comparison of Christ with Moses from the equal necessity of forms of Government now which there is for other Societies from the perfection and sufficiency of the Scriptures all other arguments are reducible to these three Heads Of these in their order First From the comparison of Christ with Moses they argue thus If Moses was faithfull in his house as a servant much more Christ as a Son now Moses appointed a particular form of Government for the Church under the old Testament therefore Christ did certainly lay down a form of Church Government for the New Testament To this I answer first Faithfulnesse implyes the discharge of a trust reposed in one by another so that it is said vers 2. he was faithful to him that appointed him Christs faithfulnesse then lay in discharging the Work which his Father laid upon him which was the Work of mediation between God and us and therefore the comparison is here Instituted between Moses as typical Mediator and Christ as the true Mediator that as Moses was faithfull in his Work so was Christ in his Now Moses his faithfulnesse lay in keeping close to the Pattern received in the Mount that is observing the commands of God Now therefore if Christs being faithfull in his office doth imply the setling any one form of Goverment in the Church it must be made appear that the serling of this form was part of Christs Mediatory Work and that which the Father commanded him to do as Mediator and that Christ received such a form from the Father for the Christian Church as Moses did for the Jewish To this it is said That the Government is laid upon Christs shoulders and all power in his hands and therefore it belongs to him as Mediatour Christ I grant is the King of the Church and doth govern it outwardly by his Laws and inwardly by the conduct of his Spirit but shall we say that therefore any one form of Government is necessary which is neither contained in his Laws nor dictated by his Spirit the main original of mistakes here is the confounding the external and internal Government of the Church of Christ and thence whensoever men read of Christs power authority and government they fancy it refers to the outward Government of the Church of God which is intended of his internal Mediatory power over the hearts and consciences of men But withall I acknowledge that Christ for the better government of his Church and people hath appointed Officers in his Church invested them by vertue of his own power with an authority to preach and baptize and administer all Gospel-Ordinances in his own Name that is by his authority for it is clearly made known to us in the Word of God that Christ hath appointed these things But then whether any shall succeed the Apostles in superiority of power over Presbyters or all remain governing the Church in an equality of power is nowhere determined by the Will of Christ in Scripture which contains his Royal Law and therefore we have no reason to look upon it as any thing flowing from the power and authority of Christ as Mediator and so not necessarily binding Christians Secondly I answer If the correspondency between Christ and Moses in their work doth imply an equal exactnesse in Christs disposing of every thing in his Church as Moses did among the Jews then the Church of Christ must be equally bound to all circumstances of Worship as the Jews were For there was nothing appertaining in the least to the Worship of God but was fully set down even to the pins of the Tabernacle in the Law of Moses but we find no such thing in the Gospel The main Duties and Ordinances are prescribed indeed but their circumstances and manner of performance are left as matters of Christian-liberty and only couched under some general Rules which is a great difference between the legal and Gospel-state Under the Law all Ceremonies and Circumstances are exactly prescribed but in the Gospel we read of some general Rules of direction for Christians carriage in all circumstantial things These four especially contain all the directions of Scripture concerning Circumstantials All things to be done decently and in order All to be done for edification Give no offence Do all to the glory of God So that the particular circumstances are left to Christian-liberty with the observation of general Rules It is evident as to Baptism and the Lords Supper which are unquestionably of divine Institution yet as to the circumstances of the administration of them how much lesse circumstantial is Christ then Moses was As to circumcision and the pass-over under the Law the age time persons manner place form all fully set down but nothing so under the Gospel Whether Baptism shall be administred to Infants or no is not set down in expresse words but left to be gathered by Analogy and consequences what manner it shall be administred in whether by dipping or sprinkling is not absolutely determined what form of words to be used whether in the name of all three persons or sometimes in the Name of Christ only as in the Acts we read if that be the sense and not rather in Christs Name i. e. by Christs authority Whether sprinkling or dipping shall be thrice as some Churches use it or only once as others These things we see relating to an Ordinance of Divine Institution are yet past over without any expresse command determining either way in Scripture So as to the Lords Supper What persons to be admitted to it whether all visible professors or only sincere Christians upon what terms whether by previous examination of Church-officers or by an open profession of their faith or else only by their own tryal of themselves required of them as their duty by their Ministers whether it should be alwayes after Supper as Christ himself did it whether taking fasting or after meat whether kneeling or sitting or leaning Whether to be consecrated in one form of words or several These things are not thought fit to be determined by any positive command of Christ but left to the exercise of Christian-liberty the like is as to preaching the Word publike Prayer singing of Psalmes the duties are required but the particular Modes are left undetermined The case is the same as to Church-governwent That the Church be governed and that it be governed by its proper Officers are things of Divine appointment but whether the Church should be governed by many joyning together in an equality or by Subordination of some persons to others is left to the same liberty which all other Circumstances are this being not the Substance of the thing it self but onely the manner of performance of it 3. I answer That there is a manifest disparity between the Gospel and Jewish state and therefore Reasons may be given why all Punctilioes were determined then which are not now as 1. The perfection and
