Selected quad for the lemma: saint_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
saint_n	bishop_n	paul_n	timothy_n	1,948	5	11.2588	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53956	The good old way, or, A discourse offer'd to all true-hearted Protestants concerning the ancient way of the Church and the conformity of the Church of England thereunto, as to its government, manner of worship, rites, and customs / by Edward Pelling.	Pelling, Edward, d. 1718.	1680 (1680)	Wing P1082; ESTC R24452	117,268	146

made up of converted Gentiles Now over each of these Churches there did preside a Bishop with his Deacons so that frequently you shall find in Church-History two several Bishops in one City 2. Secondly that these and the Neighbouring Bishops were wont to convene and meet together to consult concerning the ordering and management of Ecclesiastical Matters 3. And thirdly that the necessities and condition of places were such in the beginning that all Churches were not so compleatly and perfectly modelled at the first as they were in process of time For as Churches were greater or less in proportion so were Church-Officers more or fewer in number Where the multitude of Christians was not great there a Bishop and his Deacon were enough to discharge the work of the Ministry where the numbers of Christians did increase there Presbyters were appointed to assist the Bishop and to act under him and where an Apostle thought good not to fix any Bishop but to hold the Government of a Church immediately in his own hands there he did commonly appoint a College or Bench of Presbyters to perform Ministerial Offices as his Proxies in his absence and by his Authority derived and delegated unto them For so did St. Paul keep the Superintendency over the Church of Corinth in his own hands as their immediate and sole Bishop because he had converted them to the Faith and what the Presbyters did in excommunicating that incestuous person they did it by St. Paul's Spirit that is by 1 Cor. 5. 4. his Episcopal Authority and Power committed unto him by Christ I verily as absent in Body but present in Spirit or by my Authority have judged already concerning him saith the Apostle This Observation will give us to understand the meaning Epiph. haeres 75. of that which we collect out of Epiphanius that in one Church there were Bishops and Deacons only where the numbers of Converts were small in another there were Presbyters without any Bishops besides an Apostle where there was need of many Ministers and yet one could not be found that was so fit for the Bishoprick in others agen there were Bishops Presbyters and Deacons too where the condition of the place did require it and the worth and abilities of the Men did admit of it Now then to come to the Objection St. Paul gives Timothy an 1 Tim. 3. account of the Qualifications necessary in Bishops and this questionless was in order to their Ordination But how doth it appear that Presbyters are meant by the word Bishops Were Presbyters now to be Ordained Did the word of God Act. 19. 20. grow and prevail so mightily in the Ephesian Churches and yet no Presbyters in them Was St. Paul among them for the space of three years preaching disputing and converting so many Act. 20. 31. Multitudes to the Faith and yet ordained no Presbyters to water what he had so prosperously planted And if Presbyters were ordained were setled in the Churches of Ephesus before the Apostles departure to Macedonia what necessity was there for him to send his Son Timothy Instructions concerning the Ordination of Presbyters especially when he hoped to return unto him shortly Divines conceive that this Epistle was sent by 1 Tim. 3. 14. him soon after he departed from Ephesus and were all the Presbyters dead in that little time 'T is hardly to be believed that Presbyters were wanting but Bishops were For hitherto St. Paul had been with the Ephesians for the most part in his own person he had governed them in his own person and had exercised his Episcopal Authority in his own person But now he was gone leaving Timothy in his room he was the first Bishop that was fixt at Ephesus and the only Bishop indeed now and yet but a young Man that had need of other Bishops to concur with him and help him in his Office and considering that St. Paul was uncertain when he should see him 1 Tim. 3. 15. again there was an urgent necessity for him to write speedily to his Son that other Bishops might be ordained that other Churches might be guarded from the Gnostic Seducers as well as Ephesus it self the great Metropolis There is no necessity then for us to conceive that St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy did mean Presbyters when he spake of Bishops but rather that he gave directions for the Ordination of those who were to be Bishops indeed to be invested with Episcopal Power and to preside over other Cities as Timothy did over Ephesus in St. Paul's own Chair Again the Apostle saluteth the Saints at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons Phil. 1. 