Preach the Gospel to every Creature So that this was not a singular Authority committed to St. Peter but he was first made choice of to have a right understanding of the extent of his Commission And it is not to be doubted but that Authority which did belong to all the Apostles of leading Men to the Church receiving them into it governing them in it and excluding them from it doth contain the chief part of the power of the Keys 3. To us not only to the Apostles but even to other Officers of the Church as Bishops and Priests or Presbyters is given this Ministry of Reconciliation for if we consider the nature of this Office the Ministry of Reconciliation or which is all one the Ministry of the Gospel must not cease till the end of it in the Salvation of Men be accomplished And our Saviour both promiseth his Presence and Authority to be with his Ministry unto the end of the World and establisheth them in his Church till we all come in the Unity of the Faith Mat. 28.20 Eph. 4.14 and Knowledg of the Son of God unto a perfect Man And we may further observe That in writing this second Epistle to the Corinthians it is manifest from the Inscription thereof that Timothy therein joined with S. Paul Now though he was no Apostle nor a Companion of St. Paul till after the Council of Jerusalem as appears from the History of the Acts yet he here as well as St. Paul hath a share in the Ministry of Reconciliation That Timothy was the first Bishop of Ephesus is generally declared by the Ancient Writers Eusebius attesteth it Eus Hist l. 3. c. 4. and besides others this was expressed by Leontius in the great Council of Chalcedon Conc. Chalc. Action 11. there being then preserved an exact Record and Catalogue of the Bishops of that Church And though Learned Men herein disagree and there is manifest difficulty in fixing the Chronology it is greatly probable from comparing the Epistles to Timothy with the History of the Acts that he was not yet made Bishop of Ephesus when this Epistle to the Corinthians was written And this might then give some fair probability from the instance of Timothy that that Order of Priest or Presbyter as distinct from a Bishop was of an Apostolical and therefore a Divine Original But because several difficulties too large to be here discussed must be obviated for the clearing this particular I shall rather fix upon another Consideration which may be sufficient to perswade the same It is very evident from the History of the Acts and some expressions in the Epistles that for several years after the famous Church of Ephesus was founded by St. Paul Timothy the first Bishop there was usually with St. Paul in his Journeys or by his Command in other places Now it may be acknowledged that the chief Government and power of Censure in several Churches was for some time reserved in the hands of the Apostles themselves though at a distance as is evident from the Epistles to the Corinthians it was concerning the Church of Corinth But he who shall think that in all this time they had no Church-Officer fixed amongst them in that great Church of Ephesus to administer the Holy Communion and celebrate other needful Ministerial Performances must account the Apostles to have had no great care of the Churches they planted nor the Churches to have had any great zeal for the Religion they embraced which no Man can judg who hath any knowledg of the Spirit of that Primitive Christianity But if they had in the Church of Ephesus other fixed Officers distinct from the Bishop to celebrate the Holy Communion and other necessary acts of ordinary Ministration then must the Order of Presbyters be of as early original in the Church as the History of the Acts and then the ordaining Elders in every Church must take in those who are distinctly called Priests or Presbyters To this I add that the Office of Presbyter includeth an Authority to tender in God's Name remission of Sins and as from him to exhibit to his Church the Sacramental Symbols of his Grace and upon that account no such Office could ever have its Original from any lower than Apostolical and Divine Authority 4. To us in different Ranks and Orders in the Church not in a parity and equality Here is S. Paul an Apostle and Timothy in an Order inferiour to him When Christ was upon Earth he appointed the Apostles and the Seventy and when he Ascended he gave some Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists some Pastors and Teachers And though most of these were Officers by an extraordinary Commission which are ceased yet when Timothy was fixed at Ephesus where there then were Presbyters as I have shewed the chief power of Government and the care of Ordination was intrusted in his hands singly as is manifest and hath been oft observed from the Epistles to Timothy The like appears concerning Titus as also that the chief care of the Churches of Asia was in the hands of the Angels of those Churches If we consult the Ancient state of the Church this chief Government in a single Person or Bishop in those ancient times took place as far as Christianity it self reached Besides what may be said from particular Writers 1 Can. Ap. 2. Can. Nic. 19. the first General Council of Nice and the more ancient Code called the Canons of the Apostles do both of them not only frequently mention as distinct Offices the Bishop Presbyter and Deacon but also express this distinction between Bishop and Presbyter 1. 