not much better then that we have noted of the Minorite Friar For the saying of Hierome That it is not a Church that hath not Sacerdotem we that are Presbyters may as well conceive that he meaneth a Presbyter as he a Bishop that he meaneth a Bishop and Hierome a Presbyter as wee are if he were alive would as wee verily beleeve give sentence on our side For First it cannot bee denied that though there bee more dignity in a Bishop the is more necessity of a Presbyter that is of one to officiate in preaching the Word and administration of the Sacraments whereof there is continuall use then of a Bishop to ordaine if none could doe it but a Bishop which is required but sometimes and though a Bishop performe the same acts yet hee doth them not as a Bishop but as a Presbyter Secondly if Hierome meant that there is no Church without an ordaining Bishop and that is his opinion as his Lordship expounds him it is his errour an uncharitable errour which casteth not particular Christians onely but many Orthodox Churches out of the communion of Saints and consequently out of the state of salvation whereas if some Bishops had been as remote non-residents from their Bishoprickes as the Pope from Rome when he resided at Avinion in France or had medled no more with the Churches under their charges then the Italian Priests did when they had Benefices in England and knew onely the names of them and received tythes from them but did nothing for them or in them yet there might for all that bee true Churches and salvation in them well enough For of what use is such a Bishop or such a Priest either to the being of a Church or the well being or salvation of a Christian Thirdly if his words were true in that sense wherein his Lordship taketh them it would be necessary there should be as many Bishops as Churches and so that Bishops should be rather Parochiall then Diocesan Fourthly if the place in Hierome be unpartially perused it will not make much for the necessity of Bishops for Hierome in his Dialogue against the Luciferians whence the quotation is taken speaketh of one x Hilarius cum Diaconus de Ecclesia recesserit cum homo mortuus sit cum homine pariter interiit secta quia post se nullum clericum potuit ordinare Hieron advers Luciferian Dialog tom 2. fol. 49. col 2. Hilarius a schismaticall Deacon who dyed in the schism and his sect with him because being but a Deacon hee could not ordaine a Clerke to succeed him upon this saith Hierome y Ecclesia autem non est quae non habet Sacerdotem Ibid. It is not a Church which hath not a Priest The word is Sacerdotem which seemeth to bee of the same sense with the word Clericum a little before and that is there meant of him who is next above a Deacon and he is a Presbyter not a Bishop whose office in administration of the Sacraments is there particularly noted which belongeth to a Presbyter ut sic as he is a Presbyter not to a Bishop as he is a Bishop Object But hee speaketh of ordaining and that in Hieromes judgement was proper to a Bishop Answ 1. Hierome knew well enough that of old though it were otherwise in his time Bishops alone did not ordaine Church Ministers but the Presbytery with them 1 Timoth. 4.14 if not without them for many hold that at that time there were no Prelaticall Bishops above their brethren even to this day there is a shadow of that sociable power in ordination of Ministers of the Church of England retained in practice by the imposition of the hands of Presbyters with the Bishop and required by constitution in the 35. Canon of the yeare 1603. And some learned Papists are of opinion though it come too neere the truth to be common among them that Bishops may delegate their power both of z Episcopum in sua provincia posse committere simplici sacerdoti quod conferat sacramentum Confirmationis Martin Ledesma prima 4 ti qu. 13. a. 11. Confirmation and of * Episcopos posse delegare potestatem sacerdoti ordinandi sacerdotes aequè ac Papam Novariens tract 1. part 2.13 apud Fran. à Sancta Clara Apolog. Episcop pag. 249. Ordination to Presbyters or Priests Secondly though where there were Bishops anciently and usually ordination was not conferred without them yet where there were none without them it might be lawfully and effectually done as we shall note in another place and therefore no such necessity either of them or of ordination by them as is pretended And though the over-high exaltation of Prelates hath depressed Presbyters so farre below the right and power of their order that it is made in some mens conceipts a strange thing and a kind of presumption in any case to take upon them the ordination of Ministers yet Hierome surely was not of their mind when hee gave them the honour which some Episcopall parasites appropriate to Bishops to bee accounted the successours of the holy Apostles as he doth in the first of all his Epistles which is written to Heliodorus Thirdly from Hieromes words in this place wee may rather collect that a Presbyter as well as a Bishop may ordaine since hee denieth that faculty but to a Deacon then that by the word Priest a Bishop must bee meant and ordination peculiarly derived from him Fourthly howsoever where hee saith that it is not a Church that hath not a Priest hee is in reason to be understood not of one that hath power to make a Priest but of a Priest already made for such a one a particular Church cannot want but of a Bishop unto it there is no such need Fifthly if Hierome in this place being zealous against schisme spoke somewhat too freely in favour of Bishops which yet is doubtfull though more probable that he spoke on the Presbyters side then of the Bishops It is certaine that in other places which wee shall observe afterward hee expresseth himselfe farre from such fondnesse of affection to Bishops as his Lordship deduceth out of his words So much for the Testimonies of Hierome wherein wee crave his Lordships patience and pardon for our boldnesse since his explication and application thereof for the necessity of Bishops to the being of a Church and so by consequence to salvation hath put a necessitie upon us seriously to examine what hee said and meant Object There be some who to assert a necessity of Discipline say that Discipline comprehendeth a preaching Ministry and that 's necessary to salvation Answ 1. There is neerer affinity betwixt Preaching and Doctrine then betwixt Preaching and Discipline which is exercised more in matter of a Quid prodesset disciplinam habere in conversatione scientiam in praedicatione nisi ad sit bonitas in intentione Sermo ad pastores in Synodo congregatis Inter opera Bernardi col 1730.
