and that they may be imposed upon the credulous and unwary multitude to promote some designs we are not yet acquainted with and that they will certainly serve no other but Popish purposes in the end I shall therefore shew as plainly as I can in this short treatise That the Constitution of the Church of England is such as need not give any matter of offence to the Conscience of any good Christian I shall then answer the most common and popular Objections that are wont to be made against this Constitution and the Clergy that conform unto it and lastly consider the means of Vnion that have been hitherto proposed And in discoursing of these things I shall keep my self as much as may be on the defensive side and strive only to ward off the blows that are made at us without endeavouring to wound the hand from whence they come And that I may if it be possible avoid giving the least offence I shall not so much as name the Authors from whence I take the Objections I endeavour to answer but make choice of such as I have observed to be most usually insisted on of late and some others which have been spread abroad to no other end that I can conceive but to incense the minds of men against us and raise animosities at such a time as the most calm and peaceable Counsels would be more seasonable and of greater advantage to the Protestant Cause And therefore I do here solemnly profess that I shall not say any thing out of partiality or any sinister respect whatsoever or any ill will I ever bore to any of our Non-Conforming brethren by some of which I have been most particularly obliged and I love them all as men and more especially as Christians But as a compassionate member of a poor despised Church that has been made the mark of common obloquy and scorn I shall declare her innocency as publickly as I can now that I take her to be in so much danger of ruine from the settled and deliberate malice of Popish Agents and the inconsiderate heat of other Adversaries that will dearly repent it when it is done if they should ever be so unfortunate as to succeed in such an attempt I cannot have so bad an opinion of all but that they may see what a Church some of them could wish destroyed I shall briefly lay open the Principal parts of the Constitution of it as it consists in Episcopacy Liturgy and Ecclesiastical Laws Of these I shall treat but very briefly and only to give what satisfaction I can to those that have not leisure or skill to peruse those many large and learned discourses that have been formerly and some very lately written upon these Subjects SECT II. Episcopacy or the Government of one Bishop over many Presbyters is a thing so very antient that it seems to have been propagated in the World by the first Planters of the Christian Religion That the Apostles had such an authority will not be denyed and that they communicated the like authority to others is no less evident in the Examples of Timothy and Titus and to affirm that this power of theirs over many Presbyters was only temporary and personal and that it was to cease as soon as the Apostles and those immediately constituted by them were dead is an assertion altogether precarious For the Scripture makes no mention of it and there is no reason to imagine that that Government which was once established in the Church should be afterwards altered unless it had been declared by them that did establish it that it was to continue but for such a period of time And if any without such a declaration shall maintain that the Apostolical and Episcopal power is now wholly ceased others upon the same principle may contend that the Presbyterial power is ceased too and as they say that every Presbyter is become a Bishop so these will plead that every Christian is to be a Presbyter though it might not be so at the first institution But besides that the Scripture does not acquaint us that this power was ever to cease the whole current of antiquity runs strongly against it The oldest and most Authentick writers of the Church do generally acknowledge the Episcopal Authority and look upon Bishops as the successours of the Apostles in their ordinary power and Jurisdiction And sometimes in their disputes with Hereticks they appeal to the Records that were then extant to shew how they succeeded one another from the Apostles down to their own times And this is enough to prove what opinion they had of the Original and continuance of the Episcopal power But if we wanted these testimonies and were not able to derive the succession so high as we can yet this is confessed by the most zealous and learned opposers of Episcopal Government that such Bishops as we contend for were universally allowed very soon after the decease of the Apostles And I do not think that any one can name one Church that had not a Bishop in it in those first and purest ages of Christianity and when other corruptions crept in they were not so great and bold as to attempt the subversion of that truly Primitive Government And when some in these latter times have endeavoured to contrive another kind of Ecclesiastical order they seem to have been forced upon it rather out of necessity than choice They did not so much prefer their own model before the antient one but when they could not have this they were fain to content themselves with that They that framed and promoted the Discipline of Geneva the most have spoken very honourably of the English Episcopacy And many learned Men that have lived quietly under that Constitution have thought ours the more desirable and there have been none that I know of beyond the Seas but that have readily acknowledged that it might at least be allowed So far have they been from calling it Popish or Anti-Christian that is a Complement that none but a disobedient Son could bestow upon so good a Mother But we need not come so low as these latter ages to seek for Authorities to confirm the Episcopal Jurisdicttion it was the Government that was always owned and exercised amongst the first Christians And they were wont to settle their Bishops in places of the greatest confluence in Cities whither the people did usually resort from the neighbouring Villages and lesser Towns for the convenience of Trade and administration of Justice And because in every Province there was one Capital City or Metropolis where the chief Secular Magistrate had his ordinary residence they had there a Bishop which was first called a Metropolitan and afterwards an Archbishop who had an authority over the several Bishops within the whole Province And in some parts of the Roman Empire there were Bishops that were stiled Patriarchs who had a certain Superiority over the Metropolitans themselves The order that was observed amongst