Isidore himself the Bishop of Sevill in Spain speaking of Presbyters His sicut Episcopis dispensatio mysteriorum Dei commissa est praesunt eni◠Ecclesiis Christi in confectione corporis sanguinis consortes cum Episcopis sunt similiter in doctrina populi in Officio praedicandi sed sola propter auctoritatem summo sacerdoti Clericorum Ordinatio reservata est ne à multis Ecclesiae Disciplina vindicatae concordiam solueret scandala generaret What could be spoken more to our purpose then this is he asserts the identity of power as well as name in both Bishops and Presbyters in governing the Church in celebrating the Eucharist in the Office of preaching to the people onely for the greater Honour of the Bishop and for preventing Schisms in the Church the power of Ordination was reserved to the Bishop by those words propter Auctoritatem he cannot possibly mean the Authority of a Divine Command for that his following words contradict that it was to prevent Schisms and Scandals and after produceth the whole place of Ierome to that purpose Agreeable to this is the judgment of the second Council of Sevil in Spain upon the occasion of the irregular proceeding of some Presbyters ordained by Agapius Bishop of Corduba Their words are these Nam quamvis cum Episcopis plurima illis Ministeriorum communis sit dispensatio quaedam novellis Ecclesiasticis regulis sibi prohibita noverint sicut Presbyterororum Diaconorum Virginum consecratio c. Haec enim omnia illicita esse Presbyteris quia Pontificatus apicem non habent quem solis deberi Episcopis authoritate Canonum praecipitur ut per hoc discretio graduum dignitatis fastigium summi Pontificis demonstretur How much are we beholding to the ingenuity of a Spanish Council that doth so plainly disavow the pretence of any divine right to the Episcopacy by them so strenuously asserted All the right they plead for is from the novellae Ecclesiasticae regula which import quite another thing from Divine institution and he that hath not learnt to distinguish between the authority of the Canons of the Church and that of the Scriptures will hardly ever understand the matter under debate with us and certainly it is another thing to preserve the honour of the different Degrees of the Clergy but especially of the chief among them viz. the Bishop than to observe a thing meerly out of Obedience to the command of Christ and upon the account of Divine institution That which is rejoyned in answer to these Testimonies as far as I can learn is onely this that the Council and Isidore followed Jerome and so all make up but one single Testimony But might it not as well be said that all that are for Episcopacy did follow Ignatius or Epiphanius and so all those did make up but one single Testimony on the other side Ye◠I do as yet despair of finding any one single Testimony in all Antiquity which doth in plain terms assert Episcopacy as it was setled by the practice of the Primitive Church in the ages following the Apostles to be of an unalterable Divine right Some expressions I grant in some of them seem to extoll Episcopacy very high but then it is in Order to the Peace and Unity of the Church and in that Sense they may sometimes be admitted to call it Divine and Apostolical not in regard of its institution but of its end in that it did in their Opinion tend as much to preserve the Unity of the Church as the Apostles Power did over the Churches while they were living If any shall meet with expressions seeming to carry the Fountain of Episcopal power higher let them remember to distinguish between the power it self and the restrained Exercise of that power the former was from the Apostles but common to all Dispensers of the Word the latter was appropriated to some but by an Act of the Church whereby an eminency of power was attributed to one for the safety of the whole And withall let them consider that every Hyperbolical expression of a Father will not bear the weight of an Argument and how common it was to call things Divine which were conceived to be of excellent use or did come from persons in authority in the Church One would think that should meet with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon it could be rendred by nothing short of the Scriptures whereas they mean no more by it but onely the Emperours Letters to the Council It hath been already observed how ready they were to call any custome of the Church before their times an Apostolical Tradition And as the Heathens when they had any thing which they knew not whence it came they usually called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as though it came immediately from Heaven So the Fathers when Traditions were convey'd to them without the names of the Authors they conclude they could have no other Fountain but the Apostles And thus we see many Traditions in several Churches directly contrary to one another were looked on as Apostolical onely from the prevalency of this perswasion that whatever they derived from their Fathers was of that nature But then for that answer to the Council and Isidore and Ierome that they make but one testimony I say that although the words be of the same Sense yet they have the nature of a different testimony upon these accounts First as produced by persons of different condition in the Church some think they are even with Ierome when they tell us what a pique there was between him and Iohn Bishop of Ierusalem and that he might have the better advantage of his adversary when he could not raise himself up to the Honour of Episcopacy he would bring that down to the State of Presbytery but as such entertain too unworthy thoughts of one of those Fathers whom they profess themselves admirers of so this prejudice cannot possibly lie against Isidore or the Council For the first was himself a Bishop of no mean account in the Church of God and the Council was composed of such it could be no biass then of that nature could draw them to this Opinion and no doubt they would have been as forward to maintain their own authority in the Church as the Truth and Conscience would give them leave Therefore on this account one Testimony of a single Bishop much more of a whole Council of them against their acting by Divine Authority in the Church is of more validity then ten for it in as much as it cannot but be in Reason supposed that none will speak any thing against the authority they are in or what may tend in the least to diminish it but such as make more Conscience of the Truth then of their own Credit and Esteem in the World Secondly in that it was done in different ages of the Church Ierome flourished about
obligation to that authority which commands them argues them still to be matters of liberty and not matters of necessity That Laws respecting indifferent things may be repealed I cannot imagine that any have so little reason as to deny upon a different state of affairs from what it was when they were first enacted or when they cannot attain the ends they are designed for the peace and order of the Church but rather tend to imbroil it in trouble and confusion And that when men are from under the authority imposing them men are at their own liberty again must necessarily be granted because the ground of restraint of that liberty was the authority they were under and therefore the cause being taken away the effects follows Therefore for men to do them when authority doth not impose them must imply an opinion of the necessity of the things themselves which destroyes Christian-liberty Whence it was resolved by Augustine in the case of Rites that every one should observe those of that Church which he was in which he saith he took from Ambrose His words are these Nec disciplina ulla in his melior gravi prudentique Christiano quà m ut eo modo agat quo agere viderit Ecclesiam ad quamcunque forte devenerit Quod enim neque contra fidem neque contra bonos more 's injungitur indifferenter est habendum pro corum inter quos vivitur societate servandum est He tells us He knew no better course for a serious prudent Christian to take in matters of Rites and Customes then to follow the Churches example where he is for whatsoever is observed neither against faith or manners is a matter in its self indifferent and