2 Can. Ap. 1. Can Nic. 4. 3 Can. Ap. 15 31 32 38. Conc. Nic. c. â— That the peculiar power of Ordaining doth reside in the Bishop 2. That he receiveth his Episcopal Office by a special Ordination thereto 3. That he hath a particular power of governing and censuring the Laiety and other Clergy And he who shall consider that many things in the Scripture may receive considerable Light from understanding the custom of the Jews and even of the Gentiles must needs acknowledg that an account of the practice and customs of the Christian Church may lead us to the true sense of those expressions of Scripture which have relation thereto especially since no Man without this help can give a satisfactory account of the distinct work and business of those ordinary Church-Officers which are particularly mentioned in Scripture Wherefore I doubt not but according to the Scripture and the Universal practice of the ancient Church throughout the World the power of the Keys and of remitting and retaining Sins which takes in the whole Office of the Ministry is in some eminent parts of it wholly reserved to Bishops while other parts thereof are dispensed by Priests and some by Deacons Ignat. ad Smyr Tert. de Bapt. c. 17. yet so that these ever acted with submission to the Bishop as is asserted by Ignatius and Tertullian
Churches were ordained by some one or more of the Apostles or of those Apostolical Men who received Ordination from them The ancient Testimonies of the Fathers assure us Tert. de Praesc c. 32. Iren l. 3. c. 3. Eus Hist Eccl. l. 3. c. 35. gr Acts 6.3 6. Acts 14.23 Eus Hist l. 3. c. 23. gr that Clemens was ordained by St. Peter and Polycarp by St. John The Scriptures acquaint us that the seven Deacons were constituted by the twelve Apostles and where Paul and Barnabas came they ordained Elders in every Church And Eusebius declares as a Matter of certain Truth that St. John in his old Age in some places made Bishops and in others planted whole Churches After the Apostles had committed particular Churches to the Care of their Bishops or Metropolitans they also intrusted the Power of Ordination peculiarly in their hands which indeed is included in committing to them the chief Care of the Church Titus 1.5 1 Tim. 3. 1-14 15. To this purpose Titus was appointed to ordain Elders in every City of Crete and Timothy directed how he ought to behave himself in the Church of God concerning the Ordination of its Officers And from these Principles the Truth of what Clemens Romanus declareth may be easily inferred Epist ad Cor. p. 57. That the Apostles ordered that when those chief Officers of the Church whom they had appointed should die 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 others in their places should succeed them in the same Office and Ministration and therefore with a Power of Ordination And the universal Consent of genuine Antiquity shews the ancient Church to have received and followed that Platform and Model which was framed by the Apostles for Episcopal Eminency in Government and Power in Ordination To this purpose both Tertullian and Irenaeus urge this Tert. de Praesc c. 32. Iren. adv Haer. l. 3. c. 3. as a convictive Argument against the later Brood of Heresies That the Catholick Church could produce such a Catalogue of their Bishops and the Succession of them which would manifest that the first of them who was fixed in their several Churches was there placed by the Apostles themselves or by Apostolical Men their Assistants And the Succession in divers chief Churches is still preserved in ancient Writers and Ecclesiastical Historians And that the Power of Ordination especially was peculiar to the Bishop besides the Testimony of ancient Canons and Practice is acknowledged even by St. Hierom. Hieron ad Evagr. ◠And the placing of this Power in a single Person was of great necessity and usefulness for preserving the Churches Peace and Unity From hence I conclude that Episcopal Ordination was according to the Constitution of the Apostles and constant Practice of the Ancient Church the only regular way of entring into this Office and Ministry of Reconciliation and he that knows how easy a thing it is to raise plausible Objections almost against any thing will not be much moved by such as some produce in this case against so plain Evidence and general Testimony Indeed there have been some and but some Protestant Foreign Churches not the Bohemian as some English Writers have unfaithfully misrepresented it nor those of Sueden and the Danish Dominions nor divers others in Germany who have been without this Episcopal Ordination and it must be said that in this particular which is a matter of moment they are defective in that Primitive Apostolical Order which we observe