Bishops allowing sometimes larger sometimes lesse Authority unto them Some have had power to b Crimina excessus quorumcunque Laicorum criminibus Adulterii Incestus tantummodo exceptis So in the Patent of Mr. P. Mr. E. Mr. L. for the Deanrie of F. censure all offenders and offences of the Laity the crimes of Incest and Adultery alone excepted And some have beene limited to the correction of some few faults specified in their Patents and of late about or not much above three yeares since have most of the Deanries been compounded together into one Patent or two at the most and assigned to the Archdeacons by your Lordship and by them resigned for execution to the Chancellour as their Officiall for that Jurisdiction Now if Deanes Rurall be meant in the Oath and considering what authority and power both in former times and of late they have had in this Diocesse and it may be by the Constitutions of the Church yet in force ought to have we know not why they should bee left out of the Government of the Church nor why they should not bee contained under the title of Deanes how can wee without being over-bold with our consciences take them into such an Oath there being so much diversity and uncertainty of their Authority Of Archdeacons The 10. DOUBT is What is the Authority and Government of Archdeacons 10. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause Deacons are inferiour to Presbyters so farre inferiour that a Deacon though dignified should not presume to sit before a Presbyter by the c Concil Constantinop 6. Can. 7. fol. 311. Caranz sixth Councell of Constantinople and so an Archpresbyter as a Deane Rurall is usually stiled should be superiour to an Archdeacon but as Doctor d Doct. Field of the Church l. 5. c. 25. p. 492. Field observeth notwithstanding all the Canons to the contrary they were many as we may have occasion to note elsewhere and the violent opposition of Hierome and other Worthies of those times they were lifted up not only above Presbyters but above Archpresbyters also and that came to passe as hee observeth for divers causes First because there were fewer Deacons then Presbyters and so e Diaconos paucitas honorabiles Presbyteros tutba contemptibiles facit Hier. ad Evagr. tom 2. pag. 334. paucity made the one sort to be honourable and multitude the other rather contemptible Secondly because Deacons had the charge of the treasure of the Church which kind of imployment is usually much set by Thirdly because they were often used by the Bishop for viewing of such parts of his Diocesse as hee could not conveniently visit himselfe and wee may conceive the reason of that to be because the Deacon was a close adherent to the side of the Bishop and that so necessarily as Epiphanius conceived that as f 3. Partic. Doubt pag. 20. lit q. before we have noted under another title hee said g Sine Diacono impossibile est esse Episcopum Epiphan Heres 75. l. 3. tom 1. p. 215. col 2. It was impossible for a Bishop to bee without a Deacon whereupon in tract of time as the Cardinalls by their propinquity to the Pope overtopped the Bishops who at first were so farre inferiour to them h refertur multos Episcopos praetermissos fuisse Cardinalari ne sie dignitate minucrentur Fulv. Pacian Tractat. de probationibus lib. 2. cap. 28. fol. 94 p. 1. col 1. That a Bishop would not be a Cardinall because hee would not submit to a diminution of dignity so the Archdeacons by their neernesse to the Bishops came to be exalted above the Presbyters which as Doctor i Doct. Field of the Church l. 5. c. 25. p. 492 Field conceiveth was in Saint Hieromes time But though there were then an Archdeacon above the Deacons who did not only officiate himselfe but prescribed unto others what they should doe yet an Archdeacon with allowed Jurisdiction over Presbyters was of a later Institution Bishop k Archidiaconatus gradus est novus Bish Andrâ—n Respâ—ad 3. Epist Pet. Moulin p. 191. Andrewes saith an Archdeaconship is a new degree which I suppose he would not have said if it had been authorized in Saint Hieromes time when if it were in use it was without the approbation of the best as hath been noted wee may well conceive then that Saint Stephen the Protomartyr was not an Archdeacon as he is called in the Decree of l Decret Lucii Pap. an 255. Caranz sum concil fol. 28. pag. 1. Pope Lucius For the Archdeacons Jurisdiction it is so diversly set downe in Ecclesiasticall Constitutions that it is very hard to tell what by rule their Office or Government is as will appeare to him who will take paines to peruse the quotations in the m Concil Aurel. 5. Can. 20. p. 473. decret l. 1. de officio Archidiac fol. 56. p. 1. col 1. Liadw provinc constit lib. 1. de offic Archidiac fol. 36. col 2. Ã Reformat leg Eccles de Eccles Minist c. 6. fol. 48. b. Azor. Instit tom 2. l. 3. cap. 43. col 448. Doct. Cous de pol. Eccles Angl. c. 6. Certaine Canons containing some points of Discipline approved in the Synod 1571. Margin so that from Constitution their Authority flyeth for refuge to Prescription of which Doctor Field saith thus n Doct. Field of the Church l. 5. c 29. pag 509. The Archdeacons which at first might not sit in the presence of a Presbyter but being willed by him so to doe in the end became by reason of their imployment by the Bishop to be greater not onely then the ordinary Presbyters but then the Archpresbyters themselves and therefore it is confessed by all that the Archdeacon hath none Authority or power of Jurisdiction by vertue of his degree and order but by prescription onely nor can hee claime more then hee can prescribe for and it may be hee may prescribe for that which is not commendable haply not lawfull as for that which the Councell of Challons severely condemneth o Can. 15. apud Symps of the Church p. 560. It is reported by some saith the Councell that Archdeacons use domination over the Presbyters and take tribute from them which smelleth rather of tyrannie then of order Prescription and Custome may prevaile against Right and Truth as many times they doe as Tertullian saith o Quicquid adversus veritatem sapit id Haeresis est etiam vetus consuetudo Tert. Whatsoever is set up against that is Heresie though it be an old custome In this Diocesse the Archdeacons have for the most part been but titular since the foundation of the Bishopricke into which were incorporated two Archdeaconries the one of Chester the other of Richmond and of late some Rurall Deanries as before we have observed were assigned unto them and some of us have heard your Lordship say That their Jurisdiction is such and so much as you are pleased
