cannot be denied that there may arise Persons in the true Church that may do such Things from such a Spirit though pretending Conscience and Tenderness then it must also be acknowledged that such to whom God hath given a true Discerning by his Spirit may and ought to judge such Practices and the Spirit they come from and have no Unity with them which if it be owned in the General proves the Case to wit that some pretending Conscience in Things seeming indifferent but yet it proceeding in them from a Spirit of Singularity Emulation or Strife those that have received a Discerning thereof from the Lord may and ought to judge the Transgressors without being accounted Imposers Oppressors of Conscience or Inforcers of Uniformity contrary to the Mind of Christ against which the Apostle also guardeth the Churches of old Phil. 2. 3 4. Let nothing be done through Strife or Vain-Glory but in Lowliness of Mind let each esteem other BETTER THEN THEMSELVES Look not every Man on his own Things but every Man also on the Things of others Now if it be an Evil to do any Thing out of Strife thus such Things that are seen so to be done are they not to be avoided forsaken So that we are confident our Judgment herein cannot be denied or reputed Erroneous except it be said that none will or can arise in the Church of Christ pretending such things from such a Spirit which I know not any that will it being contrary to the express Prophecies of the Scripture the Experience of the Church in all Ages as may appear from Mat. 24. 24. Acts 15. 24. 1 Tim. 4. 5. 2 Tim. 3. 8. Mark 13. 21 22 2 Pet. 2. 19. Or on the other Hand that those that abide faithful and have a Discerning of those Evils ought to be silent and never ought to reprove and gainst and them nor yet warn and guard others against them and that it is a part of the commendable Unity of the Church of Christ to suffer all such Things without taking Notice of them I know none will say so but if there be any so foolish as to affirm it let them consider these Scriptures Gal. 2. 4. 1 Tim. 1. 20. 2 Tim. 2. 24 25. Tit. 1. 9 10 11. Now if none of these hold true but on the contrary such Evils have been and may be found to creep in among the People of God and that such as see them may and ought to reprove them then necessarily the doing so is neither Imposition Force nor Oppression As to the third concerning the Consequence and Tendency of them it is mostly included in the two former for whatsoever tendeth not to Edification but on the contrary to Destruction and to beget Discord among Brethren is to be avoided according to that of the Apostle Rom. 16. 17. Now I beseech you Brethren mark them which cause Divisions and Offences contrary to the Doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them And since there is no greater Mark of the People of God then to be at Peace among themselves whatsoever tendeth to break that Bond of Love and Peace must be testified against let it be observed I peak always of the Church of Christ indeed and deal with such as are of another Mind not as reckoning only false Churches not to have this Power but denying it even to the true Church of Christ as judging it not fit for her so to act as in relation to her Members for though Christ be the prince of Peace and doth most of all commend Love and Unity to his Disciples yet I also know he came not to send Peace but a Sword that is in dividing Man from the Lusts and Sins he hath been united to and also it is the Work of his Disciples and Messengers to break the Bonds and Unity of the Wicked wherein they are banded against God his Truth the Confederacy of such as stand in Unrighteousness by inviting and bringing as many as will obey unto Righteousness whereby they become disunited and separated from their Companions with whom they were centered at Peace in the contrary and cursed Nature and indeed blessed are they that are sent forth of the Lord to scatter here that they may gather into the Unity of the Life and they are blessed that in this Respect even for Righteousness Sake are scattered and separated from their Brethren that they may come to know the Brotherhood and Fellowship which is in the Light from which none ought to scatter nor to be scattered but be more and more gathered thereunto this leads me to what I proposed in the third Place under this Head of the true Church's Power in Matters Spiritual or purely Conscientious which may be thus objected If thou plead so much for an Oneness in the smallest Matters wherein consisteth the Freedom and Liberty of the Conscience which may be exercised by the Members of the true Church diversly without judging one another In answer to this Proposition I affirm first in general That whatsoever Things may be supposed to proceed from the same Spirit though divers in its Appearance tending to the same End of Edification and which in the Tendency of it layeth not a real Ground for Division or Dissension of Spirit Fellow Members ought not only to bear one another but strengthen one another in them Now the Respects wherein this may be I can describe no better then the Apostle Paul doth principally in two Places which therefore will be fit to consider at length for the opening of this Matter this being one of the weightiest Points pertaining to this Subject because as on the one Hand due Forbearance ought to be exercised in its right Place so on the other the many Devices and false Pretences of the Enemy creeping in here ought to be guarded