance of causes in generall is afterward for that Councell was held about the year 401. by n Si quid de quocunque clerico ad aures tuas pervenerit quod is justè possit effendere non facilè credas nec ad vindictam te ret accendat incognita sed praesentitus senioribus ecclesiae tuae diligenter est veritas perscrutanda tunc si qualttas rei poposcerit canonica districtio culpam scriat delinquentis Greg. regist epist li. 11. indict 6. epist 49. prout citatur apud Grat. sed in edit eper Greg. an 1615. est epist 51. ad Iâ—han Episc Panermit Gregory the Great mentioned and commanded in particular to be observed in the cause of a Presbyter against whom accusations are brought or fame is raised for he commands the Bishop to whom he writes that in such cases he should in the presence of the Seniors of the Church make diligent inquirie into the matter and then proceed to a Canonicall censure as the qualitie of the crime should require Yea o In epist ad Cler. Eccles Tornac apud Cat. test verit l. 9. col 1000. Hincmarus the Archbishop of Rhemes prescribeth the same course to be followed citing the very words of Gregorie for it I will onely touch on some Canonicall Constitutions which have regulated the power of the Bishops in point of Jurisdiction over the Presbyters Who so will take the pains to consult p Caus 15. q. 7. Cap. 1. Gratian the Compiler of the Canon Law shall finde sundry Canons of more then one Councell of Carthage to wit Carthag 1. can 11. Concil Carthag 2. c. 10. Concil Carthag 3. can 8. ordaining that in case any crime were objected against a Presbyter the cause should be heard by sixe Bishops the cause of a Deaon accused should be heard by three besides his own Bishop This order in one of those Councels is thus ratified q Carth. 2. can 10. Ab universis episcopis dictum est veterum statut◠â nobis debere servari It was said by all the Bishops that we ought to observe the statutes of the ancient Fathers Whereunto may be added this that when in the Councell of Hispalis complaints were made that this rule was broken it was by the Fathers in that Synod ordered that r Statutum est juxta priscorum Paâ—rum decretum synodati sententia quod nollus fine concilii exam ne dejiciendum quemtibet presbyterum vel Diaconum au leat Naâ— multi suni qui indiscussos potestate tyrannica non auâ—boritate canonica damaant Syn. Hisp. a. act 6. Cent. Magd. cent 7. cap. 2. col 142. no Bishop should presume to put down a Presbyter or Deacon without examination before a Councell The contrary practice of some was adjudged to be the exercise of a tyrannicall power not of Canonicall authority I will not tire your patience with repetition of the same decree revived and confirmed in another Å¿ Concil Tribu an 895. caÌ„ â— ap Cent. Magd. cen 9. c. 9. coâ— 262. Councell almost 900. yeares after Christ Only this I will adde that This ancient order of the Councell and consent of six Bishops in the case of a Presbyters deposition from his place was not neglected by any regular allowance untill the Apostasie of Antichrist so far prevailed that the Gospel in the sincere and Orthodoxe Profession thereof was persecuted under the name of heresie In this case Gregory the ninth whose Decretals were published an 1230. gave a * Quaniam Episcoporum unmerus ad degra dationem Clericorum a Canonibus constitutus non pâ—â—est de socili convenire Concedtmus ut sacerdotem vel alium clericum in sacris ordinibus constitutum cum pro heresi suerit curiae seaulari relinquendus aut perpetuò immurandâ—â— â—onvocatis Abbatibus altisque praelatis ac Religiosis personis ac literatis sâ—â—â— Diocesis de quibus expedire videbatur suus solus possit Epis â—opiu degradase Sext. decret lib 5. tit 2. ca. 1. dispensation that the Diocesan Bishop alone in the presence of his Abbots with some Priests and other religious or learned persons of the Diocesse might proceede to the sentence In all cases heresie excepted the forementioned Ordinances of a Synodall audience for the Deposition of a Presbyter stood in force in succeeding ages as that learned Canonist t Instit Iur. Can. lib. 1. tit 20. Paulus Lancelotus hath observed By this which hath been spoken let the indifferent and impartiall Reader judge of the practices of our Prelates how strangely exorbitant that I say not tyrannicall in a very high degree they have been in their proceedings and execution of that Jurisdiction which they have usurped Excommunication is another branch of Jurisdiction which is claimed also by the Bishops as properly belonging unto them u Davenant abi supra Mucro episcopalis fulmen episâ—opale They tell us this Ecclesiasticall censure was alwaies accounted the Bishops sword and the Bishops thunderbolt and indeed since they have taken the power thereof into their hands and as they have managed it
THE ANGEL OF THE Church of Ephesus NO BISHOP OF EPHESVS Distinguished in Order from and superior in Power to a PRESBYTER As it was lately delivered in a Collation before the Reverend Assembly of Divines By Constant Jessop Minister of the Word at Fifeild in Essex Imprimatur CHARLES HERLE LONDON Printed by G. M. for Christopher Meredith at the Signe of the Crane in Pauls Church-yard 1644. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL WILLIAM TWISSE Dr in Divinitie the Reverend Learned Prolocutor and to the rest of the Religious and Grave Divines of this present Assembly summoned by the authoritie of the Lords and Commons in Parliament Right Reverend and honoured Fathers and Brethren I Never thought or intended to appeare in print in this learned and criticall age being conscious to my self of mine own insufficiencies I speak it not in an humble arrogancie as the Orator observed some did write treatises against vain-glory and then in a vain-glorious ostentation put their names thereto Muchlesse should I have presumed to handle this controversie which hath been so fully agitated by others both at home and abroad Not only by those amongst us who have distasted the Hierarchicall frame of government whose arguments have been by the Prelates answered for the most part no other way then by suspensions silencings deprivations and proceedings against them as disturbers of the Churches peace and contemners of the commands of Authoritie but also by almost all the Divines of note in the Reformed Churches in their Polemicall dissertations against Papists out of whose Magazine our Hierarchists have borrowed those weapons whereby they defend their own authority and oppose their enemies as is evident to any that shall compare the writings of the one and of the other and to say nothing of this as objected by the good old Non-conformitans to the Patrons of Prelacie is acknowledged by the Papists themselves witnesse that short marginall Annotation of the Rhemists In Iohn 20.17 The Protestants otherwise denying this preeminence of Peter yet to uphold their Archbishops do avouch it against Puritans The course of my studies when once I became a Smatterer in Divinitie was bent another way then to the handling of Controversies My principall and chiefest aime being this that I might through Gods blessing on mine endevours be fitted for a Pastorall employment whensoever the Lord in his due time should call me thereunto Wherein I desire in humility and thankfulnesse to say with St PAUL 1 Cor. 15.10 By the grace of God I am what I am As for this controversie in particular though I had some reason to have pried into it in regard of my fathers sufferings more then once under the Prelates in whose deprivation I and the rest of his posteritie have had our share of sufferings also yet knowing mine own inabilities to wade through it wanting time in regard of other studies more necessarie for the fitting of me for that calling wherin I was and observing my fathers own tēperature carriage who forbare discoursing of it in private or mentioning much lesse handling of it in publike meerly on this ground that he might fulfill his ministery in that remote barren in respect of the Word rude and ignorant corner of Wales to which the Lord by his providence removed him I did also forbeare the studying of it The practises of the Prelates which caused such commotions in Scotland at first and in the issue the abjuration of the Prelacie the proceedings against Dr Bastwick here in England for his Flagellum Latiatium episcoporum and those high challenges which were made in the Star-chamber Speeches about that time did first cause me to enquire into that tenure of Divine right by which our Bishops laid claim to their Preeminence The Oath in the Canons which came forth afterward did provoke me to set to the work a little closer which yet I entred on only for my own private information and satisfaction and after the considering of some places of Scripture I addressed my self to Bishop Halls Treatise on that subject conceiving that in him being the latest that did write and withall a man of note in the Church I should find the substance strength and sinewes of all those arguments which could be produced in that cause Whom when I did peruse the more I looked into his treatise the further off I was from receiving satisfaction by him in that Tenure of Divine right and from subscribing to his assertions Hereupon for my own private use I set down some short marginall animadversions and to speak the truth as farre as I am able to judge there is roome enough in the margent to answer the whole booke divers of which are now at the desire of some godly and learned members of your Assembly presented to publike view Sundry other Collections I had once but Sr Arthur Astons upholders of the Protestant Religion finding my papers when they rifled my house at Reading of what they could soon made an end of them by fire and with them of some Treat ses of my Fathers in this and other arguments which in regard of that employment in the Ministery which lay on me whilst I was in those parts I had not read over Being thus driven from my habitation and by losse of my Papers and Manuscripts disabled from dealing in that controversie I had quite laid aside the thoughts of it untill that comming before a Committee of your Assembly according to an order of the house of Commons I was by the Chairman of that Committee appointed to handle before you this Text and controversie out of it Which I perswade my selfe was done rather by way of Probation then out of any desire of Information from me who am far more fit to be informed and to receive then to give information or satisfaction Being thus east on a necessity of reviving my former notions and reviewing my marginall animadversions with some other observations which I had left I undertook the taske and presented before you those collections and arguments which you were pleased immediately to call for Let that I beseech you Fathers and Brethren now find a second which found a former acceptance at your hands and unto acceptation vouchsafe to adde a Patronage Something I have indeed now added which was not in my former papers delivered which I have done partly by the intimation of him by whose appointment I first did enter on the discussing of this question partly because I saw the great confidence of the Bishop with whom I principally deale in this vexatious dispute whose grounds I held it in some respect necessary to consider and examine If in these papers there be any thing which may be subservient to the glory of God and his great work which he hath in hand I have my desire and shall therein rejoyce desiring to returne all to him from whom every good gift proceeds Give me leave to close my Dedication with the same petitions which closed my Sermon in