to be observed according to the custome of those he lives among And after acquaints us that his Mother coming to Milan after him and finding the Church there not observe the Saturday-fast as the Church of Rome did was much perplexed and troubled in her mind at it as tender but weak consciences are apt to be troubled at any thing contrary to their own practice she for her own satisfaction sends her Son to Ambrose then Bishop of the Church there who told him he would give him no other answer but what he did himself and if he knew any thing better he would do it Augustine presently expects a command from him to leave off Saturday fasts instead of that Ambrose tells him Cum Romam veniâ— jejuno sabbato cum hic sum non jejuno Sic etiam tu ad quam forte Ecclesiam veneris ejus morem serva si cuiquam non vis esse scandalo nâ—â— quenquam tibi When I am at Rome I fast on the Sabbath but at Milan I do not So thou likewise when thou comest to any Church observe its custome if thou wouldst neither be an offence to them nor have them be so to thee A rare and excellent example of the piety prudence and moderation of the primitive Church far from rigid imposing indifferent customs on the one side from contumacy in opposing meer indifferencies on the other Which judgement of Ambrose Augustine saith he alwayes looked on as often as he thought of it tanquam caeleste oraculum as an Oracle come from Heaven and concludes with this excellent Speech which if ever God intend peace to his Church he will make men understand Sensi enim saepe dolens gemens mult as infirmorum perturbationes fieri per quorundam frâ—trum contentiosam obstinationem superstitiosam timiditatem qui in rebus hujusmodi quae neque Scripturae sanctae autoritate neque universal is Ecclesiae traditione neque vitae corrigendae utilitate ad certum possunt terminum pervenire perducere tantum quia subest quà liscunque ratiocinatio cogitantis aut quia in suâ patriâ sic ipse consuevit aut quia ibi vidis ubi peregrinationem suam quò remotiorem à suis eò doctiorem factam putat tam litigiosas excitant qu estiones ut nisi quod ipsi faciunt nihil rectum existiment I have often saith he found it to my grief and sorrow that the troubles of weaker Christianâ— have been caused by the contentious obstinacy of some on the one hand and the superstitious fearfulnesse of others on the other in things which are neither determin'd by the authority of the holy Scriptures nor by the custome of the universall Church nor yet by any usefulnesse of the things themselves in order to the making mens lives better only for some petty reason in a mans own mind or because it hath been the custome of their Countreyâ— or because they have found in those Churches which they have thought to be the nearer to truth the further they have been from home they are continually raising such quarrels and contentions that they think nothing is right and lawfull but what they do themselves Had that blessed Saint lived in our age he could not have utter'd any thing more true nor more pertinent to our present state which methinks admirers of antiquity should embrace for its authority and others for the great truth and reason of it Did we but set up those three things as Judges between us in our matters of Ceremonies The Authority of the Scriptures the practise of the Primitive Universal Church and the tendency of them to the reforming mens lives how soon might we shake hands and our controversies be at an end But as long as contentious obstinacy remains on one side and a superstitious fearfulnesse on the other for superstition may as well lye in the imagined necessity of avoiding things indifferent as in the necessary observing of things which are not we may find our storms increase but we are not like to see any Land of Peace How happy might we be did men but once understand that it was their duty to mind the things of peace How little of that Dust might still and quiet our most contentious frayes Hi motus animorum atque haec certamina tanta Pulveris exigui jactu compressa quiescunt But in order to so happy and desireable an Union and accommodation I shall not need to plead much from the nature of the things we differ about the lownesse of them in comparison of the great things we are agreed in the fewnesse of them in comparison of the multitude of those weighty things we ought most to look after the benefits of union the miseries of division which if our lamentable experience doth not tell us of yet our Consciences may I shall crave leave humbly to present to serious consideration some proposalls for accommodation which is an attempt which nothing but an earnest desire of peace can justifie and I hope that will which here falls in â—s the third step of my designed Discourse about the bounds to be set in the restraint of Christian-liberty The first is that nothing be imposed as necessary but what is clearly revealed in the Word of God This there is the
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Socrates tells us Those that agree in the same Faith may differ among themselves in their Rites and Customs as he largely shews in a whole Chapter to that purpose as in the observation of Easter some on the fourteenth day of April others only upon the Lords Day but some of the more Eastern Churches differed from both In their Fasts some observed Lent but for one day some two some three weeks some six weeks other seven and in their Fasts some abstained from all kind of living creatures others only from fresh eating fish and others â—oul others abstained from fruit and eggs others eat only dry bread others not that neither And so for their publick Assemblies Some communicating every Lords day others not The Church of Alexandria had its publick Meetings and Sermons every fourth day of the week as he tells us The same Church made the publick Readers and Interpreters either of the Catechumeni or of the baptized differing therein from all other Churches Several Customes were used about Digamy and the Marriage of Ministers in several Churches So about the time of Baptism some having only one set time in the year for it as at Easter in Tâ—hâ—ssaly others two Easter and Dominica in Albis so call'd from the white garments of the baptized Some Churches in Baptism used three dippings others only one Great differences about the time of their being Catechumeni in some places longer in others a shorter time So about the Excommunicate and degrees of penance as they are call'd their Flentes audientes succumbentes consistentes the Communio peregrinae the several Chrismes in vertice in pectore in some places at Baptism in some after So for placing the Altar as they Metaphorically called the Communion Table it was not constantly towards the East for Socrates affirms that in the great Church at Antiochia it stood to the West end of the Church and therefore it had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a different positure from other Churches And Eusebius saith out of the Panegyrist that in the New Church built by Paulinus at Tyre the Altar stood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the middle These things may suffice for a taste at present of which more largely elsewhere God willing in due time We see the Primitive Christians did not make so much of any Uniformity in Rites and Ceremonies nay I scarce think any Churches in the Primitive times can be produced that did exactly in all things observe the same customes Which might especially be an argument of moderation