But in the first fixing these Churches and their Ministry all things seem not to have been done as they would have chosen but as their present Circumstances would give them leave while they wanted that Privilege which our Reformation enjoyed the Consent of the Civil and Ecclesiastical Governors For besides the Expressions of particular Writers the French Protestants in their General Confession Confes Gallic c. 31. concerning the Entrance into the Ministry pleaded a Necessity in their Reformation of having some things done extra ordinem out of the regular Way with respect to the making up the Ruines and Decays of the Church Yea those Churches themselves and the most worthy Men among them are no Opposers but Approvers of this Government and Order as hath been sufficiently shewed concerning many principal Persons among them And even in the Synod of Dort when those sent from England asserted Episcopacy as Apostolical there was not as they declared in their joint Attestation any one Person in that Synod who spake a Word against it yea as Bishop Hall acquaints us the President of the Synod said Domine Divine Right of Episcopacy part 1. c. 4. non licet nobis esse tam faelices We may not be such happy Men. Now I conceive it becomes private Persons not to be over forward in judging other Churches but to express as much Charity towards them as the case will bear but to shew no such respect to any as to neglect a due Reverence to whatsoever is of God Wherefore I shall only note three things in general 1. That it is indeed a Truth that some positive Precepts may in extraordinary cases be dispensed with by the Goodness of God who will have Mercy and not Sacrifice This was that which warranted David's Men in eating the Shew-Bread In this case Circumcision was forborn in the Wilderness and the Jewish Casuists thought that Precept not to oblige Hor. Hebr. in 1 Cor. 7.19 when the circumcising an Infant was inevitably like to procure his Death The sacrificing in another place than that which God had singly appointed was practised by Samuel as well as others after the Destruction of Shiloh and before the Building of the Temple and by Elijah under the general Defection of Israel The celebrating Baptism by Persons unordained was allowed in the ancient Church Hieron adv Lucif si necessitas cogit as St. Hierom phraseth it And the Command that all the Males of Israel should three times in the Year appear before the Lord doth yet by the Letter of the Scripture give allowance to him who was in a Journey and by the reasonable Interpretation of the Jewish Writers 1 Sam. 1.21 V. Seld. de Syn. l. 1. c. 7. p. 186 187. the same Liberty was to be extended to those in Childhood and Infancy as Samuel was and to those in Sickness Old-Age and such like 2. Yet it becomes all good Men who are to obey God and reverence his Institutions not to be forward in judging themselves disobliged by the appearance of such Cases as they account extraordinary from Obedience to any of his Rules of Order When Saul thought he had a Case of Necessity to warrant his Sacrificing yet God was highly displeased therewith and deprived him of his Kingdom Nor might Vzzah touch the shaking Ark. 3. In ordinary cases he who willingly breaks positive Rules established by God's Authority is guilty of heinous moral Evil in disobedience to God's Commands contempt of his Government and
it a very high guilt which excludeth so much obstinacy against God And his Apostles were not only defamed by the false Apostles but Diotrophes also prateth against them with malicious words 3 Joh. 10. 14. Now both Ministers in the Church and Governours in the Kingdom are also established by Gods Authority and an honourable deportment towards them is strictly enjoyned by the Sanctions of his Law neither to Secular nor Ecclesiastical Governours When our Saviour sent forth not only the Apostles but even the Seventy Disciples he declared unto them Luk. 10.16 He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me And the authority of secular Governours is so great that the powers that be are ordained of God whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation And so far as the laws of God prevail on the minds and tongues of men they will check and silence rash and defaming expressions against them S. Paul mentions this as one of those precepts of the law which lay a strict obligation upon Christians under the Gospel Act. 23.5 Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people Yea the commands of God will not allow so much as an uncharitable thought Eccl. 10.20 Curse not the King no not in thy thought 15. Tertullian gave a true account of the rules of Christianity and of the temper and spirit of the ancient primitive Christians of his age who endured heavy sufferings when he declares that (i) Apol. c. 36. ad Scap. c. 2. our Religion allows not us to desire act speak or think evil toward any much less towards Governours This contrary to the primitive Christian simplicity whom we must honour and reverence as appointed by God But it is a just matter of lamentation that