Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	apostle_n	bishop_n	presbyter_n	3,386	5	10.4987	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A39854	Two sermons the first preached in Christ-Church, Dublin, Feb. 19, 1681, at the consecration of the Right Reverend Fathers in God, William Lord Bishop of Kildare, William Lord Bishop of Kilmore, and Richard Lord Bishop of Kilalla : the other, preached in the Cathedral Church of St. Patrick, at the primary visitation of the most Reverend Father in God, Francis Lord Arch-bishop of Dublin, Apr. 24, 1682 / by S. Foley ...	Foley, Samuel, 1655-1695.; Moreton, William, 1641-1715.; Sheridan, William, 1636-1711.; Tenison, Richard, 1640?-1705.; Marsh, Francis, 1627-1693.	1683 (1683)	Wing F1400; ESTC R2994	25,191	58

in the Commission which Christ gave his Apostles (e) Mat. xxviii 18 20. Go and teach or make Disciples in all Nations and lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the World Now they themselves were not to live so long and therefore this special Presence and Assistance must be understood to have been promised to their Successors also Farther Christ sent them as his Father sent him that is with such Authority to Ordain others and to Institute Ecclesiastical Discipline and so to make Successors and to communicate to them of that Spirit which he breathed on them as Moses did to Joshua (f) Deut. xxxiv 9. the Spirit of Wisdom by laying their hands upon them And hence it was that St. Paul told the Bishops of Asia upon whom he had lay'd his hands when upon his Summons They met him at Miletus (g) Acts xx 28. That the Holy Ghost had made them Overseers or Bishops over the Church of God I may add that all Disputers in this Cause and all Pretenders to different Forms of Church-Government do Acknowledge some Form to be always necessary and consequently Authority to Rule and Govern for ever to reside in some Persons or other 4. That Bishops be the true extent of their Authority what it will are declar'd to be in Scripture and were look'd upon in the first Ages h of the Church as Successors to the Apostles and so Authoriz'd by Christ to Govern this Society Thus far we have but little Controversie with the main Opposers of Episcopacy For they cannot deny but that our Bishops are Presbyters and therefore if as they will have it Presbyters were the Antient Bishops and are Successors to the Apostles our Bishops upon that account are so If therefore we be satisfied that Our Saviour gave some Power and Authority to his Apostles with a design that They should leave it to others to be transmitted through all Ages (h) St. Cyprian Epist 75. p. 225. Edit Oxon. Potestas peccatorum remittendorum Apostolis data est Ecclesiis quas illi à Christo missi Constituerunt Episcopis qui eis Ordinatione Vicariâ successerunt successively to some fit persons for the Exigencies of the Church and that our Bishops are Successors to those Apostles which one Party of our Churches Adversaries are obliged to own by virtue of their being Presbyters and which the other have no pretence to deny here in Ireland whatever Fables (i) For Confutation of which See Mason's Vindiciae Ecclesiae Anglicanae Primate Bramhali's Works and the Second Part of Dr. Burnet's History of the Reformation they have invented to disparage the English Consecrations we being able to prove That our present Bishops of Ireland were Consecrated by (k) For Instance His Grace the Most-Reverend Father in God Michael Boyle the present Lord Arch-Bishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland together with Dr. Margetson the Late Primate of Ireland the truly Learned and Pious Dr. John Parker late Lord Arch-Bishop of Dublin Dr. Pullen then Arch-Bishop of Tuam and the present Lord Arch-Bishop of Cashell and Seven other Bishops who died since were Consecrated Jan. 27. 1660. By Dr. John Bramhall Arch-Bishop of Armagh who was Consecrated May 26. 1634. by Primate Vsher who was Consecrated Anno 1621. by Primate Hampton who was Consecrated May 5. 1613. by Dr. Thomas Jones who was Consecrated by Adam Lostus Arch-Bishop of Dublin 12. May 1584. who was Consecrated by Hugh Curwin Anno 1562. who was Consecrated Arch-Bishop of Dublin Septemb. 8. 1555. being the Third Year of Queen Mary together with James Turberville Bishop of Exceter and William Glin Bishop of Bangor This appears out of our Records and by this may any of the present Lords Bishops of Ireland Justifie their Consecration such Bishops as receiv'd their Consecration from other Consecrated Bishops and so on to before the Reformation from Records never in the least question'd or suspected we must Acknowledge that what Authority our present Bishops have They have from Christ Jesus The way being thus far clear'd before I proceed to the main thing behind to wit To demonstrate that Bishops are a distinct Order from and above Presbyters by that Authority They have receiv'd from Christ I shall deduce some few Corollaries from what has been said such as 1. 