against The first is 1 Cor. 12. from 4. to 31. thus 4 Now there are Diversities of Gifts but the same Spirit 5 And there are Difference of Administrations but the same Lord. 6 And there are Diversities of Operations but it is the same God which worketh all in all 7 But the Manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withall 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the Word of Wisdom to another the Word of Knowledge by the same Spirit 9 To another Faith by the same Spirit to another the Gifts of Healing by the same Spirit 10 To another the Working of Miracles to another Prophecy to another Dâ—scerning of Spirits to another divers kinds of Tongues to another the Interpretation of Tongues 11 But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every Man severally as he will 12 For at the Body is one and hath many Members and all the Members of that one Body being many are one Body so also is Christ 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free
and have been all made to drink into one Spirit 14 For the Body is not one Member but many 15 If the Foot shall say because I am not the Hand I am not of the Body is it therefore not of the Body 16 And if the Ear shall say because I am not the Eye I am not of the Body is it not therefore of the Body 17 If the whole Body were an Eye where were the Hearing If the whole were Hearing where were the Smelling 18 But now hath God set the Members every one of them in the Body as it hath pleased him 19 And if they were all one Member where were the Body 20 But now are they many Members yet but one Body 21 And the Eye cannot say unto the Hand I have no need of thee nor again the Head to the Feet I have no need of you 22 Nay much more those Members of the Body which seem to be more feeble are necessary 23 And those Members of the Body which we think to be less honourable upon these we bestow more abundant Honour and our uncomely Parts have more abundant Comliness 24 For our comely Parts have no Need but God hath tempered the Body together having given more abundant Honour to that Part which lacked 25 That there should be no Schism in the Body but that the Members should have the same Care one of another 26 And whether one Member suffer all the Members suffer with iâ— or one Member be honoured all the Members rejoyce with it 27 Now ye are the Body of Christ and Members in particular 28 And God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers after that Miracles then Gifts of Healing Helps Governments Diversities for Tongues 29 Are all Apostles Are all Prophets Are all Teachers Are all Workers of Miracles 30 Have all the Gifts of Healing Do all speak with Tongues Do all interpret Which I would not have set down at large but that there be some of careless especially in Matters they like not that they will scarce be at the pains seriously to read over a Citation only named and that also this being presented before the Reader in the Current of the Discourse will fix the Nature of my Application the more in his Understanding for the Apostle shews here the Variety of the Operations of the divers Members of the Body of Christ working to one and the same End as the divers Members of a Man's Body towards the Maintaining and upholding of the whole Now these are not placed in contrary Workings for so they would destroy one another and so the Apostle in the ordering of them in three several kinds proves this First Diversities of Gifts Secondly Differences of Administrations Thirdly Diversities of Operations and that which is the Bond that keeps the Oneness here he also mentions to wit The same Spirit the sam Lord the same God the Apostle names nothing of Contrariety or Opposition but lest any should be so critical as to bring in here the School Distinction of contrarium oppositum and contradictorium I shall not deny but Contrariety or Opposition in the Sense it is sometimes taken may be found in the Body without Schism as the comely Parts may be said to be opposite or contrary to the uncomely or the left Hand contrary to the right or the Foot opposite to the Head as the uppermost Part to the undermost or the Doing a Thing is contrary to the Forbearing of it but as for that which is acknowledged to be Propositiones or Termini contradictorij that is contradictory Propositions which are in themselves irreconciliable whereof one must be still wrong and that still destroy one another and work contrary Effects they are not at all admitted nor supposed to be in the Body of Christ as I shall give in one Instance ver 8. To one is given by the Spirit the Word of Wisdom to another the Word of Knowledge by the same Spirit First here are two different Gifts but not contrary Secondly There may something like Contrariety in the Sense afore-mentioned be here supposed as some may want this Gift of Wisdom and Knowledge and so to have is contrary to want though as to these two none may be absolutely said to want them yet all have them not in the same Degree as a special Gift though as to some Gifts there may be an absolute want as that of Miracles and Interpretation of Tongues but should I suppose such a Contâ—â—â—â—â—y or more properly a Contradiction as to Wisdom to oppose Folly and to Knowledge Vtter Ignorance this were an Opposition not to be admitted of in the Body because it were false to suppose that to proceed from the same Spirit and such Contrarieties or Diversities as cannot justly be supposed to proceed from the same Spirit