writings which Bishops have for their Episcopacie which comparison God willing shall bee examined else-where and that x Bish Hall of Episcop part 2. p. 47. there be divers points of faith weighty points which have not so strong evidence in y Bish Hall Ibid. part 1. pag. 63. Scripture so strong evidence that heaven may as soone fall as that faile the Bishops And though some who have beene approved for their very great and faithfull labours in the Church and for extraordinary zeale against all Popish opinions have z Willet Synops Papis contro 5. qu. 3. p. 277. acknowledged somewhat in the calling of Bishops to bee Divine and Apostolicall yet there is much said on the contrary side which if it serve not to induce a deniall of that high and holy claime may occasion at least a doubting thereof And very doubtfull it was in the Councell of Trent by reason of the diversity of opinions there proposed for though the superiority of Bishops over Presbyters were a Hist of the Councell of Trent l. 7. pag. 596. de facto confessed de jure it was doubted whether it were b Ibid. p. 397. by a Divine or by a Pontificall right that is whether by a right derived from the Scripture or from the Pope and we may adde according to the c Ibid. p. 606. Augustan confession or neither for that alloweth no difference betwixt a Bishop and a Presbyter but by custome and constitution Ecclesiasticall and so doubtfull was their d Ibid. p. 597. Tenure that some in that Councell were willing to avoid the discussion of that doubt and the chiefest of the Prelates the e Ibid. p. 638. Cardinall of Loraine when he discoursed of that Question spake still ambiguously and at last concluded That the Question was boundlesse and though they made it more intricate then with us it can bee by their erroneous opinion of the Papall power and prelation over Bishops whereof we conceive no scruple at all since wee reject it as a Paradox in our Church yet there is doubt for all that of the Authority of Bishops by divine right and just ground for that doubt for First Saint f Paulus in Epist Presbyteri Episcopi appellatione promiscuè utitur idque Chrysost August Hier. aliique annotarunt Duaren de minist c. 7. fol. 8. So also Bish Downham in his defence of his consecrat Serm. l. 1. c. 3. p. 64. Bish Hall in his booke of Episcopacie part 2. p. 10 11 20. Paul in his Epistles useth the words Bishop and Presbyter in a promiscuous manner as Chrysostome August Hierome and others have observed and all three have spoken somewhat to bring Presbyters neerer to an equality with Bishops then the Tenet of such superiority by Divine Right as is pleaded for will admit for Chrysostome speaking of Saint Pauls naming of Bishops and Deacons without mention of Presbyters as to all the Saints which are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons Phil. 1.1 giveth this reason of their omission Because saith g Quia scil inter Episcopum Presbyterum interest fermè nihil solâ quippe Ordinatione superiores illi sunt Chrys in 1 Tim. 3. Hom. 11. tom 4. col 1485. he there is in a manner no difference betwixt a Bishop and a Presbyter onely in Ordination Bishops have the * Not by Scripture as is plain by 1 Tim. 4.14 but by humane constitution or custome preheminence the same saith h Quid facit exceptâ Ordinatione Episcopus quod Presbyter non faciat Hier. ad Evagr. tom 2. pag. 334. Hierome in his Epistle to Evagrius and commenting upon S. Pauls Epistle to Titus i Episcopi noverint se magis consuetudine quà m dispositionis dominicae veritate Presbyteris esse majores in commune debere Ecclesiam regere Idem in Tit. 1.5 tom 9. fol. 153. pag. 2. Hee would have Bishops to know that they are greater then Presbyters rather by custome then by truth of any constitution or disposition of the Lord and that they ought in common to govern the Church Saint k Secundùm honorum vocabula quae jam Ecclesiae usus obtinuit Episcopatus Presbyterio major est Aug. epist 19. Augustine to the same purpose saith That the phrase of the Church makes Episcopacy greater then Presbytery which Bishop Jewell rendreth thus l Bish Jewell in the defence of his Apol. part 2. c. 3. pag. 101. The office of a Bishop is above the office of a Priest not by authority of Scriptures but after the names of honour which the custome of the Church hath now obtained The Parenthesis is his brought in to make up the sentence of Saint Augustine and as now the distinction of Bishops and Priests is received it cannot as m Willets Synops papis gener controv 93. q. 3. p. 273. some who yet approve of Episcopall preheminence have written bee directly proved out of Scriptures and whereas n Archb. Whitgifts answer to T. C. p. 384 385 Archbishop Whitgift saith the reason why Bishops and Presbyters are taken for the same is because every Bishop is a Presbyter but not on the contrary every Presbyter a Bishop that reason for the Affirmative part is contradicted by o See Niceph. hist l. 12. c. 12. Gers Bucer dissertat de gubernat Eccles p. 27. Franc. Long. annot in concil p. 142. divers Instances and for the Negative it will not passe without exception at least for the Apostles time of which Saint p Idem erat Presbyter qui Episcopus antequam Diaboli instinctu studia in religione fierent Hier. ep ad Tit. cap. 1. Hierome saith that a Presbyter is the same with a Bishop and so was taken untill by the Divels instinct some turned Religion into faction And though q Epiphan haeres 75. l. 3. tom 1. contra haeres p. 215. col 1. Aerius when his ambitious desire to bee a Bishop was disappointed in emulation and anger fell to contemptuous comparisons of Bishops with Presbyters and therefore was noted by Epiphanius in his Catalogue of Heretickes and since him r Mich. Medin de contin sacr homin l. 1. c. 5. Michael Medina made it materiall heresie to deny the distinction of Divine Right betwixt Bishops and Presbyters and the ſ Si quis dixerit in Ecclesia Catholica non esse Hierarchiam divinâ ordinatione institutam quae constat ex Episcopis Ministris anathema sit Concil Trid. ses 7. Can. 6. fol. 561. b. Councell of Trent formally decreed it with an Anathema to those that deny it Yet was not Hierome though a vehement Advocate in the behalfe of the Presbyteriall dignity much lesse Chrysostome and Augustine for such sayings as these ever taxed for heresie Nor is t Altare Damasc p. 276 277 278 279. See also primam Pet. Moulinaei epist Episc Winton p. 161 162. Aerius left without a probable Apologie which may serve with some not onely to