the divine authority of Governours is little regarded among many men who profess Christianity which is a great testimony that true Religion and a sense of God is not duly entertained That in our age a very great part of men are forward rashly to censure and speak dishonourably both against secular rulers and the Bishops and Ministers of the Church is a thing so plain and obvious that observing men cannot but take notice of it and pious and good men are heartily grieved at it And this misbehaviour towards the pious Bishops of the Church was also many ages since observed and complained of and the ill effects thereof were in some measure provided against by the Canon of a (k) Concil Constant c. 6. General Council when discords and divisions prevailed in the Church And such calumnies as Balsamon there observeth Satan doth much endeavour to soment and cherish 16. Thus Corah and his company were forward with presumptuous confidence but agreeable to the presumption of Core to speak against Moses their chief Ruler and Aaron the Priest slandering and opposing them and this pleased the Congregation of Israel who were too ready to comply with them But this was so provoking to God and so pernicious to the Israelites that there were many exceeding severe punishments inflicted by God upon the Israelites for these offences For Numb 16. the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up Corah and his company the fire from the Lord consumed those men who intruded themselves into the office of the Priest to offer Incense and a dreadful plague brake out upon the Congregation and destroyed suddenly fourteen thousand and seven hundred but was stayed by Aarons making atonement And these things are so far written for our examples that where-ever the like sins are committed under the time of Christianity they are as evil and destructive as they were under the law of Moses since the Gospel gives particular precepts for the honouring Superiours and threats upon the neglect of them and S. Jude declares concerning such disobedient persons who swerved from the true Spirit of Christianity and despise dominion that they perished in the gainsaying of Core Jude 11. 17. Fourthly 4. Men of the sweetest and meekest behaviour are roughly dealt with by virulent tongues Our Saviour was a person of admirable meekness but neither did this preserve him from detraction and calumny He had no proud and haughty carriage he injured no man by word or deed nor gave them any just provocation It is frequent in the world that words and actions of strife and contention do kindle more strife though they ought not so to do If a storm be begun one wave will raise another but in a perfect calm to see the Sea grow boisterous of it self is somewhat unusual And whereas a fiery fierceness of temper is apt to kindle heats and disturbances it was observed in the writings of the Jewish Authors that the result or end of meekness (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is welfare peace and quiet and so it frequently is both to mans self and to them with whom he converseth but it was much otherwise in the practice of the Jewish Nation towards him who was the great pattern of meekness gentleness and patience 18. Indeed it is sinful for any Christians Licentious expressions not justified when occasioned by provocations to give way to their passions and unbecoming expressions though they meet with provocations These provocations are temptations laid before them but their Religion teacheth them to beware of and reject temptations and not to yield to them and suffer themselves to be overcome and prevailed upon by them Even when the Israelites provoked Moses so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips it went ill with him Psal 106.32 33. And when S. Paul was smitten contrary to the law Act. 23. he in that case acknowledgeth the obligation of this duty Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people And the Doctrine of Christianity obligeth its Professors to love their enemies to bless them which curse them and to pray for them who despitefully use them and persecute them The precepts of some of the (m) Plat. in Crit. Maxim Tyr. Diss 2. Ethnick Philosophers went so far as to condemn the returning injuries to them from whom we receive wrong and some rare instances there are among Pagans of some who declared they would and others who actually did treat them with much kindness who had greatly injured them But the doctrine of our Saviour appeareth to have gone higher than the rules which their wisest men prescribed in enjoining as a necessary duty the exercise of love kindness doing good unto and praying for our enemies 19. But that Religion which will not allow of passion and reviling where there may be some considerable occasion given will much more detest it in such cases where there is truly no such occasion but are more unreasonable when without any occasion given For this most clearly shews such men to be much more hurried and commanded by a swelling