in all as to these things but especially in pretended Admirers of the Primitive Church I conclude with a known saying of Austin Indignum est ut propter ea quae nos Deo neque digniores neque indigniores possunt facere alii alios vel condemnemus vel judicemus It is an unworthy thing for Christians to condemn and judge one another for those things which do not further us at all in our way to Heaven Lastly That Religion be not clogg'd with Ceremonies They when multiplied too much if lawful yet strangely eat out the heart heat life vigour of Christianity Christian Religion is a plain simple easie thing Christ commends his Yoke to us by the easiness of it and his burden by the lightness of it It was an excellent testimony which Amm. Marcellinus a Heathen gave to Christianity when speaking of Constantius Religionem Christianam rem absolutam simplicem aâ—â—li superstitione confudit That he spoiled the beauty of Christianity by musting it up in Superstitious observations And it is as true which Erasmus said in answer to the Sorbonists Quò magis in corporalibus ceremoniis haeremus hoc magis vergimus ad Iudaismum External Ceremonies teach us backward and bring us back from Christ to Moses which is fully proved as to the Papists by our Learned Rainolds and Mr. De Croy But we need no further Evidence then a bare perusal of Durandus Mimatensis his Rationale Divinorum officiorum By Ceremonies I mean not here matters of meer decency and order for order sake which doubtless are lawful if the measure of that order be not the pomp and glory of the world but the gravity composure sobriety which becomes Christianity for when the Jews were the most strictly tyed up by a Ceremonial Law they did introduce many things upon the account of order and decency ás the building Synagogues their hours of Prayer their Parashoth and Haphtaroth the Sections of the Law and Prophets the continuation of the Passover fourteen days by Hezekiah when the Law required but seven the Feast of Purim by Esther and Mordecai the Fasts of the 4. 5. 10 moneth under the Captivity the Feast of Dedication by the Maccabees The use of Baptism in Proselyting washing the feet before the Passeover imitated and practised by our Saviour So that matters of Order and Decency are allowable and fitting but Ceremonies properly taken for actions significative and therefore appointed because significative their lawfulness may with better ground be scrupled Or taking Ceremony in Bellarmines description of it to be actio externa quae non aliunde est bona laudabilis nisi quia fit ad Deum colendum And in this sense it will be hard to manifest any thing to be lawful but what is founded upon a Divine Precept if it be not a matter of Order and so no Ceremony And as for significative Ceremonies concerning matter of Doctrine or Fact a learned Dr. puts us in mind of the old Rule that they be paucae salubres and the fewer the more wholesome for as he observes from Aristotle in Insectâ—le Animals the want of blood was the cause they run out into so many legs I shall conclude this whole Discourse with another Speech of S. Austin very pertinenâ— to our present purpose Omnia itaque talia quae neque sanctarum Scripturarum autoritatibus continentur nec in Conâ—iliis Episcoporum statuta inveniuntur nec consuetudine universae Ecclesiae roborata sunt sed diversorum locorum diversis moribus innumerabiliter variantur ita ut vix aut omnino nunquam inveniri possint causae quas in eis instituendis secuti sunt homines ubi facultas tribuitur sine ulla dubitatione resecanda existimo All such things which are neither founded on the authority of the Scriptures nor determined by General Councils for so he must be understood nor practised by the Catholick Church but vary according to the customes of places of which no rational account can be given â—ssoon as men have power to do it I judge them to be cut off without any scruple For which definitive sentence of his he gives this most sufficient Reason Quamvis enim neque hoc inveniri possit quomodo contra fidem sint ipsam tamen religionem quam paucissimis manifestissimis celebrationem sacramentis misericordia Dei liberam esse voluit servilibus oneribus premunt ut tolerabilior
Did it make it self or was it made by a greater Power then it if it made its self it must be and not be at the same time it must be as producing and not be as produced by that Act. And what is become of our Reason now There must be then a Supream Eternal Infinite Being which made the world and all in it which hath given Nature such a Touch of its own immortality and dependance upon God that Reason capable of Religion is the most proper distinctive Character of man from all Inferior beings And this Touch and Sense being common to the whole Nature they therefore incline more to one anothers Society in the joynt performance of the common Duties due from them to their Maker And so Religion not onely makes all other Bonds firm which without it are nothing as Oaths Covenants Promises and the like without which no civill Society can be upheld but must of its self be supposed especially to tye men in a nearer Society to one another in reference to the proper Acts belonging to its self Thirdly it appears from the greater honour which redounds to God by a sociable way of Worship Nature that dictates that God should be worshipped doth likewise dictate that worship should be performed in a way most for the honour and glory of God Now this tends more to promote Gods honour when his service is own'd aâ— a publike thing and men do openly declare and profess themselves his Subjects If the honour of a King lies in the publikely professed and avowed obedience of a multitude of Subjects it must proportionably promote and advance Gods honour more to have a fixed stated Worship whereby men may in a Community and publike Society declare and manifest their homage and fealty to the supream Governour of the World Thus then we see the light of Nature dictates there should be a society and joyning together of men for and in the Worship of God CHAP. IV. The second thing the Law of Nature dictates that this society be maintained and governed in the most convenient manner A further inquiry what particular Orders for Government in the Church come from the Law of Nature Six laid down and evidenced to be from thence First a distinction of some persons and their superiority over others both in power and order cleared to be from the Law of Nature The power and application of the power distinguished this latter not from any Law of Nature binding but permissive therefore may be restrained Peoples right of chosing Pastors considered Order distinguished from the form and manner of Government the former Natural the other not The second is that the persons imployed in the Service of God should have respect answerable to their imployment which appears from their Relation to God as his Servants from the persons imployed in this work before positive Laws Masters of Families the first Priests The Priesthood of the first born before the Law discussed The Arguments for it answered The Conjunction of Civil and Sacred Authothority largely shewed among Egyptians Grecians Romans and others The ground of Separation of them afterwards from Plutarch and others THe second thing which the Light of Nature dictates in reference to Church-Government is That the Society in which men joyn for the Worship of God be preserved mantained and governed in the most convenient manner Nature which requires