1. But there is no Demonstrative Reason to constrain nor probable Argument to induce us to believe that he directed his salutation to Presbyters much less that he gave them the Title of Bishops For there are several fair accounts to be given of this matter either as some conceive that there were two Bishops over two Churches in Philippi Jewish and Gentile Christians as 't was usual in other places or as others are of Opinion that the Neighbouring Bishops were now assembled at Philippi as 't was usual at other times or as others are persuaded that the Salutation is sent not to but from the Bishops and Deacons and so the words are to be read thus with a Parenthesis Paul and Timotheus the Servants of Jesus Christ to all the Saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons Grace be unto you c. But which way soever we interpret the Text we are so far from finding any Presbyters in the Salutation that there is no argument to prove that they were at all in the City whither the Salutation was sent For Epiphanius tells us that many Churches at the first were ordered by Bishops and Deacons only and then why not the Churches of Philippi also Thus their whole Argument fails them who would prove the Office and Order of Bishop and Presbyter to have been the same in the Apostles days because forsooth the Name is given to both in Scripture Though the Consequence would not be good should their grand Principle be granted yet there is no solid reason for us to grant the Principle it self And therefore I shall not stick to conclude peremptorily That the Order of Bishops both as to name and thing is so far from being either an Antichristian or an Ecclesiastical Ordinance that it was instituted by Christ himself and founded in the Apostles of Christ and by them so establish'd and continued in all the Churches of Christ that for 1500 years together no Church in the world being perfectly and rightly form'd was ever under any other sort of Government but that the Episcopal Office and Authority hath through a continual Succession of Ages been communicated transmitted and handed down to the whole Catholick Church even from the most primitive and infant times of Christianity and consequently that this way of Government

Bishop and Presbyter indifferently and promiscuously to those of both Orders There is no necessity for us to admit of a community of Names because those places which seem to infer this Community may be fairly understood though we do appropriate the name of Bishop to a Bishop and the name of Presbyter to a Presbyter This will appear from a particular view of the several Texts which if we can understand without being obliged to confound Names then farwell that grand Principle which the Classical Divines have taken for granted and which is the main and sole Argument to prove a parity and equality of power among all Church Officers above the Degree of Deacons One famous place alleaged is Acts 20. 17. there S. Paul sends to Ephesus and calls the Elders or Presbyters of the Church to him at Miletus and then he saith ver 28. Take heed unto your selves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 overseers or as it should be rendered Bishops Here say they the Names of Presbyters and Bishops is given to the same men and so the Office and Power of these men was the same But I pray my Masters why so What necessity is there for this positive Assertion Were none with S. Paul at this time but Presbyters Yes Irenaeus who lived near the Apostles time will tell you Iren. adv Haer. l. 1. c. 14. that S. Paul called together both Bishops and Presbyters Were none there but the Clergy of the City of Ephesus Yes the same ancient Writer tells you that the Clergy of all the Cities round about were there too In Mileto convocatis Episcopis Presbyteris qui erant ab Epheso à reliquis proximis civit atibus The Bishops and Presbyters were called from Ephesus and from other neighbouring Cities And indeed S. Pauls words do intimate thus much for saith he ver 18. Ye know from the first day I tame into Asia after what manner I have been with you at all seasons Now S. Paul had been with the Bishops and Presbyters of other Cities in Asia besides Ephesus and S. Paul's speaking to them and appealing to their Knowledge of his Behaviour doth plainly argue that they were with him now and that this Convention did consist of very many of the Asiatic Bishops and Presbyters There is then neither necessity nor reason to imagine that onely the inferiour sort of Clergy appeared at the Apostle's Summons much less that he should call them Bishops Rather it is presumable that as he spake to all in general so that he directed his speech chiefly to the most honourable and principal part of that Reverend Assembly and that he called them Bishops who were so in truth and told them that the Holy Ghost had made them Bishops over their respective Charges so addressing himself immediately and more particularly to them whose Office it was to superintend the Flock of Christ and to obviate the Incursion of Wolves And thus this place may be fairly understood without confounding of Names without offering violence to History or without robbing the Bishops to give their Title and Honour unto Presbyters because it is reasonable to conceive that the Apostle convened Bishops and Presbyters too and spake directly and immediately to the Prelates of whom 't is likely that Timothy was the chief and to the rest accommodating himself collaterally secundarily and by Grot. in loc way of reflexion Another place which has been hotly urged in this Controversie is that mentioned before in Tit. 1. 