subject besides that of this particular Congregation 6. But First This is contrary to what the Holy Scriptures declare and all the ancient Churches of God agreeably thereto have practised concerning the right order and Government of the Church What is more evident in the Scriptures than that the several Churches of Christians were under the Authority and Government of the Apostles themselves which is sufficient to manifest that it was no Institution nor intendment of Christ that particular Churches should not be subject to any Superior Ecclesiastical Authority Nor was such Governing Authority peculiar to the Apostles themselves but was by them thought requisite to be committed to the care of others Hence for instance Titus was in Crete appointed by Saint Paul to ordain Elders in every City and to set in order the things which were wanting Tit. 1.5 and other expressions of his Governing or Episcopal power are contained in divers expressions of that Epistle But it must be a strange strength of imagination that can inable any man to conceive that when Crete was a Country almost three hundred miles in length and so greatly peopled that it was very anciently called Hecatompolis as having a hundred great places or Cities within its Territories and Titus was to ordain Elders in every City yet all these should make up but one particular Congregation unto which the power of Titus should be confined 7. And concerning the Authority of Councils it is manifest that upon occasion of some Judaizing Teachers disturbing the Christian Church at Antioch the Council at Jerusalem Act. 15. met together and gave their authoritative decision concerning Circumcision and other Jewish Rites not to be imposed on the Gentile Christians any further than they particularly injoined This may well be called a General Council since it not only pronounced a decisive determination concerning the Universal Church expressing what the Gentiles were not to admit or were obliged to practise and on what terms the Jews were bound to admit and not scruple Communion with the Gentiles but also had in it such persons who being Apostles had an undoubted universal Authority over the whole Church And whereas the decision of the Apostles themselves alone and their Authority had been of it self abundantly sufficient to lay an obligation upon the Christian Church in that particular case the Apostles notwithstanding this took in with them the Elders of the Church to debate and consider of this matter Act. 15.6 which is a sufficient evidence that the Apostles did allow such Elders or Church-Officers as they established in the Church to have a power in Councils to order and determine what related to the affairs of the Church by Synodical Authority for otherwise the Apostles would never have joyned them with themselves to this purpose 8. And S. Paul was so forward and zealous to require a general obedience to the decision of this Council that in his Ministry he delivered to the Cities where he preached the decrees for to keep which were ordained of the Apostles and Elders which were at Jerusalem Act. 16.4 And here that expression of his delivering these Decrees as not only ordained of the Apostles but of the Apostles and Elders also deserves to be considered as thereby laying a more clear and manifest foundation for the Authority of future Synods and Councils of the Officers and Bishops of the Christian Church And it may be further observed that case in which S. Paul rebuked S. Peter Gal. 2. was his not acting according to the rules of this Council and a complying further with the Jewish Rites and the favourers of the Circumcision than was here determined and not being ready to own that liberty of the Gentile Church which was contained in this Synodical decision 9. And consonant hereunto the ancient Christian Churches did all along greatly reverence the authoritative decision of Catholick Councils and Synods the Canons of which are so well known to all men of ordinary reading that he must be a man greatly ignorant of Ecclesiastical affairs who knows nothing of them And in several General and Provincial Councils and in those Canons particularly taken into that ancient Code called the Canons of the Apostles or into the Codes of the Universal Church of the Western Church or the African Church many things were established by them for the peace unity and order of the Church and especially for the promoting purity therein and the degrees of the punishment by suspension deposition excommunication and the continuance thereof upon the offenders are there plainly determined to be a Rule for the several Churches to act by And in these ancient Councils when there was great occasion for such heavy sentences the most eminent Officers or the Bishops of those most renowned places in the Christian Church were deposed or excommunicated by their Synodical Authority and not by their own particular Church Thus was Paulus Samosatenus Bishop of Antioch deposed by the Council at Antioch Nestorius Bishop of Constantinople by the General Council of Ephesus and Dioscorus Bishop of Alexandria by the General Council of Chalcedon to which