'T is evident from hence That when the Apostles Ordained Bishops they did it by Authority given them by our Saviour and not only in pursuance of a Jewish Custom of creating Elders which the famous Mr. Selden so much contends (l) Selden de Synedriis Lib. 1. Cap. 14. for Had they not done it upon an Account peculiar to Christianity St. Paul when a Jew and a most violent Persecutor of Christs Church had had as full Authority to make Bishops as when a Apostle and must have deriv'd it not from the Holy Ghost as he constantly Affirms but from his Master Gamaliel 2. Hence it follows That Bishops have not their Authority from the Civil Magistrate There is a great difference between the designation of a Person to an Office and the giving him Authority in it Thus a Mayor of a Corporation is Chosen by the Burgesses of it but receives his Authority from the King alone and so in many other instances And therefore this Assertion of ours cannot be suspected as any way prejudicial to our Princes Antient Right of Electing Bishops The Church is a Society and Body Politick distinct from that of the Common-wealth which appears from hence That it did subsist when separated from and persecuted by all Civil-Powers it is founded upon Principles different from the Law of Nature and common Notions of Mankind and settled by Divine Positive Laws and consequently the Government of it must be proportionable And they who resolve to hold the contrary Opinion may take its Foundation along with it and believe the Gospel it self to be no Law but as Enacted by the Civil Magistrate 3. We may hence infer that all other Bishops are not merely Substitutes of the Bishop of Rome and that he in the Right of St. Peter is not the Only Bishop who hath his Authority from Christ so that all must receive theirs from him This was with much Vehemence and equal Applause defended in the (m) Hist Council of Trent Lib. 7. pag. 574. of the last Edition Engl. Council of Trent by Father Laynez General of the Jesuits and Friar Simon a Florentine did there likewise maintain That the Institution of Bishops in the Apostles was only Personal and ended with them But this as the good Bishop of Paris then said is a Novel Doctrine first invented by Cajetane to gain a Cardinalship and as such was Censured by the Doctors of the Sorbonne and Richerius a (n) Richerius Cap. 10. Sect. 11. Sorbonne Doctor in his History of General Councills lately Printed has made it out That in Antient Times the very Italian Bishops themselves did subscribe Bishops Dei Gratia

without any mention of the Pope or Apostolick See 4. We may likewise hence conclude That Bishops have not nor ought to have their Authority from the People That they had in the Apostles days was held by Mr. Hobbes (o) Leviathan Cap. 22. and he says 'T is so declar'd in Scripture But 't is plain that he makes it the same thing to Elect and to Ordain which the (p) Acts vi 5. The whole Multitude Chose Stephen and Philip c. Vers 6. Whom they set before the Apostles who when they had Prayed lay'd their Hands on them Scriptures make very different As to what relates to the People it does indeed appear from Antiquity that They were somewhat concern'd in the Election of Bishops (q) Of this matter see a full and satisfactory Account in the History of the present Separation by the Worthy and most Learned Dr. Stillingfleet Part 3. Sect. 24.25 but 't was only by way of Approbation and that St. Paul's Rule might be the better observ'd That a Bishop be Blameless and of Good Report And that they were of Good Report the People could best testifie But this occasion'd many disturbances so that Christian Magistrates were forced sometimes to interpose and at last upon prudent Considerations 't was quite dis-used Having setled these matters I come now to prove that Bishops by vertue of this Authority which they have from Christ are above Presbyters I must desire to be excused that I do not make the Enquiry Whether Bishops be of a distinct Order from that of Presbyters Jure Divino or not Which by the Advantage of Ambiguous expressions made use of by some unwarily by others on purpose and by the motives of Interest and Envy has been made the subject of much dispute and of many Books in this last Age. This I have designedly declin'd medling with For unless we be willing Eternally to wrangle and dispute and to make the Controversy to last as long as the Order it self even to the end of