5 6 7. where Titus is left in Crete 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might constitute Presbyters city by city if any were blameless the husband of one wife for a bishop must be blameless saith the Apostle Now they who accuse Bishops as Corah did Moses and Aaron for taking too much upon them triumph mightily Num. 16. from this Text as if the Names of Bishop and Presbyter were clearly synonimous But upon due examination we find that the Apostle's Sence doth not at all carry it this way much less is there a necessity for us to understand him after this manner For all that S. Paul requires of Titus here seemeth to be this that he would advance the Presbyters which were under him and ordain them Bishops and dispose of them into Cities fixing each of them to a certain Cure that is such of them as were approved men for a Bishop must be blameless This Sence is easie and the thing is probable For questionless there were many Presbyters now in Crete whether ordain'd by S. Paul before his departure or by Titus himself afterwards I will not dispute but many Presbyters there were it being impossible for Titus to take a due care of so considerable an Island without Assistants 'T is likely therefore that when S. Paul was going away either he left Presbyters behind him or appointed Titus to ordain some to take part of his burthen and advised him not to prefer them hastily but to prove them first and then to ordain them Bishops having made sufficient experiment of their Abilities and Fitness for so great a Trust And in this Epistle sent to him from Nicopolis he minds him of that which he order'd him before viz. that upon proof and tryal made of his Presbyters he should promote them and set them over Cities over every City one for saith he a Bishop must be blameless So that according to this easie and fair Construction there can be no pretence of any confusion of Names because the Apostle doth not mean that Titus should take Deacons or Laymen into the Order of Presbyters but that he should advance such as were Presbyters already into the superiour Order of Bishops and having first consecrated and ordained them to assign each of them his Diocese and City that they might be invested with their Episcopal Authority and Jurisdiction too And this seems to be that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Constitution or Promotion of Presbyters which the Apostle requireth here Other places there are where St. Paul speaketh of Bishops and Deacons only without taking notice of an intermediate rank of Clergy as 1 Tim. 3. he gives instructions for the Ordination of Bishops and Deacons And in Phil. 1. 1. he saluteth the Saints at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons Whence the Adversaries of Episcopacy do conclude that by Bishops there Presbyters are intended otherwise we must suppose them to be past over wholly which is not to be conceived the Apostle would do But by their good leave I do assert that where the Apostle mentioneth Bishops he ever meaneth such as are truly and properly Bishops not including Presbyters under that Notion And for the clearing of the Objection three things are observable 1. First that when Churches began to be gathered many Epiph. haeres 68. times it happened that two Churches were in one and the same City the one consisting of believing Jews the other

Justin Martyr Ignatius and other the most Primitive Writers so that without all peradventure this custome is founded upon Apostolical Institution and exactly agreeable to this most Ancient and Christian custome is that Offertory appointed in our English Service-book Next follows the Prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church Militant here in earth which is highly consonant to the practice The Prayer for the Catholick Church of the Vniversal Church in all Ages in respect both of its order and matter For first before the reception of the Sacrament a Prayer of this Nature was ever offered and that saith S. Ambros according to the Rule delivered by S. Paul In some places I Comment on 1 Tim. 2. find that this Prayer was used once before the Consecration of the Elements the Deacon inditing it and the people answering Litanywise Lord have mercy and after Consecration it was repeated Clem. Const lib. 8. S. Cyril Catech 5. Justin Mart. Apol. 2. Ambros de Sac. lib. 4. c. 4. again by him that Ministred in chief the people answering only Amen But never was the Sacrament administred without supplications in the first place for the people for Kings and for the rest as St. Ambrose speaks And to the same purpose St. Cyril tells us that the Spiritual Sacrifice being prepared they went solemnly to prayer for the common peace of the Churches for the tranquillity of the World for Kings for their Armies and Allies for Cyril Catech 5. sick and afflicted people and for all that stood in need of help And of the truth of this all Liturgies extant