an alteration of that Government There be that tell us and wee must not take their saying for a y Clement the seventh immediatly upon his oath given to Charles the fifth for performance of the Articles accorded at his delivery dispensed with his oath and by probable conjecture had promised to dispense with him before hand So Sir Edw. Sands in his relat p. 42. Papall dispensation z Mast Fuller in the Holy Warre l. 2. c. 37. pag. 93. which opens so wide a window that it is in vaine to shut the doore of many cases of conscience wherein though we have sworne we may be discharged of our Oaths and shew us a posterne gate for an out-let of perjury but wee cannot come to that gate but by the wicket of inconsiderate swearing and if wee apprehend any probable occasions of change before-hand wee must not make a Let it be written among the Lawes of the Persians and of the Medes that it be not altered Esth c. 1. v. 19. Median or Persian Protestations that we will not change Object But we have in effect done as much already say some in subscribing to the Booke of Common Prayer wherein wee promise to use the forme in the said Booke prescribed and none other Can. 36. Answ 1. To which wee may answer many waies as First that it is not put upon us as of Divine Right and being but humane it is implyed to bee changeable Secondly the fore-cited Preface concerning the Ceremonies and the 34. Article professe a mutable condition in such Institutions Thirdly experience hath divers times explained that clause for other formes of prayer have been imposed upon especiall occasions Fourthly to leave us at more liberty if there should be a change our word is taken without an Oath for which b In his Preface of the Articles of Religion Master Rogers commendeth the moderation of our Governours Object But in refusing of the Oath now for feare of future disobedience wee disobey for the present To which we say Answ 1. That our not swearing is no present disobedience because our consciences cannot consent to sweare and they that require the Oath would not have us to sweare against our consciences nor against our good wills for one condition expressed in it is That we doe it heartily and willingly nor do we conceive that the premises duely considered they would have us to sweare Secondly our not swearing in this case is rather an obedience to our Superiours because we have already sworne to their Authority and Power for such alterations both for the present and for their heires and successours and so our promissory Oath in this case if we should take it would be with certaine prejudice to another mans right and consequently could not bee attended with justice and the prejudice would bee more unjust because done to the right of publicke and soveraigne Authority as c Bish Halls Irrefrag propos prop. p. 3 4. Bishop Hall observeth in his Irrefragable propositions And thirdly for our selves we doubt it is not safe to sweare that wee will not consent to any alteration in Government since wee cannot but like it well enough if in some particulars it were more conformable to the condition of the ancient Church as if it should please his sacred Majesty in the election of Bishops to have respect to the suffrage of the Clergie of the vacant Diocesse as the d Sacrorum Canonum non ignari at in Dei nomine sancta Ecclesia suo liberiùs potiretur honore Baron Annal. com 9. nu 21. col 641. Emperour Charles the Great had when hee published a Decree to that purpose according to the e Cypr. â—p Anton. episl 52. pag. 57. col 2. Contil. Aurelian 9. Can. 10. Concil Parisiens 1. Can. 6. Hieron testatur Alexandrinos Presbyteros spatio 140. annorum sibi ex suo numero unum cligisse c. Chamier tom 2. lib. 10. ca 3. p. 350. nu 3. Leo epist 82. Spalat de Republ. Eccleslib 3. c. 3. pag. 339 340 400. Bernard de considerat ad Eugen lib. 3. cap. 2. col 878. Fox Martyrol tom 1. p. 5. col 2. Concil Basil sis 3. fol. 448. ancient practice of the Church And if when Bishops are elected that either love or some law of Authority might restore Presbyters to their ancient Rights and participation of the Government of the Church which they had in the Primitive times whereof St. f Communi Presbyterorum consilio Ecclesiae regebantur Hicron in Tit. 1.5 tom 9. sol 153. Hierome saith That the Church was governed by the common Councell of the Presbyters which g Presbyteri Seniores pariter ad concilium admissi erant tempore primaevo Baron Annal. ad an 58. nu 10 11. tom 1. col 572. Baronius acknowledgeth and h Bish Downhams defence of his consecrat Serm. l. 1. c. 7. p. 142 143. c. 8. pag. 178. Bishop Downham saith no man denieth and this not only until there was a Schism and the people divided themselves under the names of Paul Apollo and Cephas but afterwards as is plaine by severall testimonies of Saint Cyprian besides others for hee writing to the Priests and Deacons calleth them Brethren and telleth them That it is his i Ut quae circa Ecclesiae gubernacula utilitas communis exposcit tractare simul c. Cypr. ep 6. edit Pamel p. 12 desire for those things that concerne the government of the Church that as the publicke benefit requireth they treat of them with common Counsell and in their absence he k Nihil à me absentibus vobis novum factum est sed quod jampridem communi consilio c. Cypr. ep 24. Presbyt Diac. professeth That he did nothing but what was concluded before by their common advice and l A primordio Episcopatus mei statui nihil sine consilio vestro privata sententia gerere Cyp. ep 6. p. 13. that it was his resolution from the first time of his being Bishop to doe nothing of his owne private conceit but by their counsell Bishop Downham bringing in a sentence of Ambrose sounding to the same sense maketh this answer unto it m Bish Downhams def of his Serm. l. 1. cap. 7. p. 161. Ambrose and others thought it needfull that a Presbytery of grave and ancient Ministers should with their counsell advise and assist the Bishops in cases of doubt as Doctor Bilson saith in cases of danger and importance when as yet neither Synod could assemble nor Christian Magistrate was found to assist the Church But when Synods were assembled then Presbyters were assembled with the Bishops and as Presbyters had decisive voices with them as n Doct. Field of the Church l. 1. c. 30. p. 514. Doctor Field confesseth observing withall concerning the number of Bishops and those that were not Bishops in such Ecclesiasticall Assemblies that in a o Ibid. cap. 49. pag. 647. Councell of Lateran