Society doth require Government in that Society or else it is no Society Now we shall inquire what particular Orders for Government of this Society established for the Worship of God do flow from the light of Nature which I conceive are these following First To the maintaining of a Society there iâ— requisite a Distinction of Persons and a Superiority of Power and Order in some over the other If all be Rulers every man is sui juris and so there can be no Society or each man must have power over the other and that brings confusion There must be some then invested with Power and Authority over others to rule them in such things wherein they are to be subordinate to them that is in all things concerning that Society they are entered into Two things are implyed in this First Power Secondly Order By Power I mean a right to Govern by Order the Superiority of some as Rulers the Subordination of others as ruled These two are so necessary that no Civil Society in the World can be without them For if there be no Power how can men Rule If no Order how can men be ruled or be subject to others as their Governours Here several things must be heedfully distinguished The Power from the Application of that Power which we call the Title to Government The Order it self from the form or manner of Government Some of these I Assert as absolutely necessary to all Government of a Society and consequently of the Church considered without positive Laws but others to be accidentall and therefore variable I say then that there be a Governing Power in the Church of God is immutable not onely by Vertue of Gods own Constitution but as a necessary result from the dictate of Nature supposing a Society But whether this Power must be derived by Succession or by a free Choice is not at all determined by the Light of Nature because it may be a lawful Power and derived either way And the Law of Nature as binding onely determines of necessaries Now in Civil Government we see that a lawfull Title is by Succession in some places as by Election in other So in the Church under the Law the Power went by lineal Descent and yet a lawful Power And on the other side none deny setting aside positive Lawes but it might be as lawful by choice and free Election The main Reason of this is that the Title or Manner of conveying Authority to particular Persons is no part of the preceptive Obligatory Law of Nature but onely of the permissive and consequently is not immutable but is subject to Divine or Humane positive Determinations and thereby made alterable And supposing a Determination either by Scripture or lawful Authority the exercise of that Natural Right is so far restrained as to become sinful according to the third Proposition under the 2. Hypoth and the 5. Hypoth So that granting at present that people have the Right of choosing their own Pastors this Right being only a part of the Permissive Law of Nature may be lawfully restrained and otherwise determined by those that have lawfull authority over the people as a Civil Society according to the 5. Hypoth If it be pleaded that they have a right by divine positive law that law must be produced it being already proved that no bare Example without a Declaration by God that such an Example binds doth constitute a Divine Right which is unalterable We say then that the manner of investing Church-Governours in their Authority is not Determined by the Law of Nature but that there should
with that Church in those things will be lawfull too and where non-communion is lawfull there can be no Schism in it Whatever difference will be thought of as to the things imposed by the Church of Rome and others will be soon answered by the proportionable difference between bare non-conformity and totall and positive separation What was in its self lawfull and necessary then how comes it to be unlawfull and unnecessary now Did that justifie our withdrawing from them because they required things unlawfull as conditions of communion and will not the same justifie other mens non-conformity in things supposed by them unlawfull If it be said here that the Popes power was an usurpation which is not in lawfull Governours of Churches it is soon replyed That the Popes usurpation mainly lyes in imposing things upon mens consciences as necessary which are doubtfull or unlawfull and where-ever the same thing is done there is an usurpation of the same nature though not in so high a degree and it may be as lawfull to withdraw communion from one as well as the other If it be said that men are bound to be ruled by their Governours in determining what things are lawfull and what not To this it is answered first no true Protestant can swear blind obedience to Church-Governours in all things It is the highest usurpation to rob men of the liberty of their judgements That which we plead for against the Papists is that all men have eyes in their heads as well as the Pope that every one hath a judicium privata discretionis which is the rule of practice as to himself and though we freely allow a ministeriall power under Christ in the Government of the Church yet that extends not to an obligation upon men to go against the dictates of their own reason and conscience Their power is only directive and declarative and in matters of duty can bind no more then reason and evidence brought from Scripture by them doth A man hath not the power over his own understanding much lâ—sse can others have it Nullus credit aliquid esse verum quia vult credere id esse verum non est enim in potestate hominis facere aliquid apparere intellectui suo verum quando voluerit Either therefore men are bound to obey Church-Governours in all things absolutely without any restriction or limitation which if it be not usurpation and dominion over others faith in them and the worst of implicite faith in others it is hard to define what either of them is or else if they be bound to obey only in lawfull things I then enquire who must be judge what things are lawfull in this case what not if the Governours still then the power will be absolute again for to be sure whatever they command they will say is lawfull either in it self or as they command it if every private person must judge what is lawfull and what not which is commanded as when all is said every man will be his owd judge in this case in things concerning his own welfare then he is no further bound to obey then he judgeth the thing to be lawfull which is commanded The plea of an erroneous conscience takes not off the obligation to follow the dictates of it for as he is bound to lay it down supposing it erroneous so he is bound not to go against it while it is not laid down But then again if men are bound to submit to Governours in the determination of lawfull things what plea could our Reformers have to withdraw themselves from the Popes yoke it might have still held true Boves arabant Asina Pascebantur simul which is Aquinas his argument for the submission of inferiours in the Church to their superiours for did not the Pope plead to be a lawfull Governour and if men are bound to submit to the determination of Church-Governours as to the lawfulnesse of things they were bound to believe him in that as well as other things and so separation from that Church was unlawfull then So that let men turn and wind themselves which way they will by the very same arguments that any will prove separation from the Church of Rome lawfull because she required unlawfull things as conditions of her communion