of God which is the Bond that links together cannot be mutually entertained in the Body So the Differences and Diversities which the Apostle admits of while he speaks largely in this Matter is that none ought to be offended at his Brother that he hath not the same Work and Office in the Body that he hath but that every one keep in his own Place as God hath appointed them that neither them that are set in a higher Place despise them that are set in a lower nor them that are set in a lower grudge and repine at such as are set higher but all work in their proper Place towards the Edification of the whole and that the Apostle intends this is manifest where he draws to a Conclusion ver 27. Now ye are the Body of Christ and Members in particular and God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets c. and then he subsumes Are all Apostles c. which the same Paul again confirms Ephes. 4. 8 11. to the 17th which was the second Place I intended and shall only mention for Brevity sake leaving the Reader to consider of it at his Leisure This is also held forth by the Beloved Disciple John in his Threefold Distinction 1 John 2. 12 13. Of Fathers Young Men and little Children and by Peter 1 Pet. 5. 1 5. in that of Elders and Younger The true Liberty then in the Church of Christ is exercised whenas one judgeth not another in these different Places but live in Love together all minding the Unity and general good of the Body and to work their own Work in their own Place also the Forbearance of the Saints is exercised whenas they judge not one another for being found in the different appearance either of Doing or Forbearing which may be peculiar to their several Places and Stations in the Body for that there is may be Diversities of Works there is excellently well expressed by the Apostle Rom. 12. 3. For I say through the Grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly then he ought to think but to think soberly
THE ANARCHY OF THE RANTERS And other LIBERTINES The Hierarchy of the Romanists and other Pretended Churches equally Refused and Refuted in a Two-fold Apology for the Church and People of God called in Derision QUAKERS Wherein they are Vindicated from those that accuse them of Disorder and Confusion on the one hand and from such as Calumniate them with Tyranny and Imposition on the other shewing that as the true and pure Principles of the Gospel are restored by their Testimony so is also the ancient apostolick ORDER of the Church of Christ re-established among them and setled upon its Right Basis and Foundation By Robert Barclay Phil. 2. 3. Let nothing be done through Strife or Vain-glory but in Lowliness of Mind let each esteem another better then themselves Hebr. 13. 7. Remember them that have the Rule over you who spoke unto you the Word of God whose Faith follow Printed in the Year 1676. THE PREFACE TO THE READER SUCH is the Malignity of man's Nature in his fallen State and so averse is he from walking in the Straight and even Path of TRUTH that at every turn he is inclinable to lean either to the Right Hand or the Left yea such as by the Work of God's Grace in their Hearts and powerful Operation of his Spirit have obtained an Entrance in this Way are daily molested and set upon on all hands some striving to draw them the one way some the other and if through the Power of God they be kept faithful and stable then are they calumniated on bothsides each likening or comparing them to the worst of their Enemies Those that are acquainted with the holy Scriptures may observe this to have been the Lot of the Saints in all Ages but especially those whose place it hath been to Reform and Restore the Ruins of the House of God when decayed or any considerable time have been lyable to such Censures hence those that set about Repairing of the Walls of Jerusalem were necessitated to Work with the one hand and Defend with the other Christ is accused of the Jews as a Samaritan and by the Samaritans quarrelled for being a Jew The Apostle Paul is whipped imprisoned by the Gentiles and upbraided with being a Jew and teaching their Customs the same Paul is haled and ready to be killed by the Jews for breaking the Law and defiling the Temple with the Gentiles The like hath also befaln these faithful Witnesses and Messengers whom God has raised up in this day to witness for his Truth which hath long been in a great Measure hid but now is again revealed and many brought to be Witnesses of it who thereby are come to walk in the Light of the Lord. This People thus gathered have not wanted those Tryals that usually accompany the Church of Christ both on the right hand on the left each characterizing them in such Terms as they haâ—e judged would prove most to their Disadvantage from whence as the Testimony of the false Witnesses against their Lord did not agree neither do these against us some will have us to be foolish mad Creatures others to be deep subtil Polititions some to be illiterate ignorant Fellows others to be learned cunning Jesuites under a meer Vizard divers Professors will have us to be only Pensioners of the Pope undoubtedly Papists but the Papists abhor us as Hereticks Sometimes we are a disorderly confused Rabble leaving every one to do as they list against all Good Order and Government at other times we are so much for Order as we admit not men to exercise the Liberty of their own Judgments Thus are our Reputations tossed by the Envy of our Adversaries which yet cannot