your Assembly The God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ the Father of mercies grant that his Spirit of peace and truth may be the President of your Assembly that the peace of God may rule in your hearts whereunto ye are called in one body and nothing may be done amongst you through strife vain-glory or contention but ye may seek the truth and speake the truth in love that so through his blessing on your endeavours studies conferences meditations the breaches may be made up which are in the Church and the Lord in his due time heale the breaches of our Land Kingdome and Nation which are exceedingly shaken which is the hearty desire and daily prayer of Fifeild March 6. 1643. The meanest of your Fellow-helpers in the work of the Lord Constant Jessop THE Angel of the Church OF EPHESVS NO BISHOP of Ephesus c. REVEL 2.1 To the Angel of the Church of Ephesus write IT is not unknowne unto you Reverend and beloved Fathers and Brethren what vexatious disputes have been between the Prelatists and Presbyterians concerning the Angels mentioned in the Inscription of this and the other Epistles a Sermon preached at Lambeth Apr. 17. 1608. Dr Downham hath undertaken to prove the Angels to be Diocesan Bishops and to justifie their function as lawfull and of divine institution and approbation but his b Gersom Bucer dissert de gub eccl An Answer to Dr Downham imprinted an 1609. A reply to Dr Downhams defence imprinted an 1013. The Diocesans triall by M. Paul Baines an 1611. Refuters both in Latine and English have as I conceive with submission to better judgements made it evident that notwithstanding the Doctors bold adventure Magnis tamen excidit ausis he hath come short of his undertakings Yea some of the members of this grave and learned Assembly have vindicated this place from those challenges which the humble Remonstrant made unto it by it to uphold the tottering cause of Prelacy A cause which not long agone in Scotland and lately in the Parliament of England and amongst you hath been and still is causa conclamata I doubt not but you are sufficiently satisfied in conscience and judgement otherwise you would not in so solemne a manner have vowed and covenanted with the Lord the extirpation of that Prelaticall forme of Government It may be the Prelates themselves see their owne ruine approaching and that the down-fall of their honour is at hand in which regard being either not willing or not able by Scripture and force of argument to uphold it they will now try whether it may be defended by the dint of sword As if they were the Successours of those Prelates mentioned by c Quibus adjice novum eleemosynae modum quod in mercenarios mâ—lites equites pedites borum plurima consumuntur ad pugnas inter Christi fideles concitandas continuè nutriendas â—t eos suae tandem subjicere valeant potestati Defer s pac part 2. cap. 24. pag. 358. Marsilius Patavinus who found out novum eleemosynae modum a new kinde of almes to expend those meanes which were given them for hospitalitie and charitie to the poor in the maintainance of souldiers troops of horses and companies of foot to the raising and prosecuting of warres between Christians that so they might at length subject them to their tyrannicall power Or else the sonnes of that Martiall Pope d Ealaeus in Iul. 2. cited by Dr Abbots 2. part of def of the Ref. Cathol p. 11. Julius the second who finding that his Buls and Excommunications would not prevaile went in his own person to warre against the French King and crossing the river Tiberis cast Peters keyes into the streame with indignation being resolved to try whether Pauls sword would helpe him I am not now to follow them or lead you into the fields where trumpets sound troops are mustered and instruments of death to fly abroad but to enquire by your appointment whether the Inscription of this and other Epistles afford any solid argument for the pretended preeminence and superioritie of a Bishop in Order Office and Power of Jurisdiction above a Presbyter A late Patron of Episcopacie is so confident that he tels us e Bishop Hall Episc by divine right p. 121. All the shifts in the world cannot elude it that St John was by the Spirit of God commanded to direct his seven Epistles to the Bishops of those seven famous Churches by the name of so many Angels And the f Franc. à Sanct. clara Apol. epâ—s c. 5. p 62. Argumentum deniqâ—isiud apud ortho loxos non minus frequens quam efficax de Epistolis Ioaxnis in Apocalypsi quas ad septem I cclesiarum A siaticarum Angelos seu Episcopos scripsit originem saltem Apostolicam invictè dabit Romish Apologist for Bishops is as confident as their English Patron for he hath very boldly delivered it that the argument drawn from this place will invincibly prove their originall to be at least Apostolicall You heare their positions Let us now consider what just ground there is for this their great confidence 1. The name Angel doth not import any such eminencie of Order or Superioritie of power as our Prelates plead for and would fain wrest from the words of the Text. You know Reverend and Beloved that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Angel is a name of Office not of Order a title importing Dutie not Superioritie in Power It signifieth a Messenger and in point of Embassage all that are Gods Ministers unlesse they have an immediate call from God and infallible inspiration neither of which I conceive our Prelates will challenge to themselves are equall They are all by their place and Office g Mal. 2.7 Messengers of the Lord of hosts It is their dutie to h Act. 20.27 20. declare the whole counsell of God and keep back nothing which is profitable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i 2 Cor. 5.19 We are Embassadours for Christ saith the Apostle of himself and all those which are entrusted with the dispensation of the Gospel And from this their function they have their denomination k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euim utruÌ„que significat senem legatum teste Scapula 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This name of Office Angel the Lord is pleased here to make use of rather then any other for this reason as I conceive Though the whole Scripture be the Epistle of the Almightie God unto his creature as l Regist ep lib. 4. epist 40. ad Theod. Medicum Gregorie speaks yet here are now speciall Letters to the Churches from the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore his Amanuensis St John is commanded to direct them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To the Angel or Messenger to him that is the m Jer. 15.19 mouth of Jesus Christ to interpret and declare his will The direction is thus set down indefinitely not pointing out any singular or individúall person
ergò boc fixum hoc argumentum ab Angetis qui Episcopos denotant nibit facere ad prâ—bandum Episcopos tum suisse in urbibus singulos Wal. Mess dissert 1. de presb epise c. 4. p 184. Salmasius in whom the Reader if he please may see this last quotation at large drawes this conclusion Let this therefore be an undoubted truth that this argument from the Angels makes nothing to prove that there was but one Bishop in a Church or citie Thus much of the third argument I proceed to another 4. By the Angel in this place is not to be understood a Bishop in Order Office and power of Jurisdiction distinguished from and superiour to a Presbyter for there was no such distinction or superiority settled in the Church of Christ before nor in St Johns time nor immediately after the Apostles dayes The truth of this negative assertion I shall endeavour to confirme by these ensuing arguments First in the Word of God we finde no such difference or imparity in Order and Power between a Bishop and a Presbyter as is pretended by our Prelates In prosecuting of which undertaken taske I will as briefly as I may consider what is delivered by a late Patron of Episcopacy who tels us that g Episc by div right p. 91. This imparity of Government and Episcopall Jurisdiction was founded by Christ erected by his Apostles both by their practise and recommendation In the proofe of which position when he had spent sundry pages he concludes with a great deale of assurance that he hath carried all down before him saying h Pag. 127. I am for my part so confident of the Divine Institution of the Majoritie of Bishops above Presbyters that I dare boldly say there are weighty points of faith which have not so strong evidence in holy Scriptures We heare him speaking with so much confidence as if he had not only taken the Oath in the late Canons but sworne unto or at leastwise in heart and by his pen subscribed to the i Si quis dixerit in Ecclesia catholica inon esse Hierar biam divina ordinatione institutam quae constat ex Episcopis Ministris Anathema sit Seis 7. Can. 6. Anathematisme of the Tridentine Conventicle in which this Hierarchie of Bishops and Presbyters is said to be of Divine institution and an Anathema denounced against those that shall question or deny it Yet notwithstanding the confidence of those Bishops and Fryars at Trent and of our English Hierarchists how farre this was from being embraced as an article of faith Friar Peter will informe us k Historie of the Counc of Trent lib. 8. pag. 743. The sixt Anathematisme saith he was much noted in Germany in which an article of faith was made of Hierarchie which word and signification thereof is alien not to say contrary to the Scriptures and though it was somewhat anciently invented yet the Authour is not known and in case he were yet is he an hyperbolicall writer not imitated in the use of that word nor of others of his invention by any of the ancients and following the stile of Christ our Lord and of the holy Apostles and Primitive Church it ought to be named not Hierarchie but Hierodiaconia or Hierodantia I will therfore because the Bishop whom I intend to chase runs this way follow him and 1. Consider whether our Saviour Christ laid any foundation for this Episcopall Jurisdiction 2. Look to the practice of the Apostles in which they say this fabricke and frame of Church government was erected 3. View their writings whether in them there is any such distinction of Order and Power between a Bishop and a Presbyter 1. As for that foundation which our Prelatists say was laid by Christ placing his Apostles above his other Disciples the Twelve above the Seventie it hath beene sufficiently discovered by sundry Divines in which regard I shall have cause to say the lesse to be sandy and weak altogether unable to bear the weight of that fabricke which is by them hereupon erected yea some of their owne friends and sticklers in the cause have confessed it or at leastwise yeelded that which doth overthrow it For 1. m Agnoscit Saravia Septuaginta discipulos Evang listarum dignitate eminuisse ac proinde Ordinariis Episcopis vocationis gradu aâ—tecelluisse Gers Bucer p. 515. ex Sar. de Min. Ev. grad cap. 4. Saravia a professed patron of Episcopacy and Antagonist to Beza whom our Prelates looke on as their back-friend doth acknowledge that the Seventie Disciples were Evangelists and in that respect by the degree of their calling superior to Ordinary Bishops How then is there I pray you any foundation for the imparitie between a Bishop and a Presbyter laid by Christ in this fact of his choosing Twelve Apostles and Seventie Disciples when these Seventie whom the Presbyters are said to succeed were superior to Bishops themselves 2. n Peracto hoc primo munere post quam reversi sunt gaudentes non legimus eos amplius a Christo missos in Ministerium verbimeq novam ill is suisse replicaraÌ„ coÌ„missionem c. de rep Eccl. lib. â— c. 3. n. 4. Quam confirmationem quedqÌ„ mandatum generalem missionem quia à Christo factam 72. discipulis non invenio neâ—â—possum affirmare in ipsis suisse directe proximè immediate institutum ordinem presbyteralem c Id. â—b num 4. Spalatensis hath observed that these Seventie Disciples were not instituted by our Saviour for the perpetuall government of the Church but onely that they had a temporarie Commission p Luke 10. to goe before him into every City and place whither he himselfe would come which was not renewed to them after their returne with joy because the devils were made subject unto them as the Commission given to the Apostles at first with a limitation q Match 10. Go not into the way of the Gentiles neither enter into the Cities of the Samaritanes but goe rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel was after his resurrection repeated and enlarged r Match 28. Go teach all nations In which regard saith he I cannot affirme that in them the 70. Disciples was the Order of Presbyters instituted directly and immediately Christs election of the Seventie Disciples affords you see by the confession of the Archbishop of Spalato himself no sure footing for the subjection of Presbyters to Bishops though he would fain claime an institution of Bishops in the Commission given to the Apostles But thirdly the Å¿ Enchir. Christ relig in Conc. Col. p. 169. de sacr ord edit Parisâ—an 1558. Non est tamen putanâ—um Episcopos alium in Ecclesia ordinem à Presbyteris constituisse Nâ—m in primitiva Ecclesia iidem erant Presbyteri Episcopi quod Apostolorum Petri Pauli epistolae divâ—â— quoque Hierony nus ac caeteri serè omnes veteres ecclesiassici scriptores aâ—estantur