Archbish Whitg out of Master Foxe noteth that about the year 180. the three Archistamines of the Pagan Britain were changed into three Archbishoprickes the one of London the other of Yorke the third of Glamorgan none of Cant. Archb. Whitg reply to Master Cartwr pag. 323. It is like the most of England was under London the rest and Scotland under Yorke as Bishop Godwin writeth and under Glamorgan Wales Godw. Catal of Bish p. 181 182. London and Glamorgan or n See Godw. his Catal. of Bishops pag. 503 504. Saint Davids and for London it continued so from the yeare 300. or thereabout though Stowe say it was the same Archbishopricke with Canterburie onely locally changed untill Gregory his time who was Pope about the yeare 600. and the King may limit their Jurisdiction as he shall conceive to be most convenient Fourthly over the Archbishops of his dominions for the calling and governing of a o Nationale Concilium Patriarcha regni convocare debet Provinciale Archiepiscopus c. Praelud in Caranz sum concil cap. 3. p. 4. edit 1633. Nationall Councell hee may place a Patriarch and King James shewed himselfe well enough inclined to such a superiority when he said p King James his premonit to free Princes and States pag 366. Patriarchs I know were in the time of the Primitive Church and among them there was a contention for the first place and for my selfe if that were yet the Question and Papall Innovation in Religion put downe for that is his meaning though he doe not plainly expresse it I would with all mine heart give my consent that the Bishop of Rome should have the first seat I being a Westerne King would goe with the Patriarch of the West as the Churches of great Britaine of q By humane Institution wee suffered our selves to be ranged under the Church of Romes Patriarchall Authority as being the most famous Church of the West a matter of courtesie no necessity no spirituall obligation Bish Hall against Brownists sect 23. pag. 590. courtesie not of duty in former times were wont to doe And for each particular Prelate whether Archbishop or Bishop he is to bee regulated for his Courts and other Jurisdiction by Royall Authority and how farre they stand established in the Kings favour purpose or promise we cannot tell nor dare we sweare much lesse dare wee bee so peremptory concerning the power of Deanes or Archdeacons for to Deanes which have not Episcopall Jurisdiction hee may grant as much priviledge as the Deanes of Westminster or Windsor doe enjoy and by the same Authority that some may have more may others have lesse And for Archdeacons the doubt is more since their establishment consists in prescription as before hath been observed and that prescription in some respects may be a prevarication fitter to be abolished then established as appeareth by that of Spalatensis saying r Cum Archidiaconi jam passim supra Presbyteros collocentur id tandem nimiâ corum pertinaciâ Praelatorum conniventiâ eos evicisse meritò possumus affirmare Spalat de Repub. Eccles lib. 7. c. 4. pag. 273. 58. That the Archdeacons placing above the Archpresbyters is to be imputed to their pertinacy and to the Bishops connivence But in this Diocesse for many yeares past Jurisdiction hath not been so much as an unnecessary appendance to Archdeacons since all that while it hath been no appendance at all for untill very lately they had no Jurisdiction at all wee cannot then say much lesse sweare their Government is established since it was but newly erected and made up out of Rurall Deanries which is a fabricke like a Tent or Tabernacle newly set up and may bee quickly taken downe againe 3. Partic. As by right it ought to stand The 16. DOUBT What this Right is 16. Particular Doubt by which the Government is meant to stand THE REASON BEcause there bee some that thinke these words a limitation or restriction of the former as if the meaning were that we ought to approve of the establishment of this Government so farre as of right it ought to stand and no further but concerning that they that framed the Oath could make no doubt of any ones dissent and therefore in that sense would call for none assurance upon Oath It is more consonant to reason to conceive that they meant to have an acknowledgement not onely that the Government de facto is indeed established but that de jure also of right it ought to bee so but then Quo jure will be the Question whether the same or a diverse right If the same whether shall Bishops come downe to Deanes and Archdeacons and claime no better warrant for their dignity then they or shall Deanes and Archdeacons advance the Tenure of their Authority as high as Bishops doe to claime their preheminence and power by divine right that as in the case of the Boemians concerning the use of the Communion cup at the Councel of ſ Basiliense concilium concessit Boe miae utriusque speciei usum modo faterentur id sibi conce di ab Ecclesia non autem ad hoc teneri divino jure Bellarm. l. 1. de Sacram. in genere c. 2. sect 2. Basil but more justly then so may bee denied to them all when under some other title preheminence may be allowed unto them Some conceive the word Right was left at large in favour to Deponents that there might be a latitude for such as are of a scrupulous conscience to conceive such right as they could best approve of and especially that right which agreeth to them all to wit a Positive and Ecclesiasticall right by humane constitution or prescription But those that have better meanes to know the minds of the Composers of the Canons will have the Right diversified according to that to which it is applyed as that Bishops stand by divine Right the rest by Right Ecclesiasticall To this purpose we may bring in the saying of our Saviour Lo Lam with you to the end of the world Mat. 28.20 which is not to be understood in person but by assistance for neither he nor they his Apostles to whom hee spake were to bee in the world untill the worlds end and this assistance is divers infallible as to the Apostles but sufficient only to their successors so the Right may be conceived to be divine in respect of Bishops but humane to all the rest But of this tenet of divine Right though it be held by very t The Archb. that now is in his Speech in the Starre-chamber p. 6. Bishop Hall in his late booke intitled Episcopacy by Divine right great Prelates of our Church and by u Bish Andrewes in his Answer to the 18. Chapter of Perrons Reply p. 15. some said to be the Doctrine of our Church such a Doctrine and so fully delivered by the Apostles That there is not the tenth part of the Plea for the Lords day from their