it will be proved lawfull not to conform to any suspected or unlawfull practice required by any Church-Governours upon the same terms if the thing so required be after serious and â—ober inquiry judged unwarrantable by a mans own conscience And withall it would be further considered whether when our best Writers against the Papists do lay the imputation oâ— Schism not on those who withdraw communion but on them for requiring such conditions of communion whereby they did rather eject men out of their communion than the others separate from them they do not by the same arguments lay the imputation of Schism on all who require such conditions of communion and take it wholly off from those who refuse to conform for conscience sake To this I shall subjoyn the judgement of as learned and judicious a Divine as most our Nation hath bred in his excellent though little Tract concerning Schism In those Schisms saith he which concern fact nothing can be a just cause of refusing communion but only to require the execution of some unlawfull or suspected act for not only in reason but in Religion too that Maxim admits of no release Cantissimi cujusque praeceptum Quod dubitas nè feceris And after instanceth in the Schism about Image-worship determin'd by the second Council of Nice in which he pronounceth the Schismatical party to be the Synod its self and that on these grounds First because it is acknowledged by all that it is a thing unnecessary Secondly it is by most suspected Thirdly it is by many held utterly unlawfull Can then saith he the enjoyning of such a thing be ought else but abuse Or can the refusall of communion here be thought any other thing then duty Here or upon the like occasion to separate may peradventure bring personal trouble or danger against which it concerns any honest man to have pectus praeparatum further harm it cannot do so that in these cases you cannot be to seek what to think or what you have to do And afterwards propounds it as a remedy to prevent Schism to have all Liturgies and publike forms of service so framed as that they admit not of particular and private fancies but contain only such things in which all Christians do agree For saith he consider of all the Liturgies that are and ever have been and remove from them whatever is scandalous to any party and leave nothing but what all agree on and the evil shall be that the publike service and honour of God shall no wayes suffer Whereas to load our publike forms with the private fancies upon which we differ is the most soveraign way to perpetuate Schism unto the Worlds end Prayer Confession
so much of their Natural Rights as was not consistent with the well being of the Society Secondly a free submission to all Laws which should be agreed upon at their entrance into Society or afterwards as they see cause But when Societies were already entred and Children born under them no such express consent was required in them being bound by vertue of the Protection they find from Authority to submit to it and an implicite consent is supposed in all such as are born under that Authority But for their more full understanding of this Obligation of theirs and to lay the greater tye of Obedience upon them when they come to understanding it hath been conceived very requisite by most States to have an explicite Declaration of their consent either by some formal Oath of Allegiance or some other way sufficiently expressing their fidelity in standing to the Covenants long since supposed to be made To apply this now to the Church We have all along hitherto considered the Church in general as a Society or Corporation which was necessary in order to our discovering what is in it from the light of nature without Positive Laws But here we must take notice of what was observed by Father Laynez the Jesuit at the Council of Trent That it is not with the Church as with other Societies which are first themselves and then constitute the Governours But the Governour of this Society was first himself and he appointed what Orders Rules and Lawes should govern this Society and wherein he hath determined any thing we are bound to look upon that as necessary to the maintaining of that Society which is built upon his Constitution of it And in many of those Orders which Christ hath settled in his Church the Foundation of them is in the Law of nature but the particular determination of the manner of them is from himself Thus it is in the case we now are upon Nature requires that every one entring into a Society should consent to the Rules of it Our Saviour hath determined how this Consent should be expressed viz. by receiving Baptism from those who have the power to dispense it which is the federal Rite whereby our consent is expressed to own all the Laws and submit to them whereby this Society is governed Which at the first entring of men into this Society of the Church was requisite to be done by the express and explicite consent of the parties themselves being of sufficient capacity to declare it but the Covenant being once entred into by themselves not onely in their own name but in the name of their Posterity a thing implyed in all Covenants wherein benefits do redound to Posterity that the Obligation should reach them to but more particular in this it having been alwayes the Tâ—nour of Gods Covenants with men to enter the seed as well as the persons themselves as to outward Priviledges an implicite consent as to the children in Covenant is sufficient to enter them upon the priviledges of it by Baptism although withal it be highly rational for their better understanding the Engagement they entred into that when they come to age they should explicitely declare their own voluntary consent to submit to the Lawes of Christ and to conform their lives to the Profession of Christianity which might be a more then probable way and certainly most agreeable both to Reason and Scripture to advance the credit of Christianity once more in the World which at this day so much suffers by so many professing it without understanding the terms of it who swallow down a profession of Christianity as boyes do pills without knowing what it is compounded of which is the great Reason it works so little alteration upon their spirits The one great cause of the great flourishing of Religion in the Primitive times was certainly the strictness used by them in their admission of members into Church-Societies which is fully described by Origen against Celsus who tells us they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enquire into their lives and carriages to discern their seriousness in the profession of Christianity during their being Catechumeni Who after tells us they did require 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 true Repentance and Reformation of Life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then we admit them to the participation of our Mysteries I confess the Discipline of the Primitive Church hath been very much misrepresented to us by mens looking upon it through the glass of the modern practices and customs obtaining among us as though all this onely concerned the Admission to the Lords Supper though that was alwayes in chiefest veneration in the Church of God as being the chief of Gospel-Mysteries as they loved to speak yet I cannot find that any were admitted to all other Ordinances freely with them who were debarred from this but their admission to one did include an admission to all so on the contrary I finde none admitted to Baptism who were not to the Lords Supper and if Catechumeni presently after onely confirmation intervening which will hardly be ever found separate from Baptism till the distinction of the double Chrism in vertice pectore came up which was about Ieroms time The thing then which the Primitive Church required in admitting persons adult to Baptism and so to the Lords Supper was a serious visible profession of Christianity which was looked upon by them as the greatest Evidence of their real consent to the Rules of the Gospel For that purpose it will be worth our taking notice what is set down by Iustin Martyr Apolog. 