whereto he was chosen in an extraordinary manner o 1 Tim. 1.14 Chap. 4.14 by the prophesies which went before concerning him For these extraordinary Offices had an extraordinary manner of vocation also as sundry p Vide Bez. Aq. Lyr. â—spenc Soto major in loc Divines testifie concerning Timothy induced thereto by the forementioned passages of Scripture Doe the work of an Evangelist which what it was Eusebius doth set forth at large where he speaks of some who performed it thus q Euseb Eccl. hist â—i 3 ca. 34. edit Easil an 1570. they did preach Christ to those which had not as yet heard the word of faith they delivered unto them the holy Scriptures ordained Pastors and committed unto them the charge of those which were newly received into the Church and then they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 passe over unto other countries and nations Whereas it is demanded r Bishop Hall â—â—â— cit p. 118. how should those Works of Ordination and execution of Church censures Which are constant and ordinary and so consequently deriveable to all successions to the end of the World be imposed upon a meere extraordinary agent this is a demand so senselesse and voide of all reason that I wonder it should fall from the pen of so learned and grave a Divine as Dr Hall but if he desire an answere I will returne it him in the words of Saravia a friend and fellow-stickler in their cause who will informe him that Å¿ Gradus ministrorom evangelli itasuâ—sse dist inctos ut majores includerent in erisrum ministeriae Sar. ad cap. 1. Bez. de div gra Min. Evang. The degrees of the Ministers of the Gospel were so distinguished that the greater did include the Ministeries of the lesser To the same purpose speakes Cajetan in Ephes 4. so that whatsoever were the acts of an ordinary and standing Minister of the Gospel the extraordinary Officer might performe them albeit the Ordinary officers might not presume with the execution of those which belonged to the extraordinary 2. If the Precepts given here in charge to Timothy and Titus concerne a Bishop alone then doth it concerne a Bishop alone to Å¿ â— Tim. 4.2 Preach the word in season and out of season to t Ch 1.6.1 Ep. Chap. 4.4 stirre up the gift of God that is in him and not neglect it to take heed to himself and his doctrine to flee covetousnesse and follow after righteousnesse godlinesse faith love These with many other precepts belong also to the Bishop and to him alone If our adversaries in this cause shall answer that these are duties belonging to all Ministers wherein they and Bishops doe participate but the other mentioned by them belong to a Bishop distinct from a Presbyter I shall return them the same reply which Gersom Bucerus doth to Dr Downham u Bucer p. 283. Quem istius distinctionis authorem proferemus Who hath taught us or them so to distinguish Surely the Apostle hath not for he makes not the least mention of what belongs to Timothy as a Bishop what to him as a Presbyter but gives all the commands promiscuously without any difference 3. For as much as those charges given to Timothy and Titus are so much insisted on to prove their Episcopall Power and consequently the Power and Preeminence of Bishops above Presbyters by the Apostles practice and recommendation I will take into consideration some of those which are materiall and see what strength they afford unto the cause That command given by the Apostle to Timothy Lay hands suddenly on no man and his appointing of Titus to ordaine Elders in every citie is strongly urged by the sticklers for Episcopall Soveraignty to prove that the Power of Ordination was in their hands alone Be there what Elders soever in Ephesus there hands without a Timothy will not serve to ordaine his without theirs might saith Bishop a Pa. 113. Hall very confidently but under favour and with respect to his gray haires very weakly Who seeth not how weak an inference this is Timothy is commanded not to ordaine any man suddenly Therefore Timothy alone had power to ordaine the Consequent may on just ground be denyed The President of a Colledge may be in a letter charged to take heed he admit not suddenly any man to a fellowship in the Colledge will it therefore follow that the power of Election and admittance is in the hands of the President alone For as much as this answer of those which are opposites to the Hierarchie who say that Timothy and Titus were to ordaine not by their owne power alone but by way of Partnership and Societie with the Presbyterie joyning with them is rejected by b P. 115. Bishop Hall as being so palpable and quite against the haire that he cannot think the authours of it can beleeve themselves I will therefore endeavour to confirme it and make it good 1. Since the Bishop will not beleeve what his Opposites say I would desire to know whether the Bishop doth beleeve that St Paul would invest Timothy and Titus with a greater power then he himselfe or the Apostles did exercise Now it is cleare that he did not assume the power of Ordination into his owne hands to execute it by himselfe but in it though he were as President to conduct and guide the action did conjoyne with himselfe the Presbyters in the Ordination of Timothy For albeit in c 1 Tim. 1.6 one place he speaketh of the imposition of his own hands alone yet in d Chap. 4.14 another he mentions the Presbytery as concurring with him in it Besides the Ordination of the Presbyters at Antioch was not the act of Paul alone but Paul and Barnabas at least or rather by comparing it with other places Paul and Barnabas with the Presbyters of Antioch did joyne together in the Ordination The phrase runnes in the plurall number e Act. 14.236 when they had ordained them Elders and had prayed with fasting From whence Gersom Bucerus doth argue thus f Dosser de guâ— Eccl. p 321. If the Hierarchists doe on just ground perswade us that Ordination doth belong to the Bishops because the Apostles whom the Bishops as they say doe succeed did ordaine by the same reason may Presbyters also ordaine because the 70. Disciples whom the Presbyters doe succeed as they informe us did ordaine For Barnabas is by many Historians reckoned among the 70. Disciples If we look further into the actions of the Apostles we shall finde all their Ordinations not by their own power but by the joynt consent and concurrence of the Presbyters and Disciples When g Act. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys hom 3. in Act. c. 1. Matthias was chosen into the roome of Judas Peter doth all by the common consent of the Disciples nothing by his own authority nothing like a Lord or Prince in a commanding manner as Chrysostome hath observed So in the
Ordination of the h Chap. 6. Deacons they carry themselves as Presbyters not as Apostles in the action permitting the election to the Disciples concurring with the Presbyters in the Ordination of them Adde hereunto one instance more out of the book of God The command of the holy Ghost concerning Barnabas and Saul i Chap. 13. â— Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the worke whereunto I have appointed them Paul had his call to the Apostleship immediately from the Lord some yeares before this and Barnabas his call to the Ministery for both of them had joyned together in the work of k Chap. 11.26 Antioch but being now by the Lords appointment to goe to the Gentiles and preach the Gospel unto them for that seemeth to be the great worke here spoken of by the Lord as l De rep hu l. 2. c. â— n. 13. Spalatensis hath rightly observed they are now commanded to be in a solemne manner set apart for this worke As the Lord himselfe by a voyce from Heaven gives them their immediate call and Authoritative Designation for this Office so their Externall Designation to it they have by his appointment also not from any one particular person either Bishop or Presbyter but from all those in the Church of Antioch which ministred to the Lord for so St Luke sets it down m Cha. 13 â— 3. As they ministred to the Lord and fasted the Holy Ghost said Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them they sent them away From all which by the practice of the Apostles and by this voyce of God from heaven it is cleare as farre as I can apprehend that the Power of Ordination or Deputation to the Ministery and worke of the Lord therein should not doth not reside in the hand of any one particular person of what degree soever either Bishop or Presbyter but of the collective body of Pastours and Presbyters which minister unto the Lord. 2. If the Bishop will not beleeve his Opposites such as Parker that proud Schismaticke or Cartwright and Ames with their ignorant and malecontented followers some giddy corner-creeping upstarts Pag. 60 61. 148. these are not mine but Bishop Halls titles of honour wherewith he doth bespatter them if the judgement of Divines of greatest note in the Reformed Churches will strike any stroke we have them concurring in this that The Power of Ordination is in the hands of the Presbyters not of any one alone that though these charges are given to Timothy and Titus in particular yet doth it not follow that they alone could doe it I will onely mention one of many that might be alledged When Pamelius from those places undertakes to prove the Superioritie of Bishops above Presbyters Gonlartius answereth him thus n Annot. in Cyp. ep 65. The argument hath not strength enough in it Presbyters are ordained by Bishops therefore Bishops are above them The ancient Bishops were ordained by the Clergie and the people if any shall thence inferre therefore the Clergie and people are above the Bishops Pamelius and his Schollars will deny the Consequence Ordination doth not establish a degree or Preeminence but only sheweth and commendeth the Discipline of the Church 3. Besides Protestants we have Papists assenting to this truth and confessing 1. that Presbyters may ordain p Gloss in dist 66 cap. Porrò Johannes Semeca in his Glosse on the Canon Law proves it by this the Apostles were but Presbyters not Bishops yet they did ordaine and in their dayes there was no difference between a Presbyter and a Bishop And q Antis San ap Apol. Episc p. 165. Altissiodorensis hath delivered it that if there were but three Presbyters in the World they might ordaine one the other a bishop and an Archbishop and gives this reason for it Presbyters as well as Bishops doe receive the Keyes of the Kingdome in their Ordination for they are the successours of the Apostles 2. That Titus was left at Crete to ordaine Presbyters no otherwise then as a Moderator in the action and as a Consul or Dictator are said to create Consuls because they are they hold the Comitia or Assembly and meeting in which they are created Thus r In Tit. 1. dâ—sp 1. Salmeron as I shall afterward shew more at large out of him By this time I hope it doth appeare that this is not so palpable an elusion as the Bishop is pleased to stile it but rather so manifest a truth which the Bishop himself nor all the mitred Fathers of that order are able to disprove Thus much for Ordination from those charges I proceed to the next That precept of the Apostle x 1 Tim. 5 1â— Against an Elder or Presbyter receive not an accusation but before two or three witnesses is mainly insisted on by Dr Hall and others to prove that Timothy was invested with Episcopall Jurisdiction and so to conclude the Jurisdictionall Preeminence of a Bishop over the Presbyters yet the weaknesse of this argument hath bin already sufficiently discovered and the place answered to the full by our Polemicall Divines which have disputed against Papists from whom our Hierarchists have borrowed most of their weapons which they make use of in this quarrell It shall be therefore sufficient for me to mention the answer which is given by our Protestant Divines to their Romish Opposites in this cause First our Countreyman Dr Whitakers answereth Bellarmine that this place proves not Timothies power over Presbyters and from this place observeth that the power of Jurisdiction was not in the hand of one but of many that were endued with equall authoritie y Quod Timotheus jubetur non temere ◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 admittere hoc non probat Timotheum in Presbyteros potestatem aut dominatum habuisse Nam ex Apostoli mente 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est crimen ad Ecclesiam deserre reum in judicium addacere palam reprehendere quod non modo superioreâ— possunt sed aequales etiam atque inferiores In Romana Repub. Equites non de populo tantum sed etiam de Senatoribus Patrioiis judicabant Et certè non videtur Timotheus tale consistorium aut forum babuisse quale post Episcopis in Ecclesia constitutum suit nam hi Presbyteri non alii quam Episcopi fuerunt ut ex Apostolo constat Qualis haec authoritas sucrit ex eo quod sequitur intelligi potest Eos qui peccant coram omnibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod aequales quoque possunt Sic elim Epâ—scopesiquis Presbyâ—es aut Episcopus male auauet ad Senatum Ecclesiasâ—icum aut Synoaum reserebant â—umque si dâ—gnus videretur â—ublico judâ—cio damnabant i. e. cut suspendebant aut excommunicabant aut removebant Whitak co t. â—â—â— 1 c. 2. sc 16. According to the meaning of the Apostle to receive an