but have this Effect upon sober-minded people as to see what Malice works against us and how these men by their Contradictory Assertions concerning us save us the Pains while they Refute one another True it is we have laboured to walk amidst these Extremities upon our appearing for the Truth we have found things good in themselves abused upon both hands for such hath alwayes been the Work of an Apostacy to keep up the Shadow of certain Truths that there-through they might shelter other Evils Thus the Jews made use of the Law and the Prophets to vindicate their Abuses yea and to Crucifie Christ And how much many Christians abuse the Scriptures and the Traditions of the Apostles to uphold Things quite Contrary to it will in the general be readily acknowledged by most But to descend more particularly There be Two Things especially both of which in their primitive Use were appointed and did very much contribute towards the Edification of the Church The one is The Power and Authority which the Apostles had given them of Christ for the Gathering Building up and Governing of his Church by Vertue of which Power and Authority they also wrote the holy Scriptures The other is That Priviledge given to every Christian under the Gospel to be led and guided by the Spirit of Christ and to be taught thereof in all things Now both these in the primitive Church wrought effectually towards the same End of Edification and did as in their Nature they may and in their Use they ought to do in a good Harmony very well consist together but by the Workings of Satan and Perversness of Men they are made to fight against and destroy one another For on the one hand the Authority Power that resided in the Apostles while it is annexed entailed to an Outward Ordination and Succession of Teachers is made use of to cloak and cover all manner of Abuses even the height of Idolatry and Superstition for by Vertue of this Succession these men claiming the like Infallibility that was in the Apostles though they be Strangers to any inward Work or Manifestation of the Spirit in their Hearts will needs obliege all others to acquiesce and agree to their Conclusions however different from or contrary to the Truths of the Gospel and yet for any to call such Conclusions in Question or examine them is no less then a Hainous Heresie deserving Death c. Or while the Revelation of God's Mind is wholely bound up to these things already delivered in the Scriptures as if God had spoke his last words there to his People we are put with our own natural Understandings to Debate about the Meanings of it and forced to interpret them not as they plainly speak but according to the Analogy of a certain Faith made by Men not so much contrived to answer the Scriptures as the Scriptures are strained to vindicate it which to doubt of is also counted Heresie deserving no less then Ejection out of our native Country and to be robbed of the common Aid our Nativity entitles us to and on this hand we may boldly say both Papists and Protestants have greatly gone aside On the other hand some are so great Pretenders to inward Motions and Revelations of the Spirit that
all have need one of another yet is no Member to assume another Place in the Body then God has given it nor yet to grudge or repine its Fellow-member's Place but to be content with its own for the Uncomely Parts are no less needful then the Comely and the less Honourable then the more Honourable which the Apostle Paul holds forth in 1 Cor. 12. from Vers. 13 to 30. Now the Ground of all Schism Divisions or Rents in the Body is whenas any Member assumes another Place then is allotted it or being gone from the Life and Unity of the Body and loosing the Sense of it le ts in the Murmurer the Eye that watches for Evil and not in holy Care over its Fellow-members and then instead of coming down to Judgement in it self will stand up and judge its Fellow-members yea the whole Body or those whom God has set in a more honourable and eminent Place in the Body then it self such suffer not the Word of Exhortation and term the Reproofs of Instruction which is the Way of Life Imposition and Oppression and are not aware how far they are in the things they condemn others for while they spare not to reprove and revile all their Fellow-members yet if they be but admonished themselves they cry out as if their great Charter of Gospel-Liberty were broken Now though such and the Spirit by which they are acted be sufficiently seen and felt by Thousands whose Hearts God has so established as they are out of Danger of being intangled in that Snare and who have Power and Strength in themselves to judge that Spirit even in its most subtil Appearances yet there are who cannot so well withstand the Subtilty and seeming Sincerity some such pretend to though in measure they have a sight of them and others that cannot so rightly distinguish betwixt the Precious and the Vile and some there are that through Weakness and want of true Discerning may be deceived and the Simplicity in them betrayed for a season as it is written With Fair Speeches and Smooth Words they deceive the Hearts of the Simple Therefore having according to my measure received an Opening in my Understanding as to these things from the Light of the Lord and having been for some time under the weighty Sense of them I find at this instant a Freedom to commit them to writing for the more Universal Benefit and Edification of the Church of CHRIST Now for the