expunge his name out of the Catalogue of u One onely branded Hereticke i. Aerius in so many hundred yeares opposed Episcopall government Bishop Hall of Episcopacy part 1. p. 66. Heretickes but to enroll it in the Register of Orthodox Doctors And for the Tridentine Decree it is the lesse to be regarded because wee may say as Bishop Jewel doth of x As for the words of Leo his own authority in his own cause cannot be great Bish Jewel defence Apol. part 2. c. 3. pag. 101. Leo The words of the Bishops of that Councell are of no great weight because they make a Decree in their owne cause But Chrysostome and Augustine were Bishops though Hierome was none and yet they spake of Bishops and Presbyters so equally as hath beene said and if untruly indiscreetly also because both against the truth and themselves We may say the same of Bishop Jewel whose judgement is plaine against the opinion of Divine Right by his exposition of Saint Augustine fore-alledged Besides y Panormitanus in quaestionibus suis ex mala interpretatione Hier. negat hanc Divino Jure inter Episcopos Presbyteros distinctionem Franc. à Sancta Clara Apol. Episc pag. 64. Panormitan and z Fulv. Pacian de probationib l. 2. c. 28. fol 96. Pacianus very famous men in their faculties the one for a Canonist the other for a Civilian and divers more to say nothing of the a Chamier tom 2. l. 10. c. 6. pag. 350. learned men of the Reformed Churches in forraine parts will not admit of any preheminence of a Bishop above a Presbyter by Divine Right All which wee alledge not to contest with the reverend Prelates in point of Authority but to shew that if an acknowledgement of Episcopall preheminence as of Divine Right bee required in this Canon and by that wee have shewed wee have cause to suppose it it is too problematicall an opinion for such confidence as should accompany an Oath Of Archbishops Of Archbishops though their Authority be greater yet as touching the Tenure by Divine Right our beliefe is lesser for they that hold Bishops to bee superiours to Presbyters by Divine Right as the Apostles were superiours to the 72. Disciples doe not for the most part unlesse they be Papists allow of Archbishops in that sacred Episcopacy and even he who was an Archbishop himselfe and highly advanced in print the Episcopall degree hath out of Ignatius observed and thereby affronted the Papall usurpation that the twelve were all b Abundè probavi Christum suam Ecclesiam Apostolis omnibus aequè commendâsse eosque ad hoc necessariâ potestare aequè omnes adornâsse confentit Ignat. episi ad Philadelph dum ad Apostolos veluti ad Presbyterium Ecclesiae Collegium recurri postulat Collegium verò Aristocraticum nemo ignorat Spalat de Repub Eccles lib. 1. c. 12. pag. 137. The Archbish that now is saith the like of the Aristocraticall Government and equality of the Apostles and quoteth Bellarm. de Ro. Po. l. 1. c. 9. to the same purpose making account his words are a confession of the truth against his owne side So in relat of his conference pag. 168 200 202 380. See Bishop Hall of Episcopacy part 2. pag. 13. equall as an Aristocraticall Colledge no Prince or Monarch ruling over the rest as the Romanists pretend and assume in the name of St. Peter wherein Saint c Jam illud considera quà m Petrus agit omnia ex communi Discipulorum sententia nihil authoritate suâ nihil cum Imperio Chrysost bom 3. in Act. Apost cap. 1. tom 3. col 459. Chrysostome is directly opposite unto them observing how Saint Peter in an assembly of the Disciples doth all by their common consent nothing by his owne authority nothing in a lofty or a Lordly manner For that Authority which they take up as Saint Peters right his Master and ours thought too much for him or any one man else fore-seeing as the Archbish of Spalato noted d Spalat de Repub. Eccles l. 1. c. 12. p. 138. That a Monarchy in a Church-man would bee apt to breake out into a tyrannie over the Church And for the tenure of Archiepiscopall authority wee may beleeve Bishop e Bish Jewels defence of his Apolog part 2. c. 3. divis 5. pag. 110. Jewel where hee saith in answer to Master Harding that though Primates or Archbishops had authority over the inferiour Bishops yet they had it but by agreement and custome neither by Christ nor by Peter nor Paul nor by any right of Gods Word Object If it be objected as by some it hath been that though the Apostles had no Archbishops among themselves who had a priority of Order and a majority of Rule above the rest of that fundamentall Function yet in respect of other Bishops constituted by them they were all Archbishops to those that were under them It may be answered Answ 1. That the right of Episcopacy hath not been so well cleared by Scripture that it should bee taken for an undoubted ground whereon to erect an Archiepiscopall power for there is so much difficulty and dispute about that as makes it to us uncapable of the assurance of an Oath Secondly our Protestant Divines when the Papists plead for Peters Episcopall or Archiepiscopall supremacy at Rome to maintaine the usurpations of the Pope upon all other Churches answered that as we conceive according to the truth that to bee a Bishop or Archbishop and an Apostle imports a repugnancy for both Bishops and Archbishops were confined to a certaine compasse for their Authority but the Apostles were of an unlimited liberty and power both for planting and governing Churches all over the world wherein they had every one of them such an equall and universall interest that f Non erat ea facta divisio scil inter Apostolos ut alter ab alterius abstineret Apostolatu Baron Annal. tom 1. an 51. 27. col 424. no Apostle had any part of the world to himselfe wherein the rest had not an Apostolicall and Pastorall right as well as he which is not nor can be so in Episcopall or Archiepiscopall callings Object If the opinion of g Estius comment in 1 Tim. 5.19 col 809. Estius be interposed viz. That Archiepiscopacy was founded when Timothy was made Bishop of Ephesus the Metropolis of Asia wherein he had h Bish Hall reckons 36. Bishopricks under Ephes part 2. p. 24.43 See Will. Synops papis controv 5. in append ad quaest 3. p. 273. many Bishops under his Jurisdiction that to say nothing of what is said of the unbishoping of Timothy and Titus in a particular booke of that title being brought in without proofe will bee as readily k Didoclau Altare Damascen pag. 175. denied by some as it is easily affirmed by any and if we should say that untill Pope Zepherinus in the third Century named himselfe an l Cent. 3. c. 10.