accusation is to acquaint the Church with the crime and to bring the offender into judgement openly to reprove which not onely superiours but equals also yea and inferiours may doe The Knights of Rome did not only judge the people but the Senatours and Noble-men also if they were delinquents Certainly Timothy had no such Consistory or Court as was afterwards attributed to the Bishops What this authority was may be understood from that which followeth Them that sin rebuke before all which equals also may doe Thus of old the Bishops if a Bishop or Presbyter were accused did referre the matter to the Ecclesiasticall Senate or Synod and did condemne him if he were found worthy i. e. they did suspend excommunicate or remove him according to the nature of his offence Thus that Divinitie Professour of Cambridge in his dayes And that this was the manner of proceeding in administration of Church censures appeares by our Saviours precept concerning other Offenders though private persons z Matth. 18. Dic Ecclesiae Tell the Church and the sentence of Excommunication pronounced and executed on the incestuous person at Corinth It was not the act of a Bishop alone or of his Officiall or Chancellour these are Apocryphall names and offices unknowne for some Centuries of yeares in the Church of Christ but it was a 2 Cor. 2.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Punishment inflicted by many 2. I may adde the answer of Gonlartius unto Pamelius objecting this place of the Apostle to Timothy for the proofe of Episcopall Preeminence over Presbyters b Annot. in Cypr. Epist 65. An accusation is two wayes received either privately or in the Ecclesiasticall assembly which doth judge of those crimes This though it be taken as spoken to Timothy alone yet implieth as he there shewes onely a preheminence of Order in Timothy not of power and authority Which he thus makes good if a Bishop were accused the Presbyters did receive the accusation and judge of it as he proves out of Cyprian who c Epist 65. old 3 Ep. 9. writes to Epictetus and the people of Assura commanding them not to admit to the Episcopacie againe Eortunatianus who sometimes was their Bishop but had denyed the faith of Christ Other Bishops saith Gonlartius are not called together nor is there any appeale to the Bishop of Rome but the Assuritan Church in a convenient order judgeth their own Bishop In the Presbyterie one of the Presbyters or Ministers of the Church did fit for orders-sake onely untill those degrees did arise of which we have elsewhere spoken Therefore to receive an accusation against one is not only a note of preheminence but of order also and that preheminence doth not confirme those degrees which afterwards introduced tyranny into the Church but manifesteth an eutaxie in the house of God This shall suffice to be spoken touching that branch of Episcopall Jurisdiction I come to another and that concernes the Commission given to Timothy concerning the Doctrine of the Teachers d Episc by di◠right p. 106. Timothy is charged to charge the Preachers of Ephesus that they teach no other doctrine that they doe not give heed to Fables and Genealogies and e Pag. 116. Titus is commanded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to stop the mouths of those false teachers who broach doctrines they ought not for filthy lucres sake and to passe sharp censures upon them what can doe this but Episcopall authority saith the Bishop Pag. 107. I may truly say saith he that both St Paul and Timothy his Disciple doe as truly Lord it here in their Episcopall power as those Bishops which they the Scots have abdicated I will not here Camerinam movere rake into the sinke of the Lordly tyrannicall exorbitancies of our later Prelates they stinke bad enough already I will not cause the Reader to stop his nose at those putrid steemes which would arise if that puddle were stirred Onely I would desire the Reader by the way to consider that St Paul hath professedly disclaimed all Lording it over the consciences of the Corinthians f 2 Cor. 1.14 Not that we have dominion over your faith saith he but are helpers of your joy for by faith ye stand g In locum Cajetan hath well observed that this is here added by the Apostle to exclude a calumnie which might have been cast on him because the words of Paul which he spake immediately before viz. to spare you might seeme to imply some dominion he presently subjoynes this Not that we have dominion over your faith which words are fitly and fully paraphrased by Beza thus h Ineund locum Not as if I might doe any thing amongst you in matter of Religion What I pleased by my power in binding and loosing of your consciences but I am the Minister of God to comfort you and to cheere your hearts we are helpers of your joy wherein he doth secretly oppose the joy and peace of Conscience Where of he makes God the authour but himselfe and his colleagues the Ministers unto that tyrannicall terrour which is caused by those who carry themselves as if they were Lords over the consciences of both Ministers and people We doe not say that either Timothy or Titus were meere Presbyters and so compeeres or Equals to the Presbyters of Ephesus or Crete nor were they Bishops such as you fancy them and in that superiority of degree above them but Evangelists of an higher Orbe then either Bishops for which you plead or Presbyters Looke on them in that degree wherein they were and they might on better grounds with more authority charge false teachers that they should not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 teach any other doctrine then what the Apostles had taught for unto that the i Gal. ◠8 ◠Apostle himselfe doth limit it doubling his Anathema on the heads of them whosoever they were that should doe it then any ordinary Bishop whatsoever if there had been then any such distinct from Presbyters The case is cleare concerning them both they had been the Apostles companions in his travailes had been fully instructed in the doctrine which he preached and in respect of their familiar conversing with him they could avouch what truth he had delivered That of Paul to Timothy the pretended Bishop of Ephesus is clear for him k 2 Tim. 3.10 Thou hast fully knowne my doctrine manner of life l Ib. ver 14. Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them As for Titus touching whom Bishop m Pag. 117. Hall is pleased to tell us there is no colour to say he was an Evangelist not to insist on the frequent use which the Apostle made of him in sending him from one Church to another consider what false teachers they are whose mouths the Apostle would have in an especiall manner to be stopped they are n Tit. 1.10 those of the
169. edit Paris an 1558. Canons of Coleine in their Enchiridion of Christian Religion And were it needfull I could shew out of sundry c Mat. Park Antiq. Brit. p. 5. Paggit in his Christianogr and Fitzberbert the Ies Divines that this forme of Church Government was here erected at first in England in imitation of the Heathenish Hierarchie by Lucius the first Christian King that embraced the faith Among those many and pregnant testimonies which might be produced in confirmation of this truth against the Divine Institution of the Majority of Bishops above Presbyters I shall trouble your patience but with one remarkable passage in the Councell of Trent d HIstorâ—e of the Councell of Trent lib 7. p. 619. When in the Congregation Oct. 8. All the Spaniards with some others made a new instance that the Institution and Superiority of Bishops de Jure divino might be defined unto the Legates chamber the next morning came three Patriarches sixe Archbishops and eleven Bishops with a request that it might not be put into the Canon that the Superiority is De Jure divino And marke I beseech you the reasons for in themselves but especially proceeding from the mouthes of such and so many persons they carry a great deale of weight with them in regard that 1. It savoured of ambition 2. It was unseemly themselves should give sentence in their own cause 3. Because the greater part would not have it put in And whosoever shall peruse that history and diligently observe the managing of this businesse in the Councell shall finde that the opinion of the Spaniards against which the fore-mentioned Patriarks Archbishops and Bishops did produce their reasons which I doe not finde were ever answered or refuted was inserted into the Canon meerly on these two grounds 1. In opposition to the Lutherans this was the reason given by the Archbishops of e Ib. p. 604. Granata in the Congregation held Oct. 13.1562 and of d P. 606. Zara as also by the f Pa. 607. Bishop of Segovia in the following Congregations 2. In favour of the Pope for they were afraid that if the Divine institution and superiority of Bishops were denyed or the Prelates honour did decay the Popes triple Crown would soon fall off his head This made the Bishop of Segovia in plain termes confesse g Pa. 607. If the power of the Bishops be weakned that of the Pope is weakned also and when the Secretary of the Marquesse of Pescara dealt with the Archbishop of Granata for his stiffenesse in urging the divine Institution of Bishops advising him not to touch any thing in prejudice to the holy See Granata answered h Ib pa 629. He never meant to say any thing against the Pope but thought that whatsoever was spoken for the authority of Bishops was for the benefit of his Holinesse being assured that if their authority were diminished the Obedience to the holy See would decrease also though by reason of his old age he knew it would not happen in his time Thus much of the first argument taken from the testimonies of Scripture 2. The writings of those which immediately succeeded the Apostles and lived in the next age after them shew that in their dayes Bishops and Presbyters were all one in name and office not one preferred above the other in Order and Superiority of power Polycarpe was as is confessed the Disciple of St John the i Epis part 2. p. 156. Angel of the Church of Smyrna saith Bishop Hall following therein as in most others Dr Downham Now whether there were any such Order of Bishops superior to Presbyters in the Church of Christ in his dayes let the world judge from his own words in his Epistle to the Philippians I will not spend lines much lesse leaves in the praise of the author or his Epistle I leave that to others who make good the Poets saying Laudat venales cupiens extrudere