are an abundant proof 2. Then as touching the particular matter of this excellent and Catholick Prayer it is observable 1. That our Church calleth the things laid upon the Lords Table not only Alms but Oblations and so did the Ancients call Clem. ep ad Cor. p. 52. them even S. Clement himself S. Pauls fellow-labourer For the old Christians conceived themselves obliged to make Offerings of Praise and Thanksgiving under the Gospel as well as Abel did before the Law and the Jews did under the Law The Species of Sacrifice was changed indeed for they offered not Bullocks and Goats but they did not think that all kinds of Offerings were abolisht but that they were bound to present Eucharistical Oblations unto God that they might be found thankful unto the Maker of the Vniverse as Irenaeus speaks So that in lieu of bloudy Sacrifices they presented Bread and Wine Iren. lib. 4. c. 34. V. Mede's Christian Sacrifice and the first fruits of their increase besides sums of money And these were called Oblations gifts whereby they acknowledg'd Gods right and propriety unto all their Possessions that the Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof not as if he needed these gifts but as humble Thanksgivings unto his Offerimus non quasi indigenti sed gratias agentes dominationi ejus Iren. ut suprá Soveraignty And so they were wont to profess in those days 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord we restore unto thee some of thine own things 2. Our Church prayeth that God would accept these our Alms and Oblations which is perfectly answerable to the old custome for so the first Christians did beseech God that in mercy Clem. Const lib. 8. he would look upon their offerings and accept them as a sweet Odour through the Intercession of Christ 3. Then our Church goes on praying for the Vniversal Church for Kings Princes and Magistrates for the Clergy and the rest And thus did all the Churches of old pray for the holy Catholick Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from end to end for Kings Id. ibid. and all in Authority that they may be at peace with us and that we living in all quietness and concord may glorifie thee all our days through Jesus Christ for all holy Bishops rightly dividing the word of truth for all Presbyters and Deacons for all thy people and all that are in want and distress c. 4. Last of all it is customary with us at the end of this Prayer to make mention of the Saints departed and so 't was ever customary with all the Churches of old to bless God for their Faith Perseverance and Martyrdomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Const lib. 8. beseeching that they might be made partakers of their conflicts and with them might have their perfect Consummation and bliss This was the first design of these memorials of the dead In fide morientium devotè memoriam agimus tam illorum refrigerio gaudentes quam etiam nobis piam consummationem in fide postulantes Origen lib. 3. in Job p. 274. Ed. Par. See Bishop Vshers Ans to the Challenge which latter Ages corrupted adding Prayers for the release of souls out of a pretended Purgatory But this conceit and practice was never known in the Ancient and best times And therfore our honest Church resolving to bring things to their first stay threw out of her Prayers this dross and litter and filthy stuff retaining that which was pure and Primitive Among those things which have been corrupted in the old Liturgies as we now have them there are some things which have passed all along untouched As that salutation of the Minister the Dominus Vobiscum Lord be with you and the peoples Answer and with thy Spirit it is every where to be found in the ancientest Monuments And so that other sursum corda lift up your hearts with the return we lift them up unto the Lord we find it in S. Cyprian and S. Cyril and in every Liturgy As also the following exhortation let Cypr. de Orat. Dom. us give thanks unto our Lord God and the subsequent acknowledgement it is meet and right so to do the Minister going on Sursum Corda c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is very meet right and our bounden duty c. these Forms are still entire in all Service-books that they may rationally be concluded to have sprang from Apostolical practice And so the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all the company of Heaven c. together with the Trisagium following which was joyntly repeated by the whole Congregation Holy holy holy Lord God of Host c. they are Forms which were very anciently and universally V. Lit. Jacob. Marc. Petri. Aethiop Mosar Christian apud Ind. Clem. Constit cum multis aliis used at this time but somewhat more largely and with a little inconsiderable difference for thus they said of old before thee do stand praising and worshipping thee numberless Hosts of Angels Arch-angels Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers the Cherubim and the six-winged Scraphim with two wings covering their feet and with two wings covering their faces and with two wings flying and crying continually and incessantly with thousands and thousands of Arch-angels and with myriads and myriads of Angels Holy holy holy Lord God of