from house to house as the same phrase is before translated or in some houses they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. They went to the Temple whither the unconverted Jews did resort at the hours of prayer and preached Christ publickly to them there and at other times they disposed themselves into the private houses of some of them that did believe and there they farther instructed and confirmed those that had already received the Christian Faith And besides this there is mention made of their breaking Bread from house to house and if by breaking Bread we are to understand the participation of the holy Eucharist as I think will not be denyed then it is clear from hence that they did daily meet in several houses to hear the word Preached and to pray and receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper and that therefore the Church of Jerusalem had in it at that time divers distinct Congregations very probably as many as there were Apostles at the least if no more The other instance which I shall give in those Apostolical times of a Church that was not meerly Congregational is that of Corinth Clement then Bishop of Rome writing to that Church upon occasion of a great difference that was amongst them begins his Epistle thus The Church of God dwelling in and about Rome to the Church of God dwelling in and about Corinth I think the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should be so translated here to comprehend those that dwelt in the Territory that lay round about it as well as those that lived within the City itself because that this Epistle was written to those that S. Paul wrote his and he wrote his not only to those that were of the City of Corinth but to all the Saints which were in all Achaia and therefore this of Clement must be written likewise to all the Saints in all Achaia whereof Corinth was the Metropolis and these are made but one Church by him that was personally known to S. Paul and whom he calls his fellow-labourer And this Church being of so great extent must consist of many Congregations for he that can believe that there was but one Congregation of Christians in all Achaia may be perswaded in time that there were no more in all Greece If either of these instances will hold good it will sufficiently prove that all Churches in those first times were not Congregational I shall now make it farther appear that there were Bishops then that had the rule over many Presbyters and of this I shall give a few Examples such as I think may be the most convincing I begin with S. James that is called the Brother of our Lord his near Kinsman to be sure he was whatever the particular relation might be He was not of the number of the twelve Apostles but yet was preferred by them to be the first Bishop of Jerusalem as all Ecclesiastical Writers that mention him do agree and there are several passages of Scripture that may serve to confirm their Authority which otherwise we have no reason to question For we find him generally residing at Jerusalem and sometimes with the Brethren or Elders about him if there happened any matter of importance to the Church it was communicated to him When the Angel had delivered S. Peter out of prison he bid them to whom he first came go shew these things to James and to the Brethren When S. Paul was returned to Jerusalem the very next day after his arrival he gives him an account of the success of his Ministry among the Gentiles For he and they that were with him went in unto James and all the Elders were present The Elders or Presbyters were there but S. Paul went in unto James their Bishop and applyed himself more particularly to him In the first Council that ever was held in the Christian Church concerning the great controversie as it was then esteemed of Circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses after much disputing and debate upon the question S. Peter stood up and gave his opinion and when some other matters had been discoursed S. James at last resumes the argument again and determines as it were in a Judiciary manner Wherefore my sentence is Which words are observed to carry more of Authority than those which S. Peter had used before And it became S. James so to speak as being then within his own Diocess And it is farther taken notice of that S. Paul mentioning James Cephas and John puts James before the other two though principal Apostles because he was speaking of things that were transacted at Jerusalem where James had the Episcopal Jurisdiction And these probabilities if they be no more joyned with the unanimous consent of Antiquity may convince us that James governed the Church of Jerusalem as their Bishop in which there were certainly many Presbyters and it cannot be doubted but that there were divers Congregations of Believers which they did severally edify and confirm in the Christian Faith Another example of such a Bishop is Ignatius of Antioch who is said by some to have been the little Child that our Saviour took up in his arms and blessed but though 't is most likely he was not the Child yet for his age he might have been for he was very old when he suffered Martyrdom which was but about seventy four years after the Death of our Lord. And he saw our Lord in the Flesh after his Resurrection as St. Jerom translates his words but certainly he expresses as much assurance of the thing as if he had seen it with his own eyes This holy and Apostolical man is accounted the second Bishop of Antioch after S. Peter had left that place he continued some considerable time there and then was sent from thence to Rome to be torn in pieces by wild Beasts In that long and tedious journey he wrote Epistles to several Churches and amongst them to three of those to whom S. John had written in the beginning of his Revelation about twelve years before and in these he declares the Superiority and power of Bishops over Presbyters so plainly and urges it so frequently and passionately that they that will not allow of such a power have no greater Argument than this to prove that those Epistles are not genuine But I think this will not now be denyed since it has been lately so clearly demonstrated by a Reverend Prelate of this Nation in a most learned and accurate Treatise written purposely on this Subject In these Epistles he shews a great concern and desires their prayers for the Church in Syria and in one place he calls himself the Bishop not of Antioch but of Syria And the particular care that he often expresses of the whole Church of Syria and the title he takes of being their Bishop do very probably prove that he was Metropolitan of that Province