merces Mercator Nor will I insist on the Inscription of the Epistle wherein he doth conjoyne with himselfe the Presbyters of the Church of Smyrna though from thence k Dissert de presb episc cap 4. p. 232. Salmasius doth prove that he was not a Bishop in that restrained sense wherein the word was used in after ages for saith he there is no example of an Epistle written by a Bishop wherein when once a Bishop came to be advanced above the Presbyters he doth conjoyne them in his Inscription as his Companions and Equals But take his plaine and positive command or counsell to the Philippians how they must behave themselves Hee requires them to be l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subject to the Presbyters and Deacons as unto God and to Christ. By which it is cleare there were then no other orders then these two none above a Presbyter to which they must be in subjection Here is not the least mention of a Bishop as m Omissa nescie quamebrem Episcopis mentione â—sp digress in 4. Tim. lib. 1. ca. 1. p. 133. Espencaeus doth acknowledge though being prepossessed with some fancies of his owne de ordine Principante as he cals the order of Bishops for which he doth contend he wondreth why they are omitted Let us proceed and see what power and authority these Presbyters had in the Church of Philippi This we shall learne from his Injunction unto them for he commands them to provide things honest in the sight of God and men abstaining from all anger respect of persons and unjust judgement He wils them farther to flee all covetousnesse not suddenly giving credit to accusations against any one nor be harsh in judgement These passages I owe to n Loc. cit p. 235. Salmasius by which it is evident that these Presbyters of Philippi to whom he gives this in charge had then Ecclesiasticall Jurisdictive power in their hands and none was superior unto them therein in the Church of Philippi in those dayes Before I proceed I must remove one rubbe that is cast in the way by the o Archbishop of Armagh Orig. of Epis Patrons of Episcopacie it is this Polycarpe was himselfe a Bishop of the Church of Smyrrna as is proved amongst other evidences by the testimonie of Ignatius who in his Epistle to the Church of Smyrna p Epist ad Symrn. salutes him under that name as a person distinct from the Presbytery and exhorteth all the people to follow their Bishop as Christ Jesus did his Father and the Presbytery as the Apostles telling them that no man ought either to administer the Sacraments or doe any thing appertaining to the Church without the consent of the Bishop and of q Li. 3. adv baer cap. 3. in epist ad Florin Irenaeus who so stiles him and witnesseth that he himselfe was present when Polycarpe himselfe did discourse of his conversation with St John From all which it is inferred that he was the Angel or President of the
is the watch-tower of the vine-dresser not the top of honour for him that is proud If whilest I retain my Bishoprick I scatter the flock of Christ how is the dammage of the flock the honour of the Shepheard With what face shall we in the world to come hope for the honour promised by Christ if our honour in this world doth hinder Christian unity Thus farre the African Bishops Sed Cynthius aurem I returne unto and proceede in the proving of our Proposition laid downe before 3. In Christian Churches which were of Apostolicall foundation and others after them we finde two Bishops in a Church or Citie both in and after the Apostles dayes not one advanced before the other Which being duly considered we may invert that argument which is used by our Hierarchists for the maintainance of their Episcopall Monarchie You know who hath laid down this amongst his Postulata g Episc by div right part 1. §. 12. p. 50. We may not entertain so irreverent an opinion of the Saints and Fathers of the Primitive Church that they who were the immediate successours of the Apostles would or durst set up a forme of government different from that which was fore-designed unto them Let this be granted the position may easily be retorted on their own heads thus If the Apostles had instituted one Bishop onely in a Church and placed him in superiority of power and order above the Presbyters can we think that the Saints and Fathers of the primitive Churches or the Churches themselves would have so soon swerved from the rule and practise of their first founders and have set up or admitted two Bishops where the Apostles had ordained but one The truth of this assertion touching the plurality of Bishops in a Church may be easily proved by varietie of examples h Dissert de gub Eccles p. 302 303. Gersom Bucerus hath proved it by no lesse then ten examples out of Scriptures and others out of Ecclesiasticall history I will onely mention some few Narcissus and Alexander both Bishops of Hierusalem not by succession one after the other but both at the same time as is proved out of i Eccl. hist li. 6. ca. 9. 10. Eusebius Ignatius and Evodias both Bishops of Antioch at the same time the one ordained by Peter the other by Paul as the fore-mentioned * Gers Buc. p. 439. forraine Divine hath proved by the confession of Clemens Constit l. 7. c. 46. and Baronius tom 1. ad an 45. At Rome Linus and Cletus or Anacletus were Coepiscopi Fellow-Bishops in Peters dayes and afterwards as Platina l In vita Sancti Petri. hath acknowledged and before him Ruffinus in praefar ad lib. Recognit as m Pan. tom 2. l. 13. c. 4. Chamier hath observed out of him and the n Cent 1 part 2. c. 10. in Lino Centurists of Magdenburge after them both Liberius after his returne from exile was conjoyned with Felix in the Episcopall See at Rome by the decree of the Synod of Syrmium as I have learned from o Cat. test ver l. 4. col 255. Illyricus and Gonlartius out of p Lib. 4. c. 14. Sozomen which Synod was held no lesse then fiftie six yeeres after the Councell of Nice which first made a Canonicall constitution to the contrary prohibiting that there should be two Bishops in one citie as q Lib. 1. c. 6. Ruffinus hath set down that Canon yea later then this Austin was made Bishop of Hippo in the dayes of Valerius and joyned with him as his Colleague in the Episcopall honour and Function albeit Austin was very unwilling yet the x Dum id fieri solere ab omnibus suaderetur atque id ignare transmatinis Africanis Ecclesiae exemplis probaretur compulsus atqueâ—â—â—ctas succubuit Epi scapatus curam majoris loci ordinationem suscepit Posslid in vita Aug. c. 8. Quod quidem quia tanta ejus obaritate tantoque populi studio dominum id velle credidt nonnullis jam exemplis praecedentibus quibus mibi omnis excusatioiâ—laudehatur vehemeâ—ter timuiexcusare Aug. ep 34 â—d Pausin Primate of Numidia Megatius Calamensis and Valerius together with all the rest Bishops that were present perswaded him thereunto and by varietie of examples in the African and transmarine Churches proved it to be a thing so usuall that Austin was left without all excuse and yeelded to undertake coepiscopatus sarcinam as he cals it the burthen of Coepiscopacie with Valerius for the prohibition by the Nicene canon was not yet come to the knowledge of Valerius nor to the cares of Austin as he doth Å¿ Ep. 110. Quod cone liio Nieeno prohibitum saisse nesciebam nec ipse sciebat else where professe This is a truth so clear and which hath such varietie of instances for the confirmation of it that the * Neq fuit tanta valigie priscu illis Episcopis lâ—cum sibi interdum ascicere aliquem ex suarum Ecclesiarum Presbyteris qui ipse tum furisdictione ordine u uque pleno Episcopalis propriae porestatis tum etiam nomine in eadem Ecclesia simul esset diceretur Episcopus de rep Eccl l 2. c 9. n. 14. Archbishop of Spalato doth confesse The ancient holy Bishops made no scruple of making one of their Presbyters their companiâ—n who both in Jurisdiction and Order and full use of power properly Episcopall should be their Colleague and Fellow-bishop in the same Church Yea t Idem est juris in parte quod in toto in parvis quod in magnis sed in eodem episcopatu possunt simut esse duo episcopi Caus 7. q. 1. c. Non est autem C Peristi C. Quia vero Ergo consimiliter propter necessitatem vel utilitatem possent esse snnut plures summi Pontifices dial part 3. tract 1. lib. 2. c. 25. sol 202. Occham proving out of the Canon Law it selfe that there may be two Bishops in a Bishoprick or Diocesse doth thence inferre that by the same reason there may be also two Popes u Fideles propter necessitatem vel utilitatem sufficienter moventem constituendo plures Pontifices non facerent conditionem Ecclesiae deterivem sed meliorarent cam cap. 26. sol 203. ad septimum as the government of one and the same Church by more Bishops then one conduceth to the benefit thereof so the regiment of the Church Catholike by many Popes a Loc. cit cap. 15. paulo ante finem This he maintaines might be done in both without any rent or division in the Church without the breach of that unity which the Apostle doth require for among all those things which he reckons up as grounds of union and motives to the conservation of it b Ephes 4. One faith one Baptisme c. Vnum Apostolicum minimè ponit saith he the Apostle makes no mention of one Apostolicall either Pope or
Prelate In a word the practise of governing a Church by more Bishops then one was for a while so common and usuall though by degrees it did begin in some places sooner to grow out of use then others that if Epiphanius his observation be right it was anciently proper to Alexandria alone to have one Bishop whereas other Churches and Cities had two His words are cleare and expresse for it x Haer. 68. de Milet. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For Alexandria had not anciently two Bishops as other cities had This testimonie of Epiphanius concerning Alexandria I first lighted upon in y in Aug. de haer haer Acrian Danaeus and since I met with it in him I have oft times wondred that in all the quotations out of the Fathers for Episcopacie our Hierarchists take no notice of it From the same Danaeus I have learned one thing more touching the forementioned Citie where the Episcopall Monarchie first had footing to wit that out of the same z Ibid. Church proceeded the Monastick life and divers other things which were the bane of the Church Perhaps in this regard our Prelates are ashamed of this their originall and would therefore fain bewitch the mindes of men with an opinion of another descent from Christs institution and his Apostles Dealing herein as wisely for themselves as the old Romans did who being ashamed of the spurious and incestuous birth of their first Founder Romulus pretended a Divine pedegree from Mars in a wood But for my part I love them both so well that I shall desire that as Bishops and Monks did rise so they may fall as they did come so they may go together and the Christian world be rid at once of them both which have proved Ecclesiae pestes the bane of the Church Before I passe from this one thing I must crave leave to adde it concerneth the Succession of Bishops which the Historians that did set it down so mention as if there were but one in a Church at once yet this doth nothing contradict what hath beene spoken touching their plurality Simul at one and the same time in the same Church For 1. Divers of those Historians in their expressions and narrations had reference to the custome of those times in which themselves lived For as much as in their dayes the custome of governing by many was changed into a government by one and the name common at first to all limited and restrained unto one hence they speake but of one though indeed as hath been shewed there were at the same time more Bishops then one in a Citie 2. When there were two or more equall in name and Office he that was the Surviver is reckoned as the Successor whereas indeed he was not Successor properly but onely a Colleague living longer then his fellow-bishop Thus doth a Exercit. 