more plain and clear opening and understanding of these things it is fit to sum up this Treatise in these following general Heads to be considered of First From whence the Ground and Cause of this Controversie is the Rice and Root of it Secondly Whether there be now any Order and Government in the Church of Christ Thirdly What is the Order and Government which we plead for in what Cases and how far it may extend in whom the Power decisive is and how it differeth and is wholely another then the Oppressing and Persecuting Principality of the Church of Rome and other Antichristian Assemblies SECTION Second Concerning the Ground and Cause of this CONTROVERSIE VVHenas the Lord God by his mighty Power began to visit the Nations with the Dawning of his Heavenly Day for thus I write unto those that have received and believed the Truth and that he sent forth his Instruments whom he had fitted and prepared for his Work having fashioned them not according to the Wisdom and Will of Man but to his own heavenly Wisdom and Counsel they went sorth and preached the Gospel in the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit not in the Enticing Words of man's Wisdom but in Appearance as Fools and mad to those that judged according to Man but their Words and Testimony pierced through into the Inner Man in the Heart and reached to that of God in the Conscience whereby as many as were simple-hearted and waited for the Redemption of their Souls received them as the Messengers of the most high God and their Words were unto them not as the Words of Men but as the Words of God for in the receiving and imbracing the Testimony of Truth through them they felt their Souls eased and the acceptable Day began to dawn in and upon them Now what Evidence brought these Men to make their Testimony to be received did they entice did they flatter did they daub up did they preach Liberty to the Flesh or Will of man Nay verily they used no such Method their Words were as Thunder-Bolts knocking down all that stood in their Way and pouring down the Judgement of God upon the Head of the Transgressor every where Did they spare the Zealous Professor more then the open prophane Nay verily they condemned equally the Hypocrisie of the one as well as the Prophanity of the other yet wanted they not regard to the tender Seed and Plant of God in either Did they give way Did they yield to the Wisdom of man to the Deceitfulness of the Serpent that would reason Truth from themselves saying I must stay until I be convinced of this and thaâ— and the other thing I see not yet this to be wrong or the other thâ—â—g to be my Duty How did they knock down this manner of Reasoning by the Spirit of God which wrought mightily in them shewing and holding forth that this is the Day of the Lord that is dawned that all are invited to come that none ought to tarry behind that that which so pleadeth is the same Spirit which of old time said in those that were invited I cannot come yet I must first marry a Wife I must go prove my Yoak of Oxen I must go visit my Possessions let me first bury my dead Father Did not the Lord through them testifie and declare against these things and is there not a Cloud of Witnesses who felt the Enemy thus reasoning to keep us in the Forms Fellowships false Worships and Foolish Fashions of this World but we felt as we were obedient all these things to be for Condemnation and that as we obeyed the pure manifestation of the Light of Jesus in our Hearts there was no Haesitation We might and should have parted with all those things at the first and what occasioned such Scruples was but that which drew back through being unwilling to give pure Obedience to the Cross of Christ for as many as gave Obedience and believed in the Light found no Occasion of stumbling but such as believed not were condemned already because they believed not in him that appeared Now the Boldness and Courage and Efficacy of these Messengers Testimony wrought such Astonishmenâ— Fear and Amazement in the Hearts of such as were Ingenuous that many began to be inwardly pricked as in the Days of old and the Foundations of many began to be shaken and some that were asleep were awakened and many that were dead and buried in the Graves of Sin and Formality and Superstition and Idolatry of all Sorts
Infallibility was not inseparably annexed to him he was found blameable in a certain Matter Gal. 2. 11. notwithstanding his Sentence was positively received in many particulars So also the Apostle Paul argues from his gathering of the Churches of Corinth and Galatia that they ought to be Followers of him and positively concludes in divers Things and upon this Supposition exhort the Churches both he and Peter in many Passages heretofore mentioned which I will not to avoid Repetition again rehearse To obey the Elders that watch for them to hold such in Reputation and to submit themselves to them that have addicted themselves to the Miâ—istry of the Saints 1 Cor. 16. 