multitudes of other instances may be given And in particular Churches the great and eminent authority fixed in Bishops though the Canons allowed but one Bishop in the greatest City with its precincts is sufficient to shew that the particular Congregations in that City had no such Independency of power and Government So that this branch of Independency opposeth the Apostolical order and the constant practice and sense of all primitive Christian Churches from the Apostles 10. Secondly This notion of Independency lays a foundation for perpetual confusion and division in the Church and subverts the precepts for Christian Unity For according to this Principle so far as concerns power and authority any company of men may set up for themselves apart and multiply Sects and distinct Communions and none having any Superior Government over them these parties and divisions may be perpetuated and subdivided to the scandal and Reproach of Christianity and no way left for any authority in the Christian Church to check and redress them So that this notion is perfectly fitted to serve the interest of Schism and discord and to heighten and increase but is as fully opposite to the Unity and honour of the Christian Religion For if we should admit for the present the scanty and imperfect notion of Schism which Dr. O. (p) Review of Sch. against Mr. Cawdr c. 8 9. hath framed that it is needless divisions of judgement and discord in a particular Congregation when departing from it is no Schism if the guilty party should so far unchristianly foment such discords as to deserve the censure of that Church and shall withal proceed so far as openly to separate and depart from it they have by this means according to this notion after a strange and admirable manner set themselves free and clear both from sin and censure For when they have thus openly separated from
dividing principle and practice can be justified before Christ himself For if Christ will say to them who neglect to express kindness and respect to the rest of his members In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these ye did it not to me Matt. 25.45 May not they fear lest they hear the same who rashly and unjustly cast contempt reproach and disrespect upon that Church which he owneth as his and disown and reject its Communion 15. But this which they call gathering of Churches by taking to themselves those who either were or ought to have been under other Guides and Governours of the Church in a different but more justifiable way and order is indeed a making divisions in a setled Church and separations from it And this practce of division and separation is so greatly displeasing to the Holy Spirit of God that there are many earnest and vehement expressions in the Holy Scriptures against it To which purpose the Apostle beseecheth the Romans to mark them who cause divisions and offences contrary to the Doctrine they had received and avoid them Rom. 16.17 even them who by good words and fair speeches deceived the hearts of the simple Against such separations the ancient and Primitive Christians were very zealous as I have noted in (u) Libert Eccles B. 1. C. 1. Sect. 3. another place and so are also the generality of the Protestant Writers 16. Such a way of separation which in the phrase and language of the ancient Christians was expressed by a Presbyter contemning his own Bishop and having a separate Congregation and erecting another Altar or different Communion as to Sacramental administrations was severely censured in those early times of Christianity In that most ancient (x) Can. Ap. 31. collection of Canons such a Presbyter and as many of the Clergy as joined with him were sentenced to be deposed and the Laity to be Excommunicated after admonition The Code of Canons of the Universal Church further determine concerning a Presbyter or Deacon who shall thus separate (y) Cod. Can. Eccl. Univ. c. 85. that his deposition shall be without any way of return to his former honour and dignity in the Church and that if he persist in disturbing the Church he should be reduced by the Secular Power as being seditious And the African Code in this case declare (z) Cod. Eccl. Afr. c. 10 11. that such a Presbyter should be ejected from his place and that he should be anathematized and the inflicting this double punishment which was not usual in the Church for a single crime shews of how heinous a nature this offence was then accounted when the Primitive rules of discipline were received 17. Amongst such Protestant Writers as are most in esteem with our Dissenters Calvin asserts it to be certain (a) Calv. in 1 Cor. 11.9 that this stone is continually moved by the Devil that he might break the Unity of the Church and he purposely opposeth and smartly condemneth (b) Inst l. 4. c. 1. in Ps 26.5 all separation from a true Church where the Holy Sacraments are duly administred and the true rule of Religion is imbraced The (c) Synops pur Theol. Disp 40. n. 37 41 42. Leyden Professors account the erecting separate Assemblies in the breach of Communion by them who hold the