8. in Ignat. epist ad Mariam cap. 3. num 6. constant Linum Cletum ante Clementem â—bitsse quibus defunctis solus Clemens superstes solus etiam Episcopt nomen retinuit tum quia inter adjutores Apostolorum solus restabat c. Vedelius reconcile the difference which is between historians concerning those three Bishops of Rome Linus Cletus and Clemens shewing that the name of Bishop was given to the last of these who was the surviver in that Church where through the whole Chapter he discovereth the vanitie of those answers which are given by Bellarmine Baronius and others Lest our Hierarchicall Monarchie should thinke to elude this and blow it away as the fancie of a Disciplinarian of the Geneva cut I will back it with the suffrage of Antonius de Dominis the Archbishop of Spalato whom for his pains in patronizing the Episcopall cause they cannot but respect b De rep Eccl. l. 2. c. 3. n. 63. Quoniam ex his tribus Collegis saith he Because of these three that were Colleagues Linus died first Cletus next and last of all Clemens and each of them governed that Church with full authority hence it came to passe that some of the ancients reckoned Linus the first Bishop of Rome Cletus or Anacletus the second and Clemens the third as if they had been differenced in time one from the other and one succeeded the other when as indeed there was no proper succession at all 4. As most Churches had more then one Bishop so some for divers yeeres together long after the Apostles dayes had none at all but were instructed in the faith by Presbyters alone without a Bishop over them The c Forbes lren lib. 2. cap. 11. p. 159. Scortish pacificator in his Irenicum hath observed out of d Ibo Mail. li. z. de gest Scto c. 2. Johannes Maoior that the Primitive Church of Scotland flourished in the faith two hundred and thirty yeares at least without any goverment by Bishops being instructed in the faith and governed only by Priests and Monks The same is recorded before them both concerning that Church by e Scoticbron lâ— 3. ca. 8. ap lacob Armach de pri Eccl. Brit. p. 800 Johannes Fordonus who addes that the Presbyters did governe the Church ritum sequentes Ecclesiae primitivae following the custome of the primitive Church Adde unto this one thing more which is remarkable The Fathers in the second Councel of Carthage which was held an 428. did observe that f Concil Cartâ— 2. can 5. untill that time some places never had any Bishops at all and thereupon they did ordain ut tales in posterum non haberent that such places as had none before should not have any for future time From which Canonicall Constitution I may with g Diss de gub Eccles p. 307. Gersom Bucerus argue thus If those Fathers had conceived that the government by Bishops was appointed by the Lord Christ or his Apostles they could not they would not by an Ecclesiasticall Canon have established or permitted to the Churches the violation of Christs Institution or the Ordinance of his Apostles 5. When after the Apostles dayes the distinction between a Bishop and a Presbyter began yet that difference which was then put was no advancement to a distinct order but onely to an higher degree in the same order nor did it bring along with it any superiority in power or Jurisdiction over and above the Presbyters The truth of this position may be easily made manifest and confirmed by these particulars 1. The name of Bishop which together with the office was common to all the Presbyters was now limitted and appropriated unto him that was the eldest Presbyter The name being thus restrained there was a prioritie granted him to whom in respect of age and yeeres in respect of his longer standing in the Presbyteriall calling and consequently in regard of wisedome gravitie experience or Endowments reverence was due from his Colleagues being his Juniors and in that regard after a sort Inferiors That of Ambrose h in 1 Tim. c. 3. Is Episcopus
Presidentship over them and so after a sort a Majoritie of administration a Majoritas administrationis quae quidem administratio à jurisdictione pender ex consensu suljectionalt partim constuâ—â—tur sâ—â—ut dicunus â—lectum in cligences ex eo quod habet administrationem ordinariam habere jurisdictionem Conc. Carth. l. 2. c. 13. p. 7.7 ed. Bas cum priv Cas Majest ex off Henrici-Petrina ex consensu subjectionali as Cardinall Cusanus hath it from the free and voluntary act of those who consented to the prelation of the Bishop and subjecting themselves unto him Ordination is one of those acts the power whereof the Bishops doe challenge as one of those Prerogatives which belong to their Order yet if you look into the b Quamvis Chorcpiscopis presbyteris ministerterum communis sit dispensatio quaedam tamen ecclesiasticit regulis sibt prohibita noverint sicut est presbyterorum diacomnorum â—ut virginum consecratio sicut conss iâ—utio altaris ac benedictio velurâ—ctio Syn. Hispal 2. sub Stsekulo can 7. ap Cent Maga cent 7. c. 9. col 142. Canons of the second Councell of Hispalis which was held at least 600. yeares after Christ you shall finde this reckoned up among other particulars which the Presbyters are there commanded to know are prohibited them by Imperiall and Ecolesiasticall constitutions And mark I pray you the reason why they might not meddle with this and other acts x Quoniam quamquam consecrationem habeant Pontificatue tamen apicem non habent quem satis deberi episcopis â—â—thoritate canonum praecipitur â—â— per hoc discâ—â—â—io graduum dignitatis sastâ—gium summi pontificit demâ—nsâ—â—etur Ibid. the name and title of Bishop is by the Canons of the Church limited unto one and by the same power are these Offices limited also that so the difference of degrees which the Church had put betweene a Bishop and a Presbyter and the honour of the Bishop might be manifested So the Fathers in that Councell The same is acknowledged in the y Solum propter authoritatem summe sacerdeti Clericorum ordinatio consecratio reservata est ne a multis discipline ecclesiae vindicata coÌ„cordiam soiveret scandala generaret Concit Aquisgran ap Eocbel decret Eccl. Gald 5. tit 8. ca. 88. pag 784. Councell of Aquisgran an 816. in the dayes of Ludovicus the first Ordination is reserved to the Bishops only for authority or as an ensigne of his honour and for the prevention of scandals and divisions in the Church but as for a difference out of the word of God between a Bishop and a Presbyter they prove at large from the Apostles words to Titus Timothy and Act. 20. that there is none but Bishops and Presbyters are one and the same yet did not this reservation by an Ecclesiasticall canon put the power of Ordination into the hands of the Bishop alone so as that he might doe it without the concurrence of his Presbyters But as the Presbyters were by the Canon of the Church prohibited to ordaine so was the Bishop by the same Canonicall constitutions prohibited to doe it without their consent z Episcopus sine concilio clericorum suorum clericos non ordinet Conc. Carth. 4. can 22. Let not a Bishop ordaine Clergie-men without the counsell of his Clergie saith the Canon of the Councell of Carthage registred by a Dist 24. ca. 6. Episcopus Gratian in the Canon Law which who so will be pleased to consult shall find that his Glossator b Glossa in locum Vide etianâ— dist 67. cap. 1. Glos in ver Sacerdotes Semeca doth answer an objection made to the contrary and proves that the word solus where it is said the Bishop alone may give honour and alone may take it away doth exclude other Bishops but not his own Clergie So that a Bishop with his own Clergie might ordaine without the consent of other Bishops but not doe it alone by his owne peerelesse power without the rest of his Clergie consenting to and concurring with him in the action In this regard it was decreed in the eleventh Councell of Toledo in Spain c Dist 23. cap. Presbyter When a Bishop doth lay his hands on the head of him who was to be ordained let all the Presbyters who are present lay on their hands also by the hand of the Bishop Presbyters have you see a share with the Bishop in the imposition of hands at Ordination which they doe Iren. Forb lib. 2. cap. 11. pag. 163. not only as consenting to the ordination saith Forbesius for the consent of the people was also required yet never were they sharers in this Act of Imposition of hands and Ordination whereby an Ecclesiasticall power is conferred as both he and e De rep Eccl. lib. 2. c. 2. n. 51. p. 187. Spalatensis have observed but by suffrage did they manifest their approbation of the person elected or their election of him that was to be ordained f Tanquam ordinantes seu ordinem conferentes ex porestate ordinandi diviritus accepta gratiam ordinate boc adhibito ritu apprecantes Forb ubi supra but as those which were Co-ordainers with the Bishop and by the power of Ordination received from the Lord praying for grace to be conferred on the person ordained by them and the Bishop This Canonicall restriction of Ordination to the Bishop did no more invalidate the power of Presbyters to ordaine by vertue of their Presbyteriall order then if a Canon should have been made to inhibite a Presbyter to baptize to preach to administer the Sacrament of the Lords Supper in the presence or without the consent of the Bishop it would be of force thence to conclude that a Presbyter as a Presbyter by vertue of his order might not performe these Presbyteriall acts and offices It is not unknowne that long agone even in the dayes of g Dandi quidem Baptism habet jus summus Sacerdos qiuest Episcopus debinc Presbyteri Diaconi non tamen sine Episcopi authoritate propter Ecclesiae honorem Quo salvo salva pax est Tertull de â—ap c. 17. Tertullian there began to be a reservation of Baptisme to the Bishop that Presbyters and Deacons might not doe it without the leave of the Bishop all which was done on the same ground that Ordination was as hath been shewed before for the honour of the Bishop to whom the Church had conferred honour and for the Churches peace yet none did ever inferre from thence that this did properly belong to the Bishop and that a Presbyter might not doe it except he had a Bishops licence But if the h Veteres à Baptismo aâ—i ordinationem argumentatos suisse patet ex Magistro l. 4. dist 25. Sadcel resp ad â—urr Sopb â— â—40 Master of the Sentences may be beleeved albeit Ordination was limited to the Bishop yet did the ancients argue from the
it hath been an Episcopall thunderbolt that is to say brutum fulmen a thunderbolt which doth neither fright nor hurt any the denuntiation of this sentence being much corrupted that I say not quite altered from the practice of the Apostles and the Church in former dayes when no punishment was imposed without great lamentation of the multitude and greater of the better sort saith the a Lib. 4. p. 330. Author of the History of the Councell of Trent which he doth prove from those expressions of the Apostle b 1 Cor. 5. Ye have not lamented to separate such an one from among you And x 2 Cor. 12. I feare that at my coming I shall lament many of those who have sinned before But as for those amongst us which have challenged this power and taken it into their hands they have rather carried themselves like Salomons foole or mad-man which casteth arrowes firebrands and death and yet saith Am I not in sport Concerning this you are not ignorant what Hierome said of old y Presbytero licet si peccavero tradere me Satanae in Ep. ad Heliod A Presbyter may deliver me to Satan if I offend However this power hath been by the Prelates wrested out of the hands of Presbyters yet there have not been wanting those who when Prelates were in the height of all their pride and darted out their thunderbolts as it pleased them have maintained that the power of denouncing and executing that sentence did belong to the Presbyters I will only produce a witnesse or two in this and proceed z Defensor pacis part 2. cap. 15. pag. 256. Marsilius Patavinus disputing concerning the order of Priesthood or of a Presbyter for they are all one and the power of the Keyes to binde and loose observeth out of the forementioned Father the Church hath these Keyes in the Presbyters and Bishops and gives this reason why Hierome speaking of this power of the Keyes doth mention Presbyters before the Bishops a Preponens in boc pretbyteros quoniam authoritas baec dâ—betur presbytero in quantum presbyter primò secundum quod