whereof Antioch was the chief City and therefore he cannot be denyed to have had many Presbyters under him and it may be several Diocesan Bishops which very probably were then established in so large a Country as that was The last example that I shall bring is that of Polycarpus of Smyrna He was one that had conversed with St John and other Apostles and as some say was made Bishop of Smyrna by St John whose scholar he was But Irenaeus who knew him and had heard him with great attention when he discoursed of many things that he had heard from St Johns own mouth and from others that had seen the Lord he tells us that he was made Bishop of Smyrna by the Apostles and if so then this Polycarpus must be that Angel of the Church of Smyrna to whom St John writes one of his Epistles in the Revelation for that Book of holy Scripture was not written till after the death of the other Apostles And if he were made Bishop by them for which we have the undoubted testimony of one that knew him then he must be confessed to have been the Angel of that Church whom St John does so highly commend And that he had Authority over many Presbyters cannot be questioned because he collected the forementioned Epistles of Ignatius and amongst the rest that to his own Church of Smyrna and sent them to the Philippians in all which this power is most fully and evidently asserted I have made choice of these few Examples out of many more because they seem to me to be very clear and were all of them unquestionably within the times that the Apostles lived and therefore it may appear from hence that the Episcopal Government in the Church was a Constitution that was allowed and established by them But if this could not be proved yet it must be confessed that soon after it was universally received all over the Christian World for from about the middle of the second Century and so downwards there is not an instance of any Church that had not a Bishop under whose Government it was The Churches in the Roman Empire and those without it did most unanimously agree in this that they all owned the Episcopal superiority And this is a very strong argument that it was a matter of Apostolical institution For it is not otherwise conceiveable how it could be brought into such general use throughout the whole Catholick Church in so short a time If any should think that it might be determined in a General Council soon after the decease of the Apostles this were a good testimony that it were still Apostolical For else it would never have been decreed by those some of which in all probability must have seen and conversed with some of the Apostles and who were wont constantly to contend for such things as they had heard from them and to reject all other as illegal innovations But that there was never any such Council seems to be beyond dispute For it could not be assembled in a time when the Church was often in a state of persecution and always looked upon with a jealous eye by the Civil power which would not have suffered so great a number of Christian Ministers to meet together without giving them some great disturbance Or if we should suppose they might have been permitted to meet quietly yet that they did so there is not the least mention or intimation in any Ecclesiastical Writer and it cannot be conceived that they could have been silent in a matter so considerable as this when they have punctually recorded so many of far less importance But if any can be inclined to believe that the Episcopal superiority was a meer usurpation of one Presbyter in a Diocess over the rest without the decree of any Council it is exceeding strange that all the World should be imposed upon about the same time in the same manner without ever consulting one with another And who can imagine that the primitive Bishops who are acknowledged to have been such pious mortified and self-denying men could be guilty of an ambition to advance themselves above their brethren contrary to the rule of the Apostles especially when they were like to get nothing by their aspiring but to be the first that should burn at a stake in the market-place or be torn in pieces in the Amphitheater Or if we could suppose them to have been so wicked and foolish too it is not possible that they could have gained this new power without some considerable opposition Men are naturally very jealous of any incroachment that can be made upon their Rights And the Presbyters of those times may well be thought to have had as great a care of preserving their Liberty as we have now of ours It is not therefore at all credible that they should as it were with one consent put their necks quietly under this new invented Yoke and submit without struggling to the usurped power of one of their Equals and that this defection should be so universal that the antient Parity if there had been any such should not keep its possession in one Church in all Christendom And from hence it seems very plain that the Episcopal Government that was exercised by the Apostles and by others in their time and received in all Churches must be instituted by them and they certainly did not act in a Case of that high concernment to the perpetual peace and order of the Church without the particular command of our blessed Lord or the immediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost I have drawn together in as clear and plain a method as I could the substance of the Argument that may be made for the Power of the Bishop over many Presbyters And if to all this and whatever else may be alledged it should be thought reply enough to say that the Mystery of iniquity began to work in the Apostles days and that therefore we are not to be obliged by any Examples though never so old If this should be pleaded as I think it has been sometimes it may be answered thus That Episcopacy may be proved upon good grounds out of the Scripture it self I am sure far better than any other form of Government can pretend unto But then being explained by the practice of that and all following Ages it will put the thing beyond all controversy if the sacred Text alone should not be clear enough to convince us of it But if the Mystery of Iniquity should be still insisted on this can be no prejudice to our Cause unless it can be proved that such an Episcopacy as we plead for is that Mystery of Iniquity which is spoken of That it is not seems to me very evident Because I cannot think that the Mystery of Iniquity though it did work very early should so mightily prevail that in a very short time there should not be any Church any where that can be heard of that