foundation of the Faith and agree with the Church therein upon occasion of external indifferent Rites or particular miscarriages in manners to be properly Schismatical and that this is one of the works of the flesh and renders a Society impure and that it is not lawful to hold Communion with such a Schismatical Church to which purpose they urge many Texts of Scripture And Zanchy treating largely hereof doth (d) Zanch. Miscel de Eccles c. 7. particularly undertake to maintain that though there be some diversity of Doctrine but in things not fundamental though different ways of Rites and Ceremonies though there be vices in Ministers or corruptions in people or want of due care in rejecting offenders from the Communion he that shall separate from a true Church upon these pretences shall not saith he escape the wrath of God and ira Dei manet super illum the wrath of God abides upon that person 18. How far such separations from our Church are made use of by the Romanists to serve their interest might be shewed of many of their Authors But I shall content my self here to observe what was noted by one of our own (e) Camd. Annal. Eliz. an 1583. learned Historians Mr. Camden concerning the time of Queen Elizabeth That when in her Reign some of the Ministry in dislike of the Liturgy Order and Government of the Church templa adire recusarent plane schisma facerent did refuse to come to our publick Worship and manifestly made a Schism this was done Pontificiis plaudentibus multosque insuas partes pertrahentibus quasi nulla esset in Ecclesia Anglicana Vnitas the Papists rejoicing at it and drawing away many to their party as if there were no Vnity in the Church of England 19. I shall now examine their particular Covenant whereby they ingage themselves to walk together as constant members of that particular Society or Congregation to which they join themselves Now this Covenant in a way of separation is no other but a bond of division and was to that purpose invented by the Brownists And that it was their practice is (f) Apol. for Ch. Cov. p. 41 42 43 44. acknowledged by the Churches in New England Against which such things as these may be justly alledged 1. That this contradicts another of their avowed Positions That nothing not instituted of Christ ought to be received or submitted to as terms of Communion with a Church and some of them more largely declare that (g) Answer to 32. Qu. qu. â—8 particular Churches have no power to make Laws for themselves or their members but to observe the Laws of Christ and if any Church presume further they go beyond their Commission and it would be sin to be subject to such Laws But such a particular contract with a single Congregation especially a separating one was never any part of Christs Institution But because this other opinion of theirs is also erroneous it is of greater concernment to observe that this way of Covenanting is opposite to the Institution of Christ in that by division and separation it breaks the Unity of the Christian Church which Christ hath established to be one Church and one Body But the dividing the Church into several Independent Societies which is contrary to what the Institution of Christ appointeth is so much designed by this Covenant that some of themselves tell us (h) ibid. Answ to Qu. 8. without this kind of Covenanting we know not how it would be avoided but all Churches would be confounded into one Now this is as much as to say that Christ and his Apostles
authority of his Chair to avenge himself of him and might be certain that what he should have done by his sacerdotal power would be acceptable to all his Collegues In which words he plainly asserts the authority of inflicting an Ecclesiastical Censure even upon a Deacon to be wholly in the Bishops power by virtue of his Office And it is indeed no mean authority which is committed by the Institution of our Lord to the Officers of the Christian Church who are appointed to be as Shepherds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to feed and to rule his flock Joh. 21.16 Act. 20.28 1 Pet. 5.2 25. Indeed they of the Congregational way do assert some special authority to the Pastors and Teachers of their Congregations and to them they particularly reserve the administration of the Sacraments They declare (ſ) Of Instit of Churches n. 16. that where there are no teaching Officers none may administer the Seals nor can the Church authorize any so to do But then they also place the power of making these Officers and committing authority to them in the people and attribute very little to the power of Ordination Indeed concerning a Pastor Teacher or Elder they tell us that (t) Ibid. n. 11. it is appointed by Christ but no such appointment can be produced he be chosen by the common suffrage of the Church it self and solemnly set apart by fasting and prayer with imposition of hands of the Eldership of that Church if there be any before constituted therein But if there be no Eldership in that Congregation as there can be none in the first erecting any particular Congregational Church and in