col 275. Archbishop or untill the reigne of Constantine as a very learned m Archiepiscopi Patriarchae in usum abierunt quorum ante Constantini tempora altum silentium Dan. Chamier de oecumen pontif lib. 10. cap. 6. tom 2. pag. 353.20 Writer hath observed there is no mention of an Archbishop it will not bee easie perhaps for any by legitimate Testimony to bring in an instance to disprove the observation in the Easterne Church and for the Westerne it came later thither as the Sun-setting cometh after the Sun-rising And Filasacus a Divine of Paris saith n Filasac de sacr ep Anth. ch 19. sect 1. Concil Matisc 1. Can. 4. It is not used in these parts untill the first Matiscon Councell scil anno 587. Which may bee to us the more probable because we have had experience in our owne time of a o Doct. Saravia saith the Assemblies of the Presbyterians are no Synods but Conventicles because he readeth not of any Synod without an Archbishop Sarav de Triplic ep q. 3. p. 90. principall point of now-Archiepiscopall Government the Presidentship of a Provinciall Synod without an Archbishop So was it in the yeare 1603. when the Bishop of London was President of the Synod then assembled Archbish p Archb. Whitgifl in his reply to Master Cartwr p. 310 313 427 432. Whitgift against Master Cartwright endeavoureth to maintaine That the office of an Archbishop was in use in the Apostles time and by their q Can. 33. or 34. as some accompt p. 470. Archb. Whitgi appointment in an Apostolicall Canon and that r Ibid. pag. 400. Titus was an Archbishop over Crete and ſ Pag. 470. Dionysius Areopagita the Scholar of S. Paul Archbishop of Athens But his proofes as some of us upon examination have found them are too low and too flat for the height and compasse of the Arch of his Asseveration especially as applyed to the state and authority of Archbishops in the Church of England the prelation particularly opposed by Master Cartwright who conceiving both the authority and title of an Archbishop by Scripture to belong peculiarly to Christ and not finding the name t The title Archbishop is proper to Christ as appeareth by Saint Peter where he calleth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is an Archshepheard or Archbishop for Bishop and Shepheard are all one Ibid. p. 300. Archbishop there taketh up the title Archshepheard 1 Pet. 5.4 as equivalent to it The greatest Antiquity and best Authority that wee find for that title is that which u Archb. Whitgifts reply to Mast Cartwr pag. 323. ex Mr. Fox Martyrol tom 1. p. 146. Archbishop Whitgift citeth out of Master Fox viz. That in the time of Eleutherius an 180. there were in Britaine 28. head Priests which in the time of Paganisme they called Flamines and three Archpriests among them which were called Archiflamines as Judges over the rest these 28. Flamines upon the conversion of the Britains were turned to 28. Bishops and the three Archiflamines to three Archbishops which if it be true yet it is far below that which is alledged for the calling of Archbishops and yet more ancient then honourable for the conformity to Pagan preheminence Nor will it serve to say as Pope x Eugen. 4. Epist ad Episcop Cantuarien ait Cardinalium nomen non fuisse in principio nascentis Eccles expressum munus tamen officium à B. Petro ejus successoribus evidenter crat institutum Fran. Long. annot in 2. Concil Rom. pag. 201. Eugenius the fourth said of the name Cardinall that though it were not expresly mentioned in the beginning of the Christian Church yet the office was instituted by Saint Peter and his successours For not to insist upon the name Cardinall of which the saying of the Pope is an unprobable fiction superiority among Bishops is to be reduced rather to a secular then to a sacred Originall For our Archbishop of Canterbury that now is saith y Archb. Laud in his relat of his confer pag. 176. It was insinuated if not ordered that honours of the Church should follow honours of the State as appeareth by the Canons of the Councell of z Concil Chalced Can. 9. Act. 16. Chalcedon and Antioch It was thought fit therefore though as Saint a Cypr. de simplic Praelat Episcopatus unus est Cyprian speaks there bee one Episcopacy the calling of a Bishop bee one and the same that yet among Bishops there should be a certaine subor dination and subjection the Empire therefore being cast into severall divisions which they then called Diocesses every Diocesse contained severall Provinces every Province severall Bishops the chiefe of a Diocesse in that large sense was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sometimes a Patriarch the chiefe of the Province a Metropolitan next the Bishops in their severall Diocesses as we now use the word Among these there was effectuall subjection grounded upon Canon and positive Law in their severall Quarters all the difference there was but Honorary not Authoritative So farre he where though he name the title Bishop Patriarch and Metropolitan hee doth not mention the title Archbishop And though hee grant that b Archb. Laud ubi supra pag. 168. the Church of Rome hath had and hath yet a more powerfull principality then any other Church yet he saith shee hath not that power from Christ The Romane Patriarch by Ecclesiasticall constitutions saith hee might perhaps have a primacy of order but for principality of power they were all equall as the Apostles were before them and hee might have said so much as well of Bishops as of Patriarchs for except for Ecclesiasticall Constitutions and positive Lawes they are not subordinate one to another neither the authority nor title then of Metropolitan or Archbishop is taken to bee so ancient or warrantable by the Word of God as that of the Bishops in the judgement of such as are the dearest friends to Prelaticall dignity Yet as wee deny not but that an inequality betwixt Bishops and Presbyters is as c Inaequalitatem inter Episcopum Presbyterum esse vetustissimam vicinam Apostolorum temporibus ultrò fatemur Fr. Chamier de oecumen pontif l. 10. c. 6. tom 2. p. 85.3 col 2. Chamier confesseth most ancient and very neere the Apostles times so wee yeeld it as probable that Archbishops are very ancient also and as certaine that there have been and are very many as worthy to be Archbishops as others to be Bishops and that there have been of that elevation men of as eminent desert for learning and devotion both in ancient and later times as any that have lived in the same Ages with them but in regard of more doubt of their Authenticke tenure then of that of Bishops though that also bee very much doubted of wee have the lesse heart to sweare to Archiepiscopall preheminence Object If it bee said that