the World We must state the Question plainly and after some sort that we may find a clear decision of it some way or other And I know none more fair than this Whether the Apostles before their Martyrdoms committed the Authority which Christ gave them of Governing his Church and the inferior Officers of it and of Ordaining others in every Church to single Persons or to several in Conjunction To determine this Let us first consult the Holy Scriptures We find that the first Successor to any of the Apostles who was made by them was Matthias who when Judas had fallen away though he was a Disciple by the direction of the Holy Ghost (r) Acts i. was assm'd to a higher degree to the dignity of an Apostle (s) The Apostles were above the 70 Disciples Philip did Preach Baptise did Miracles and Converted the Samaritans but his Converts did not receive the Holy Ghost till that St. Peter and St. John came down from Jerusalem and laid their hands upon them Acts. viii 14.15 And that Matthias before he was made Successor to Judas was one of the 70. Disciples Vid. Eusebii Hist Eccl. Lib. 1. Cap. 12. St. Peter says To take Judas his Bishoprick We find St. James who was not (t) That James the Brother of our Lord was not one of the Twelve Valesius shews at large in his Notes on the same Chapter Not. Pag. 20. of the Twelve and whom all Ecclesiastical Histonias reckon Bishop of Hierusalem that he resided constantly there and that any matter of importance which hapned was communicated unto him That the Presbyters attended on him that when St. Peter was deliver'd out of Prison by an Angel he bade them whom he first met (u) Acts xii 17. to go and shew those things unto James and unto the Brethren and that St. Paul as soon (w) Acts xxi 18. as he came to Hierusalem after his Fourteen Years Preaching to the Gentiles went in unto James and all the Elders were present Though the Presbyters were all there he made his Application in a particular manner to St. James And in the First Council held there upon occasion of a Controversie about keeping the Law of Moses St. James determin'd as one in Authority in these words (x) Acts. xv 19. Wherefore my Sentence is St. Paul committed his Authority at Ephesus to Timothy we find him give him in Charge That he should not receive an Accusation against a Presbyters but confirm'd by two or three witnesses (y) 1 Tim. v. 19 20. and him that sinned to Rebuke before all that others also might fear So by his Place we see that he might receive an Accusation and summon Witnesses before him and Examine them and give Sentence against Presbyters which he could not have done had they been his Equals Besides he was charged with a solemn adjuration (z) Vers 21. before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Elect Angels to do these things without Partiality which shews that by his Authority he was able to shew favours to some Presbyters above others and that his Partiality would have been of great Consequence The same St. Paul made Titus Metropolitan of Creet gave him Authority (a) 1 Titus v. To Ordain Elders in every City And as to what cencerns the rest of the Apostles we may beleive They endeavour'd that there should be Uniformity in all Churches which 't is plain (b) 1 Cor. vii 17. 1 Cor. xiv 33. St. Paul labour'd much after and Uniformity could not be had they instituted different Forms of Government in them But no considering Person will think it strange that the particular Form of Government is not more expresly described in the Relation we have in those Sacred Books of what was done by the Apostles immediately after our Saviours Ascension They could not of a sudden settle all matters nor was it necessary that They should appoint Successors long before they were to leave them Besides the Account which we have of what they did is very short St. Luke was the only Person who Compos'd and left to Posterity Commentaries o their Acts. In them we find little of St. Peter but what was transacted within a Year or two after his Masters Ascension little of St. Paul but his Conversion and what St. Luke saw him do in his several journeys less of any other of the Apostles And as to St. Paul's Epistles they do rather suppose the then Establishment whatever it was sufficiently known than undertake to describe it And after all those Books were finish'd we have reason to believe that the Church being so very much enlarged by the Accession of New Converts that they made their form of Government more exact than before Comported with the Circumstances of Affairs However One thing we find in the Revelations which seems plain enough in this matter Our Saviour Commanded St. John to write to the Angels of the Seven Churches of Asia That