ipsum because this authoritie belongs to a Presbyter as a Presbyter primarily and properly From the same Authour I first tooke notice of this b Cap 6 pag. 165 in init albeit Timothy a Bishop as our Hierarchists say was then at Corinth when the Apostle gives charge to excommunicate the incestuous person yet we heare not a word of command to the Bishop to doe it but a mandate unto others When ye are gathered together and my spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such an one unto Satan The charge is given to the Presbyters of Corinth it was not the act of one but of c 2 Cor 2.6 many who did denounce and execute the sentence on him Had it been proper to a Bishop St Paul would not have so much forgotten himself as to lay the blame and burthen upon others and omit the mention of him I finde also that d Glos in caus 2 q. 1. ca. 11. verbo Excommunicet Ecclesiarum praelati de jure communi possunt excommunicare licet episcopi jam praescripserint contra multos praelatos Bartholomaeus Brixniensis and Johannes Semeca both Glossators of the Canon Law doe maintaine and prove even out of it that by right Presbyters may excommunicate though the Bishops by custome and Prescription have taken the power out of their hands The same Interpreters of the Canon Law agree in this also e Non debet Episcopus revocare sententias excommunicationis justè lat as ab eorum praelatis sine corum consensit Gloss in dist 50. cap 64. verb. injungere A Bishop ought not to revoke the sentence of excommunication which a Priest hath on just ground pronounced without the Priests consent which did pronounce it By this which hath been spoken it is evident I hope that though there were a Primacy granted yet at first the Bishop had no Superioritie of power much lesse was the power of Ordination or Jurisdiction put into his hands alone you are not ignorant that Calvin Bucer Bullinger and Zanchie have maintained that the Bishop was at first no other then a President of the Presbytery his Act and Office in their meeting as of the Consul in the Senate to propound matters to gather votes and declare the resolutions of the Presbyterie With what scorn this is rejected by our Episcopall Monarches you all know as if they were the meere fancies of Calvins braine and the testimonie of the rest which confirme their assertions by pregnant passages out of antiquitie slighted because they are Disciplinarians of the Geneva cut If Protestant Divines be not regarded let us see whether the judgement of a Fryer and consent of a Jesuite will be of more weight with our Prelates there is good reason to expect it considering that Papists and Prelates were so linked together in their votes whilest they had any Jesuites and Bishops are at this day as all the world seeth so neerly conjoyned in their designes The Fryer is Petrus Suavis that Historian of note who discoursing at large touching the Originall of Episcopall power and Church censures as they were anciently administred tels us f Hist of the Councell of Trent lib. 4. p. â—3â— The judgement of the Church as is necessary in every multitude was to be conducted by one who should preside and guide the action propose the matters and collect the points to be consulted on This care due to the more principall and worthy person was alwayes committed to the Bishop Judge now I pray you Fathers and Brethren whether this be any more then to be a President of the Presbyterie or Senate Ecclesiasticall How the Bishops power came afterwards to be ampliated you shall there finde set forth to the full the passages are all of them too large for me to repeat or transcribe they are worth his reading that shall take paines to peruse them I shall only mention one g Ibid. pa. 331. The goodnesse and charity of the Bishops mark this I pray you he doth not say the Superioritie and power but the goodnesse and charity of the Bishops made their opinion for the most part to be followed and by little and little was the cause that the Church charity waxing cold and not regarding the charge laid upon them by Christ did leave the care to the Bishop and ambition a witty passion which doth insinuate it selfe in the shew of vertue did cause it to be readily embraced This and much more that Fryer in the same place The Jesuite is Salmeron who expounding the words of the Apostle to Titus I left thee in Creete to ordain Elders in every City positively affirmeth h Nec hoc loco permisit Paulus Tito ut praefiâ—iat omnibus ecclesiis ministros baec enim regia esset potestas juâ— eligendi tolleretur ecclesiis
Pastorum collegto judicium adimeretur Sed hoc tantum jubet Apostotus ut omnibus electionibus praesit tanquam moderator electos oratâ—one jejunio impositione manuum consecrareâ— uâ— habes Act. 6. 13 14. Ob id enim Titum priùs à se ordinatum Episcopum reliquit ut alios ipse constitueret sicut dâ—â—itur Consul aut Dictator Consutes alios creasse quia Comitia de eis eligendis babuerunt Salm. in Tit. 1 disp 1. Paul did not in that place permit Titus alone to set Ministers over the Churches for this were to invest him with a Kingly power and by this meanes the right of Election should be taken away from the Churches and the judgement should be taken away from the Colledge of Pastors But the Apostle doth only command him this that he should be President at all elections as a Moderator that he should by prayer fasting and Imposition of hands consecrate those that were chosen as the Apostles themselves did Act. 6.13 14. For this cause did he leave Titus ordained a Bishop formerly that he should ordain others as the Consul or Dictator is said to create Consuls because they held the Comitia the Assemblies for the election and creation of them This being a truth so cleare confirmed as you see by testimonies on all hands I wonder with what face it is spoken against i Episc by div right pa. 120. and another passage out of Hicrome Tanquam imperator in exercitu as the Generall in the Army brought in obtorto collo quite against the haire For Hierome k In Epist ad Evagr. in that place speaks not concerning the power which the Bishop had over the Presbyters but concerning the manner of his prelation to wit by the free election of the Presbyters of Alexandria who did choose one out of their own company whom they placed in an higher degree and called Bishop This forme of prelation by election he doth there illustrate by two examples 1. l Quomodo si exercitus imperatorem sactat aut Diacone eligant de se quem industrium noverint Arcbidiaconum vocent ibid. Of souldiers in an army making choise of a Generall and Commander in chiefe over them but the Father doth not say the Bishop carried himselfe as a Generall in an army or had power given him answerable to the power of a Generall Nay on the contrary he tels the Bishops in plain termes they m Sicut ergo Presbyteri sciunt se ex ecclesiae consuetudine ei qui sibi praepositus suerit subjectos esse ita Episâ—opi noverâ—â—â— so magis consuetudine quam dispositionis Dominiâ—ae veritate Presbyâ—eâ—u esse majores in communi debere Ecclesiam regere in Epist ad Titum ca. 1. ought to governe the Church by the common counsell of the Presbyters above whom they are by the custome of the Church advanced 2. He instanceth in the fact of Deacons making choise of one whom they know to be industrious and set him to be Arch-deacon over them This latter passage is cunningly omitted the former misalleadged and fraudulently perverted because the one cuts the comb of Episcopall Dominion the other as it is wrested seemeth at first sight to uphold or favour it Indeed the execution of Martiall Law hath well pleased them which are now turned Martialists It is too well known how they have hang'd up Ministers ad placitum at their pleasure by their suspensions excommunications deprivations n Conc. Hisp 2. act 6. ap cent Magdâ—cent 7. cap 9. by a tyrannicall power not canonicall authority as was complained of old against some Prelates in the second Councell of Hispalis But ab initio non fuit sic from the beginning it was not so The Colledge of Presbyters granted unto the Bishop the chiefest seat in their publike meetings and gave honour to him as to their Senior and he was commanded to carry himself towards them as toward his Colleagues by the o Episcopus in quolibet loco sedens stare Presterum non patiatur Conc Carth. 4. can 34. Episcopus in ecclesia consessu presbuterorum sublimior sedeat Intra domum verò collegam se Presbyterorum cognoscat can 35. ap Grat dist 95. Canons of the fourth Councell of Carthage unto which Canons registred by Gratian this Summarie or title is prefixed p Episcopus non dominum sed Collegam se presbyâ—erorum cognoseat Let the Bishop know that he is not a Lord over but Colleague of the Presbyters In this regard in the same Canonist the q Episcopi se sacerdotes esse noverint non dominos bonorent clericos quasi clericos ut it sis à clericis quasi episcopis honos eseratur Grat. dist 95. ca. Esâ—o subjectus ex Hier. ad Nepot epist 2. Bishops are commanded to honour their Clergy as Clergy-men that so the Clergy may reciprocally honour them as their Bishops And the forementioned r Hoc est contra supercilium Episcoporum qui subdiros appellant siâ—ios cum debeant cos appel lare fratres Caus 8. q. 1. cap. Quid autem vol sociâ—s caus 10 q. 3. cap. Cavendum Gloss in verb. quasi clerices Glossator Semeca hath observed that this doth sharply reprove the pride of those Bishops who account them their subjects and underlings whom they ought to reckon of and call their brethren and companions Last of all when the Bishop began to be distinguished in name from the Presbyters and the forementioned Presidentship and Priority was granted him yet was he not thereby advanced to an order distinct from and superior to the order of Presbyters but only to an higher degree in that Order This is cleare by this that at the first distinction of a Bishop from the Presbyters there was no new consecration or ordination of the Bishop Antonius de Dominis a man Prelaticall enough doth confesse induced thereunto by the cleare testimonie of Ambrose Å¿ De rep eccl lib. 3. cap. 3. n. 2. at the beginning whensoever a Bishop dyed and the Episcopall throne was vacant there was not so much as an election of him that was to succeed much lesse any new ordination but the eldest Presbyter came prosently in the roome of the deceased Bishop The words of Ambrose are expresse for it t Primi pretbyteri Episcopi appellabautur ut recedente co sequent ei succederet in 4 ca. ad Eph. The first Presbyters were called Bishops so as that when he to wit the first or eldest Presbyter departed the next did succeed him Thus it was at first the reason why this order was changed that Episcopacie should be conferred by Election not by Succession is there given by the same Father * Quia caperunt sequentes Presbyteri indigul inveniri ad primatus tenendes immatata est ratio prospiciente Concilie ut non ordo sed meritum crearet Episcopum multerum Sacerdotum judlcio constitutum ne indigum temerâ— usurparer esset