d Archb. Whitgift in his defence of the answ to the Admon p. 386. Archbishops were set up for the keeping out of Schisme among Bishops as Bishops for that end were set over Presbyters we doe not gainsay it but say that our Doubt is not now of the politicke end but of the originall right of their exaltation and withall we may note that this Argument drawne from the prevention of Schisme may climbe too high and indeed it hath done so for at the next step it lifteth up Patriarchs above Archbishops and at the next after that a Pope above Patriarchs and all this upon the same pretence of preventing of Schisme but the further it hath advanced the worse it hath succeeded for the welfare of the Church both in respect of Heresie and Schisme for Bellarmine saith e Omnes Ecclesiae Patriarchales praeter Romanam habuerunt per longa tempora manifestos Haereticos Bel. de notis Eccl. 4. not 5. c. 8. p. 74. All the Patriarchall Churches except the Romane for a long time have had Bishops which were manifest Heretickes If his observation be as true for the most which for a great part we may beleeve though we dare not take it upon his bare word as his exception is false for the Romane Patriarch for he is the most Hereticall and Schismaticall Prelate in the world wee can have no great confidence in the end the keeping out of Schisme unlesse the meanes the raising up of Bishops to that height be found to bee warranted by the Word of God yet wee make great difference betwixt the Popes claime of universall and unlimited Supremacy upon this ground and that of Archbishops and Patriarchs confined within the reach and under the checke and restraint of a temporall Potentate For the other offices of Government named in the Oath or involved in the c. there is none that pleadeth a Divine Right and we may say of most of them as f Bish Downh in the defence of his consecr Serm. l. 1. c. 8. pag. 185. Bishop Downham doth of some of them As for ordinary Vicars that is Vicars which are Ecclesiasticall Judges in ordinary Chancellours or Commissaries scil of the Laity the Bishops in these times i. of Saint Augustine and Ambrose had none not so much as the Steward of the Church might bee a Lay-man They neither did then nor rightly could they claime a Divine and Apostolicall right for their callings which wee may the rather say for the saying of Anacletus who about the yeare 103. being Bishop of Rome hath in one of his Epistles written That there were but two orders ordained by our Saviour viz. of Bishops and Priests nor were any more either orders or degrees either appointed by God or taught by the Apostles whereof though many doubt in regard of that he affirmeth of the originall of Bishops yet they will easily assent to his deniall of the rest and what their right is either by custome or humane constitution we are very doubtfull and while we doubt we dare not sweare 4. Partic. Their perpetuity not to be changed The 17. DOUBT How farre this perpetuity propounded is to be applyed to the Discipline or Government of the Church 17. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause as before hath been observed Discipline and Government seeme at the beginning of the Oath to be the same and in this part of it wee find no cause to divide them and then our Doubt is Why a great part of the Discipline and Government consisting in Constitutions concerning Ceremonies and other things of alterable nature as g The accidentall points of Government as the manner of electing Ministers the kind of Discipline accidentall Ceremonies and other such like Rites and Circumstances may bee varied according to time place and persons Archb. Whitgift in a Note of dangerous points of the Doctrine of T.C. presently after the Preface nu 19. The like hath Bish Hall in his Apology against the Brownists p. 595 596. Archbish Whitgift acknowledgeth wee should sweare to a perpetuity whereby we conceive we shall crosse at least the intent of the 34. Article to which the Clergy have subscribed which saith Every particular or nationall Church hath authority to ordaine h The like we have noted before out of the Preface of our Service Booke change and abolish Ceremonies or Rites of the Church ordained onely by mans Authority so that all things bee done to edifying and withall shall much impeach the freedome of future Synods for they that are forestalled with an Oath against change cannot bee so free to change when just occasion requireth as they should be It is an exception made by the Divines of Aberdene against the Oath of the Covenant in Scotland i The generall Demands of the Ministers and Professors of Aberdene Deman 10. p. 26 That it taketh away all hope of a free Assembly or Parliament to judge of the matter presently debated for how can those say they vote freely of any matter propounded to decision and deliberation of the Church and State who have already sworne to adhere to one part of the Question And our dread Soveraigne in his large Declaration sheweth k The Kings Declar. concerning the Tumults in Scotl. p. 330. That points of Discipline Government and Policy of the Church even in Scotland are declared by Act of Parliament Act. 20.21 to bee alterable at the will of the Church it selfe and so repealable by succeeding Acts if the Church shall see cause And our Church to this day doth professe a purpose and desire of alteration of Discipline for in the beginning of the Commination in our Service Booke these are her words Brethren in the Primitive Church there was a godly Discipline that at the beginning of Lent such persons as were notorious sinners were put to open penance c. In stead whereof untill the said Discipline may be restored again which thing is much to be wished it is thought good c. the same desire appeareth in the Synod at l The Councell of Challons held an 813. Can. 25. Symps of the Church p. 560 561. Challons decreeing an intreaty to bee presented to the Emperour That the ancient Discipline may bee restored againe and that they who sin publickly may bee brought to publick repentance and every man according as he deserveth may either bee excommunicated or reconciled And for Excommunication in particular which is a chiefe point of Discipline or Government of which m 1. Whether the name might not be altered 2. Whether in place of it another coercion might not be invented Conser at Hamp Court pag. 19. King James propounded an alteration both for the name and thing c. we conceive it not onely alterable from that which is now but being more frequently inflicted for non-appearance then for the foulenesse of the offence when it doth appeare meet to be altered and reformed according to the n See Reform leg Eccles Ã