2. speaking of the celebration of the Lords Supper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where we see what was required before Admission to the Lords Supper A Profession of Faith in the truths of the Gospel and answerable Life to the Gospel without which it was not lawful to participate of the Lords Supper And further we see by Pliny that the Christians of those times did make use of some solemn Engagements among themselves which he calls Sacramenta they did se Sacramento obstringere nè funta nè latrocinia nè adulteria committerent nè fidem fallerent c. and Tertullian reports it out of Pliny that he found nothing de Sacramentis eorum as Iunius first reads it out of M. S. for de Sacris after him Heraldus and as it is now read in Rigaltius Edition besides cautelam ad confoederandam disciplinam c. scelera prohibentes which Eusebius calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pacta Covenants between them and so Master Selden interprets the place of Origen in the beginning of his Book against Celsus where Celsus begins his charge against the Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where he takes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not as Gelenius renders it conventus but in its proper sense for contracts or covenants that were made by the Christians as by other Societies onely permitted and tolerated by the Common-wealth
from whom they derived their power and by whose authority they acted And these were the most suitable to them as making it appear that a Divine presence went along with them and therefore they could not salsifie to the world in what they Declared unto them which was the best way for them to evidence the Truth of their Doctrine because it was not to be discovered by the Evidence of the things themselves but it depended upon the Testimony of the Authour and therefore the onely way to confirm the truth of the Doctrine was to confirm the credibility of the Authour which was best done by doing something above what the power of nature could reach unto And this was the prerogative of the Apostles in their first mission above Iohn the Baptist For of him it is said that he did no miracle Fourthly we observe that the Apostles in this mission were invested in no power over the Church nor in any Superiority of Order one over another The first is evident because Christ did not now send them abroad to gather Churches but onely to call persons to the Doctrine of the Messias and while Christ was in the World among them he retained all Church power and authority in his own hand When this temporary mission expired the Apostles lived as private persons still under Christs Tutorage and we never read them acting in the least as Church-Officers all that while Which may appear from this one argument because all the time of our Saviours being in the World he never made a total separation from the Iewish Church but frequented with his Disciples the Temple worship and Service to the last although he super-added many Gospel Observations to those of the Law And therefore when no Churches were gathered the Apostles could have no Church power over them All that can be pleaded then in order to Church-Government from the consideration of the Form of Government as setled by our Saviour must be either from a supposed inequality among the Apostles themselves or their superiority over the LXX Disciples or from some Rules laid down by Christ in order to the Government of his Church of which two are the most insisted on Matthew 20. 25. Matth. 18. 17. Of these in their Order The first argument drawn for an established form of Government in the Church from the state of the Apostles under Christ is from a supposed inequality among the Apostles and the superiority of one as Monarch of the Church which is the Papists Plea from Saint Peter as the chief and head of the Apostles Whose loud Exclamations for Saint Peters authority aâ—â— much of the same nature with those of Demetrius the Silver-Smith at Ephesus with his fellow craftsmen who cried up Great is Diana of the Ephesians not from the honor they bore to her as Diana but from the gain which came to them from her worship at Ephesus But I dispute not now the entail of Saint Peters power what ever it was to the Roman Bishop but I onely inquire into the Pleas drawn for his authority from the Scriptures which are written in so small a character that without the spectacles of an implicite Faith they will scarce appear legible to the Eyes of men For what though Christ changed Saint Peters name must it therefore follow that Christ baptized him Monarch of his Church Were not Iohn and Iames called by Christ Boanerges and yet who thinks that those sons of Thunder must therefore overturn all other power but their own Christ gave them new names to shew his own authority over them and not their authority over others to be as Monitors of their Duty and not as Instruments to convey power So Chrysostome speaks of the very name Peter given to Simon it was to shew him his duty of being fixed and stable in the Faith of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this name might be as a string upon his finger a continual remembrancer of his duty And likewise I conceive as an incouragement to him after his fall that he should recover his former stability again else it should seem strange that he alone of the Apostles should have his name from firmness and stability who fell the soonest and the foulest of any of the Apostles unlesse it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which would be worse Divinity then Rhetorick The change then of St Peters name imports no such Universall Power neither from the change nor from the name But why then hath Saint Peter the honour to be named first of all the Apostles First it seems to be implyed as an honour given to Peter above the rest But doth all honour carry an Universal power along with it there may be order certainly among equals and there may be first second and third c. where there is no imparity and jurisdiction in the first over all the rest Primacy of Order as among equals I know none will deny Saint Peter A Primacy of Power as over Inferiours I know none will grant but such as have subdued their Reason to their Passion and Interest Nay a further Order then of mâ—er place may without danger be attributed to him A Primacy in Order of Time as being of the first called and it may be the first who adhered to Christ in Order of Age of which Ierome aetati delatum quia Petrus senior erat speaking of Peter and Iohn nay yet higher some Order of Dignity too in regard of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Greek Fathers speak so much of the servency and heat of his spirit whence by Eusebius he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Prolocutor among the Apostles who was therefore most forward to inquire most ready to answer which Chrysostome elegantly calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alluding to the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are frequently given to Peter by the Fathers which import no more then praesultor in choreâ he that that led the dance among the Disciples but his being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implies no Superiority of Power For Dyonys Haliarnass calls Appius Claâ—dius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereas all know that the Decemviri had an equality of power among themselves Neither doth his being as the mouth of the Disciples imply his power For Aaron was a mouth to Moses but Moses was Aarons Master Neither yet doth this Primacy of Order alwayes hold in reference to Peter For although generally he is named first of the Aposties as Matthew 10. 