multis scanlalum id ibid. Because the Presbyters which followed were found unworthy to hold that Primacy the manner of prelation was purposely changed that worth not order should make a Bishop being appointed by the judgement of many Presbyters lest an unworthy person should rashly usurpe the place and honour and so prove scandalous to many Yet did he that was named the Bishop remain still a Presbyter as the same u Post Episcopum diaconi ordinationem subjicit Quare nisi quia Episcopi diaconi una ordinatio est uterque enim est sacerdes sed Episcopus primus ut omnis Episcopus Presbyter sit non omnis Presbyter Episcopus Hic enim Episcopus est qui inter Presbyteres primus Ambr. in â— Tim. cap. 3. Ambrose testifieth though he was accounted the Bishop who was the first of the Presbyters and in that respect the chiefest As for the Bishops of Alexandria they had no other Ordination then the free election of their Presbyters as is evident from the formerly alleadged passages of * In Epist ad Evagr. Hierome Whence our learned and laborious Willet doth acknowledge x Syn. Papis cont 5. q. 3. p. 177. the speciall consecration of Bishops was ordained only for the dignitie of that calling So that what was in the first institution of it devised and ordained meerly for the dignitie and honour of that Episcopall function that is y Episc by div light pag. 105. now made use of as an argument to prove from thence a distinction of order In a word z De Invent. ver l. 4. cap. 6. p. 276. Polydore Virgil doth confesse that anciently in the consecrating of a Bishop there were no other ceremonies then these that the people met together to give their testimonie and suffrage in the Election both Ministers and people did pray and the Presbyters gave imposition of hands Which doth manifestly prove that both Bishop and Presbyter were one order not distinct even then when there was in some respects a difference made between them And long after this distinction began a Iohannes Parisiensis in lib. depotestate regâ—â— Papali quem Soâ—bona approbavit assicaat Presbyteros non esse Pontisiribus inferiores quod ad essentralem ministerii dignitatem attinet Idque consirmat ratione hac quod eorum ordinatio conslet iisdem verbis quibus Episcooporum Apostolorum viz. Accipite Sp sanctam Quodcunque tigaveritis in terra erit ligatum in câ— â— Teste D. Plesseo libdâ— eccl ca 12. p 252. Johannes Parisiensis in a treatise of his concerning the power of the King and of the Pope which was approved by the Sorbon of Paris maintains that Presbyters are not inferior to Bishops which he doth prove by this they have one and the same ordination as that noble Frenchman Philip Morney hath observed Now admit we yeeld unto our Hierarchists that the Angel here spoken of is in the forementioned sense and kinde a Bishop the Senior of the Presbyters and President of the Presbyterie as b In locum Beza taketh it and c Conference with Hart ch 8. div 3. p. 535. Doctor Reinolds whose judgement of this place the Archbishop of Armagh hath published with some additions of his own out of antiquity yet what is all this to a Bishop in order distinguished from and superior in power to the Presbyters Our learned countryman Dr Reinolds doth not say that this Angel or President of the Presbyterie was such a Bishop nor doth the Reverend Primate of Armagh say that he was of a different order but only that the name of Bishop was limited to him that had the Presidentship Who that was hath been expressed before by the clear testimonie of Ambrose to which Austin doth agree Tom. 4. quest exutroq mixtâ—m cap. 101. saying Quid est episcopus nisi primus Presbyter hoc est summus sacerdos Much lesse doth Dr Reinolds affirme that he which had the Presidentâ—hip had it by divine right or undertake to prove or inferre from hence a distinction in Order between a Bishop and a Presbyter by the word of God for if so he should contradict himself having expressed his judgement to the contrary and proved it both by Scriptures and by variety of other authors * In his letter to Sir Francis Knollys which was reprinted about the same time that the Archbishop of Armagh published this piece of Dr Reinolds with his own Additions Whether this be not a weak inference or rather a strange Non sequitur The Angel of Ephesus was a President of the Presbyterie of Ephesus therefore he was a Bishop differenced in order from and superior in power to the Presbyters of Ephesus let any reasonable man judge It is well known that the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament are Presidents as it were yet not by their Presidentship advanced to an higher order the one is a Peere the other a Commoner though as Speakers they are in some sort differenced from the Peeres and Commons The Prolocutor in a Convocation as it stood formerly was by order a Clarke and no more though as Prolocutor he had a Presidentship over the Clarks of the Convocation Such was the preeminence of him that was President of the Presbytery In which regard Beza though he grant the Angel here to be the President yet might justly and on good ground maintain d Hinc statui episcopalis ille gradus posteae humanltùs in ecclesiam Dei invectus certè nec potest nec debet Beza in loc that from hence that Episcopall degree which was afterwards by men brought into the Church of God neither may nor ought to be established Thus have you Fathers and Brethren some of my thoughts concerning this argument of Episcopacie contracted into as narrow a compasse as I could Wherein I have endeavoured to prove that the Angel in my text is not a Bishop distinct from a Presbyter in Order Office and fixed Superiority and so to disprove their Institution de Jure divino Concerning which their pretended originall I cannot but assent unto the judgement of a learned Divine amongst us one that is well known to be a man of great reading and insight in antiquity as also to be no Puritan e M. S. deschismate They but abuse themselves and others that would perswade us that Bishops by Christs Institution have any Superioritie over other men farther then of reverence or that any Bishop is superior to another further then positive order agreed upon amongst Christians hath prescribed For we have beleeved him that taught us that in Christ Jesus there is neither high nor low and in giving honour every man should preserre another before himself which sayings most excellently cut off all claim to superiority by title of Christianity except we can think these things were spoken to poore and private men Nature and Religion agree in this that neither of them hath an hand in this heraldry
evasion that a Ibid. n. 42. He cals those which wore true Bishops by the name of Presbyters which how weake it is let any man of understanding judge Wherefore untill I be convinced by clearer evidence to which I shall be ready to yeeld if any be produced I shall say with Chamier b Paustr tom 2. l. 10. de Ocâ— Pont. c. 6. in fine Ausim asserere I dare be bold to maintain it that Presbyters and Bishops are no where distinguished in Irenaeus Thus much for answer to that objection I proceed to another instance How little strength to Episcopall Soveraignty over Presbyters the Epistle of Clemens to the Corinthians doth afford in the commendation of which Author and Epistle c Bishop Hall pag. 129 130 133. one that hath lately stept forth as another Atlas to beare up Episcopacie by head and shoulders is pleased to spend two whole pages at least you may easily perceive if either you peruse the Epistle it self or parallell that passage cited by the forementioned stickler for Prelacie with divers others in d Dissert de Presb. epis p. 202. ad p. 219. Salmasius out of the same Epistle For there you shall finde 1. that Bishops and Presbyters are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both denominations setting forth one and the same order one and the same office 2. That the Church of Corinth at that time and other Churches also were governed not by one but by many Bishops that is to say Presbyters The passages are quoted by that learned Critick at large I will in briefe but point unto them First what the Apostles practise was Clemens there sets downe thus Preaching in cities among the Nations they did constitute the first fruits of them to be Bishops and Deacons over them that should afterward beleeve These Bishops are afterward in many places called Presbyters Blessed are those Presbyters that went before It is a shamefull thing to heare that the ancient and firme Church of Corinth should out of respect unto one or two persons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 move sedition against the Presbyters Afterwards he perswades those which had been the authors of the contention to repent and yeeld subjection to the Presbyters From these and sundry other passages planissimè constat saith d Pag. 219. Salmasius it is most evident and cleare that that Church was then governed by Presbyters alone who were also called Bishops all constituted in equall authoritie honour and power in the government thereof Amongst many other that are remarkable I will only touch upon one which seeing the Author is so highly magnified and the Epistle commended with a great deale of silken language bestowed on it might me thinks make some impression on the Commender and others of his Order as it is very pathetically delivered by Clemens Whâ—soever he be amongst you that is of a generous spirit that is of a compassionate disposition whoso is full of love let him say If for my sake there be sedition strife and schismes I depart I am content to be gone whithersoever you will and will doe those things which are commanded me by the people Only let the flock of Christ live in peace with the Presbyters that are set over it Whosoever shall doe this shall purchase to himselfe exceeding great glory in the Lord and every place will readily receive him Thus that holy that Apostolicall man Clemens whose counsell if it might have found entertainment in the hearts of our Prelates and their adherents neither Scotland of late yeeres nor England at this day had met with such commotions and distractions Or if examples and the Presidents of those Fathers in whom because they were Bishops our late e Bishop Hall p. 62. It is our glory comfort we have had such Predecessours Hierarchists do glory as being their Predecessours are likely to be more effectuall with those which would be accounted their posteritie I could put them in minde of Gregorie Nazianzen who was content to lay down his Episcopall honour and to descend from that throne which he knew not well whether he might more properly call an hierarchicall or tyrannicall throne nor did he feare to commit any sacriledge against that holy order or contract on himself the guilt of that crime but d Orat. 28 Carm. de div vitae gen ad pseudoepis finding the Church wasted by contentions States and Kingdomes exceedingly shaken and like to be overturned by warres about that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that great and new name as he cals the Episcopall dignitie he willingly did it induced thereunto by a most prevailing argument e Quum certus fit à Deo non excludi quibus thronus eripiatur Cent. Mag. Cent 4. c. 10 col 525. edit Bas 2624. He was assured of this God would not dis-throne him in Heaven though he lost his throne on earth If the example of one induced thereunto by the hope of heaven be not sufficient I could propose to our Prelates for a President the practise of f Lib. de gest cum Emer Don. epis tom 7. col 6 7 638. edit Basan 1542. Austin and almost three hundred African Bishops whose hearts were so enflamed with a desire of union and peace in the Church that they were ready for the procuring of it to lay downe their Bishopricks which in so doing they did not account to be lost but more safely recommended unto God And whereas amongst them all there were but two found to whom this motion was displeasing the brotherly exhortation and reproofe generally of all the rest did make them change their mindes and confent to doe what the rest of their brethren did The exhortation is very ponderous and full of moving arguments Give leave O ye Fathers of the Church unto a poore Presbyter to represent before you what once your Predecessours spake unto them who were loath to part with their dignities for the Churches benefit They propose in the first place that of our Saviour Who so humbleth himselfe shall be exalted and from thence inferre Why should we doubt to offer to our Redeemer the sacrifice of this humilitie Hath he descended from Heaven into humane members that we might become his members and are we afraid to descend from our seats that his very members be not torne in pieces by cruell division There is nothing more sufficient for us then that we be faithfull and obedient Christians This we are still But we are made Bishops for the Christian people therefore let us doe that with our Episcopall honour which may conduce to the Christian peace of Christian people If we be profitable servants why doe we envie the eternall gain of our master for our temporall preferment Our Episcopall dignity will be more fruitfull unto us if being laid down it may rather collect then being retained scatter the flock of Christ Austin the Bishop said My brethren if we have the Lord in our thoughts this higher place