15 16. Also we see how the Lord makes use of John his beloved Disciple to inform and reprove the seven Churches of Asia and no doubt John the rest by the usual Computation being at that Time all removed was then the most noted and famous Elder alive and indeed I mind not where under the Gospel Christ hath used any other Method but that he alwayes in revealing his Will hath made use of such as he himself had before appointed Elders and Officers in his Church though it be far from us to limit the Lord so as to exclude any from this Priviledge nor yet on the other Hand will the Possibility hereof be a sufficient Warrant to allow every obscure Member to stand up and offer to rule judge and condemn the whole Body nor yet is it without Cause that such an one's Message is jealoused and called in Question unless it have very great Evidence and be bottomed upon some very weighty and solid Cause and Foundation And God doth so furnish those whom he raises up in a singular Manner of which as I said I mind no Instance in the New Testament and in the old we see though it was strange that little David should oppose himself to the great Goliah yet he had before that killed both the Lyon and the Bear which was no less improbable and which of all is most observable was before that Time by the Appointment of God and the Hand of the Prophet anointed King of Israel compare the 16th and 17th chap. of the 1st of Samuel Now as to the Third That any particular Persons de Facto or effectually giving out a positive Judgment is no Incroaching nor Imposing upon their Brethren's Conscience is necessarily included in what is said before upon which for further Probation there will only need this short Reflection that for any Member or Members in Obedience to the Lord to give forth a positive Judgment in the Church of Christ is their proper Place and Office they being called to it and so for them to exercise that Place in the Body which the Head moves them to is not to usurp Authority over their Fellow Members as on the other Hand to submit and obey it being the Place of some so to do is not a renouncing a being led by the Spirit seeing the Spirit leads them so to do and not to obey in Case the Judgment be according to Truth and the Spirit lead to it is no doubt both offensive and sinful and that all this may be supposed in the Church of Christ without Absurdity and so establish the above mentioned Propositions will appear by a short review of the former Passages If that Peter and James their giving a positive Judgment in the Case of Difference in divers particulâ—rs did not infer them to be Imposers so neither will any so doing now being led to it by the same Authority every one may easily make the Application and on the contrary if for any to have stood up and resisted their Judgment pretending an unclearness or so and thereby held up the Difference after their Sentence breaking the Peace and Unity of the Church Things being concluded with an It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us I say if such would have given just Cause of Offence and have been cut off as Despisers of Dignities of old will not the like Case now occurring the same Conclusion holds Now whether those Propositions do not hold upon the Principles before laid down and proved I leave to every Judicious and Impartiall Reader to judge Moreover we see how positive the Apostle Paul is in many particulars throughout all his Epistles insomuch as he saith 2 Thes. ult 14. If any Man obey not our Word by this Epistle note that Man and have no Company with him that he may be ashamed And in many more Places before mentioned where he commands them both to obey him and several others who were appointed no doubt by the Spirit of God to be Rulers among them and yet who will say that either the Apostle did more then he ought in commanding or they less then they were obliged to in submitting and yet neither were to do any thing contrary or more then the Spirit of God in themselves led them to or allowed them in and if the Church of God bear any Parity or Proportion now in these Dayes with what it did of old as I know no Reason why it should not the same things may now be supposed to take Effect that did then and also be lawfully done upon the like Occasion proceeding from the same Spirit and established upon the same Basis and Foundation and thus much as to that Part to shew in whom the Power of Decision is which being seriously and impartialy considered is sufficient to clear us from the Tyranny either of Popery or any other of that Nature with those that are not either wilfully blind or very ignorant of Popish Principles may observe but seeing to manifest that Difference was one of those things proposed to be considered of I shall now come to say something of it in its proper Place SECTION Eighth How this Government altogether differeth from the Oppressing and Persecuting Principallity of the Church of Rome and oâ—her Antichristian Assemblies WHatever Way we understand the Popish Principles in this Matter whether of those that are most devoted to the Sea of Rome as the King of Spain's Dominions the Princes of Italy the Jesuites and Generallity of all those called Religious Orders who hold that Papa in Cathedra non potest errare licet absque Concilio that is that the Pope in his Chair cannot err though without a Council or of those that are less devoted who plead this Infallibility in the Pope and Council lawfully convened who yet by the more zealous are reckoned petty Schismaticks I say whatever Way we take them all those that do profess themselves Members of the Romish Church and are so far such as to understand their own Principles do unquestionably acknowledge First That no General Council can be lawfully called without the Bishop of Rome as Christ's Vicar and Peter's Successor call it Secondly That either he himself or some from him as his Legates must be there present and alwayes preceed Thirdly That the Members having Vote are