2. Mark 3. 16. Acts 1. 13. Mark 1. 36. Luk 8. 45. Acts 2. 14. 37. Yet in other places of Scripture we finde other Apostles set in Order before him as Iames Galat. 2. 9. Paul and Apollos and others 1 Cor. 3. 22. 1 Cor. 1. 12. 9. 5. No Argument then can be drawn hence if it would hold but onely a Primacy of Order and yet even that fails too in the Scriptures changing of the Order so often
right of supream management of this power in an external way doth fall into the Magistrates hands Which may consist in these following things 1. A right of prescribing Laws for the due management of Church-censures 2. A right of bounding the manner of proceeding in câ—â—â—â—â—res that in a seâ—â—led Christian-state matters of so great weight bee not left to the arbitrary pleasure of any Church-Officers nor such censures inflicted but upon an evident conviction of such great offences which tend to the dishonour of the Christian-church and that in order to the amendment of the offenders life 3. The right of adding temporal and civil sanctions to Church-censures and so enforcing the spiritual weapons of the Church with the more keen and sharp ones of the Civil State Thus I assert the force and efficacy of all Church censures in foro humano to flow from the Civil power and that there is no proper effect following any of them as to Civil Rights but from the Magistrates sanction 4 To the Magistrate belongs the right of appeals in case of unjust censures not that the Magistrate can repeal a just censure in the Church as to its spiritual effectâ— but he may suspend the temporal effect of it in which case it is the duty of Pastors to discharge their office and acquiesce But this power of the Magistrate in the supream ordering of Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Causes I have fully asserted and cleared already From which it follows That as to any outward effects of the power of excommunication the person of the Supream Magistrate must be exempted both because the force of these censures doth flow from him in a Christian State and that there otherwise would be a progress in infinitum to know whether the censure of the Magistrate were just or no. I conclude then that though the Magistrate hath the main care of ordering things in the Church yet the Magistrates power in the Church being cumulative and not privative the Church and her Officers retain the fundamental right of inflicting censures on offenders Which was the thing to be proved Dedit Deus his quoque Finem Books sold by Henry Mortlocke at the Phoenix in St. Pauls Church-yard near the little North door A Rational Account of the grounds of Protestant Religion being a Vindication of the Lord Arch bishop of Canterbury's Relation of a Conference c. from the pretended Answer by T. C. By Edward Stilling fleet Origines Sacrae or A Rational account of the grounds of Christian Faith as to the Truth and Divine Authority of the Scriptures and the matters therein contained by the same Author in 4o. Bainâ— upon the Ephesians Trapp on the Proverbs Ecclesiastes Canticles with the Major Prophets being his third Volume of Annotations on the whole Bible Greenhill upon Ezekiel Hall upon Anos Brooks on the Necessity Excellency Rarity and Beauty of Holiness Knowledge and Practice or A plain Discourse of the Chief things necessary to be Known Believed and Practised in order to Salvation by Samuel Cradock Scheciâ—ah or A Demonstration of the Divine Presence in Places of Religious Worship By Iohn Stillingfleet A Treatise of Divine Meditation by Iohn Ball published by Mr. Simeon Ash. The Morall Philosophy of the Stoicks turned out of French into English by Charles Cotton Esq An Improvement of the Sea upon the 9 Nauâ—icall Verses of the 107. Psalm Wherein among other things you have A full and delightfull Description of all those many various and multitudinous Objects which are beheld through the Lords Creation both on Sea in Sea and on Land viz. All sorts and kinds of Fish Fowl and Beasts whether Wild or Tâ—me all sorts of Trees and Fruits all sorts of People Cities Towns and Countreys by Daniel Pell Baxters Call c. Hist. Eccl. l. 7. c. 19. § 1. §. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Ethic l. 5. c. 6 Grot. de jure bâ—lli pac lib. 1. cap. 1. Sect. 4. Lâ—ss de justit jure l. 2. c. 2. Dub. 1. Etymol Philol. voc jus Etymol l. 5. cap. 3. Ethic. l. 5. cap. 2. Mat. 15 9. Isa. 29. 11. Tertull. de Orat. cap. 12 v. Herald digress lib. 2. cap. 2. in Tertull. Alex. Alensis part 3. q. 27. m. 3. §. 3. Rom. 4. 8. §. 4. Ethic. l. 5. cap. 10. V. Selden de jure Nat. apud Ebâ—ae lib. 1. c. 7 8. Mol. de just Iur. p. 1 disp 3. Alphons de leg pur l. 2. c. 14. §. 5. Exercit. Eccles. advers Baâ— exer 16. sect 43. Sâ—id de jure Nat. apud Ebr. l. 1. cap. 10. Colloq â—um Tryph. Judâ—o Origin lib. 16. cap. 10. V. Gâ—ot in Luc. 1. 6. Maimon de fundam legis cap. 9. sect 1. Abarb. de Capit. fidei cap. 8. p. 29. Ed. Vorstii Gal. 3. 24. §. 6. Gen. 22. Deut. 5. 15 Act 15. 29. Oraâ— â—â—â—â— Caeâ—iu §. 7. Heb. 6. 1â— Catech. Racov cap. 4. Acts 3. 38. § 8â— Matth. 11. 21. 1 John 2. 6. 1 Peâ— 2â— 22. Gen. 2. 2. Matth. 16. 19. 18. 18. § 1. Hypoth 1. Grot. de jure bellâ— c. lib 1. câ—p 1. s. 10. Prâ—sat in Cod. Canon Eccl. Aâ—ric p. 14. Less de just jure l. 2. c. 19. dâ—b 3. n. 12. Suarez de leg lib. 2 cap. 9. sect 6. Orig. lib. 3. C. Celsum p. 154. ed. Coâ— â— C. Celsum l. 5. p. 147. § 2. Covarr c. 10. de tesiâ—mâ—n 11â— Hobs de civ cap. 1 s. 11. Ann. §. 3. Prop. 3. Paulus l. 1. D. de â—urtis Vâ—pian lib. Post. D. de verb sig V. Grot. de jure belli c. lib. 2. cap. 4 sect 8. §. 4. Judg. 6. 18 1 Sam. 7. 1 4. 16. 9. 10. 3. 2 Sam. 15. 18 c. Exerciâ— in Gen. 42. Isa. 66. 3. Gen. 4 3 4. Heb. 1â— 4. §. 5. Isa. 49. 23. Euseb. vit Constant. l. 4. c. 24. De Imp. sum Potest cap. 2. l. 1. In Iud. c. 19. Panstrat Cath. Tom. 2. l 15. cap. 6. In loc To. 3. Ed. Aeâ—on p. 189. Ed. 1607. De Episcop Const. Magn. § 7. Aristot. Ethic. lib. 6. c. 6. Matth. 28. 18. Heb. 13. 17. V. Peâ—â— Maâ—tyr in 1 Sam. 14. Whitaker â— cont 4. q. 7. Cameron de Eccles. p. 386. To. 1. op Lib. 2. c. Parmen â—a 1 Sam. 8. Loc. Com. Class 4. c. 5â— sect 11. Papin l. 41 D. de poenis Hotâ—oman Com. v. juris v sanct Cicero ad Arâ—ic l. 3. ep 23. §. 8. Institut l. 4. cap. 17. s. 43. cap. 15. s. 19. Nature of Episc. chap. 5. V. Forbes Iren. lib. 1. cap. 13. Rom 14. 23. §. 9. Grat. de jure belli pacis lib. 2. cap 13. sect 7. §. 10. Gal. 5. 1. D. Sanderson de oblig cons. prael 6. s. 5. Gal. 5. 2. Acts 16. 3. Gal. 4. 9 10 11. Coloss. 2. 16 18 19. Rom. 14. 3 6 21. 1 Cor. 10. 24. Controv. 4. quaest 7. cap. 2. In 1 Sam. 14. Aug. eâ— 118. ad Ianuar. §. 11. Gal. 5. 2.