the after appointing a Pastor it must be at least of those who are in inferiour Office (u) Answ to Qu. 13. they think it neither lawful nor convenient to call in the assistance of the Ministers of other Churches by way of authority when the Church is to ordain Officers But this Position proceeds upon their dividing notion in not owning the true Unity of the Catholick visible Church and thereupon they assert that as to (x) Answ of Eld in New Engl. to 9. Posit Pos the 8. acts of authority and power in dispensing Gods Ordinance a Minister cannot so perform any Ministerial act to any other Church but his own But how little they esteem that irregular way of imposing hands which themselves speak of as Christs Institution may appear from their declaring that a Pastor Teacher or Elder chosen by the Church (y) Inst of Ch. n. 12. though not set apart by imposition of hands are rightly constituted Ministers of Jesus Christ To the like purpose the Elders of New England speak who also give power (z) Answ to Qu. 21. to those who are no Officers of the Church to ordain Officers and also judge that a Minister Ordained in one Church if he afterwards becomes a Minister in another Church must receive a new Ordination But surely those who let loose their fancies at such a strange rate used no great consideration of what they wrote 26. And it greatly concerns the people since they undertake to act in the name of Christ in dispensing any part of the power of the Keys as in inflicting Spiritual censures and to exercise his authority in constituting Officers in his Church by giving Office-power to them that they be well assured that they have sufficient authority from him to warrant their proceedings especially since such things as these are represented in the Holy Scripture and have been ever esteemed in the Ancient Church as well as the Modern to be peculiar acts of the Ministerial power in the Chief Officers of the Church And they whom they call Pastors or Teachers but have no better authority than this to warrant them to be so had also need to beware how they undertake to dispense the Christian Mysteries as Officers appointed in Christs name For if they to whom God hath given no such Commission presume to set apart Officers in his name and to impart to them his authority this is like the act of Micah in consecrating Priests Judg. 17.5 12. or like Jeroboams Sacrilegious intrusion in making those to be Priests who were not so according to the rules of Gods appointment 1 Kings 12.31 chap. 13.33 which thing with its concomitants was so highly offensive to God that the very next words tell us vers 34. this thing became a sin unto the house of Jeroboam even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the face of the earth Nor can it be thought a lesser affront to the Majesty of God to set up chief Officers in his name without his Commission than it would be against the Majesty of a King to erect Judicatures in his Kingdom or to confer the great Offices of the Realm and places of eminent Dignity and Trust without any Authority from him or from his Laws 27. And to exercise any proper Ministerial power in the name of God or Christ without sufficient authority is no small offence The severe punishment of Saul's Sacrificing by the loss of his Kingdom 1 Sam. 13.13 14. and of Vzziah's offering Incense by his being smitten with Leprosie which rendered him uncapable not only of Governing the Kingdom but of having society with the Congregation of the Lord 2 Chron. 26 19 21. testifie how much God was provoked thereby The dreadful Judgment upon Corah and his Company for offering Incense and pleading the right of all the Congregation of Israel against Moses and Aaron as if they had taken too much upon them was very remarkable And much more is it sinful and dangerous to intrench upon the Office of the Gospel Ministry because the Institution of Christ the authority conveyed by him and the grace conferred from him are things more high and sacred than what was delivered by Moses 28. But the making and Ordaining Ministers in the Church was both in the Scripture and in all succession of antiquity performed by those who had the chief authority of Office in or over the Christian Church as particularly by Christ himself his Apostles and the succeeding Bishops Christ himself sent his Apostles as his Father sent him and he not his other Disciples gave them their Commission S. Paul and Barnabas where they came ordained Elders in every Church Act. 14.23 and so must Titus do in every City of Crete Tit. 1.5 And when S. Paul sent his directions to Timothy concerning the due qualifications of those who were to be Bishops and Deacons in the Church 1 Tim. 3. and wrote this for this end that Timothy might know how he ought to behave himself in the house of God v. 14 15. this plainly shews that he had the main care of appointing and admitting Officers in the Church of Ephesus 29. In the Ecclesiastical History of the next ages there is nothing more plain than that the Bishops of the Christian Church who as (a) de Praescrip c. 32. Tertullian (b)