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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53660	A plea for Scripture ordination, or, Ten arguments from Scripture and antiquity proving ordination by presbyters without bishops to be valid by J.O. ... ; to which is prefixt an epistle by the Reverend Mr. Daniel Williams.	Owen, James, 1654-1706.; Williams, Daniel, 1643?-1716.	1694 (1694)	Wing O708; ESTC R32194	71,514	212

Hierarchy in the Churches of that Empire had its Pattern from the Heathen The Heathen had their Sacerdotes and over them their Pontifices maximos In every Province one chief Priest had the Supream Power to whom all the other Priests were subject And these were chosen ex hominibus qui in negotiis Civilibus rebus publicis erant illustrissimi See the Epistle of Iulian to Arsacius Chief-Priest of Galatia in Sozom. V. 16. Here is a President for Bishops intermedling in State Affairs The Office of these Chief-Priests was to Ordain and Govern the inferiour Priests The Master of the Sentences ingenuously confesseth that the distinction of Bishops Metropolitans Arch-Bishops was borrowed of the Gentiles Thus he Ordo Episcoporum quadripartitus est scil in Patriarchis Archiepiscopis Metropolitanis Episcopis horum autem discretio à Gentilibus introducta videtur qui suos Flamines alios simpliciter flamines alios Archi-flamines alios Protoflamines appellabant That the Ecclesiastical Government of Britain was built upon the Ruins of the Pagan Hierarchy is expresly affirmed by Ponticus Virunnius He tells us That there were in Britain before Christianity 28 Flamens and three Arch-Flamens In the room of the Flamens were set up Bishops and in the room of the Arch-Flamens Arch-Bishops The Seat of the Arch-Flamens were London York and Caerleon upon Vsk. To these three Metropolitans were subject 28 Bishops Fuerunt in Britanniâ octo viginti Flamines nec non tres Archi flamines quorum potestati coeteri judices morum atque phanatici submittebantur .... ubi erant Flamines Eiscopos ubi autem Archi-flamines Archi-episcopos posuerunt mirâ sanctitate incredibili devotione Sedes autem Archi-flaminum quae fuit antiquissima religio in tribus nobilioribus Civitatibus fuerant Lundoniis viz. atque Eboraci in Vrbe Legionum super Oscam fluvium His igitur tribus Metropolitanis evacuata superstitione 28. Episcopi subduntur The description that Caesar gives of the Government of the ancient Druids something agrees with this of Ponticus Virunnius C●●●r saith concerning the Druids of France That they managed all the Pagan Devotions under the Conduct of one Chief President whose Authority was Supream when he died another was chosen to succeed him Illi rebus divinis intersunt Sacrificia publica ac privata procurant religiones interpretantur His autem omnibus Druidibus praeest unus qui summam inter eos habet auctoritatem Hoc mortuo si quis ex reliquis excellit dignitate succedit at si sunt plures pares suffragio Druidum adlegitur He adds That this Discipline was found in Britain Disciplina in Britannia reperta atque in Galliam translata esse existimatur nunc qui diligentiùs eam rem cognoscere volunt plerumque illo discendi causâ proficiscuntur Having prov'd that Christianity was in the North part of Britain before Palladius's time and vindicated Boethius and Fordon I proceed to give an Instance of Presbyters Ordaining in Scotland Segenius a Presbyter and Abbot of Hy together with the other Presbyters of the Monastery Ordained Bishop Aidan The Presbyters of Hy also Ordain'd Finan as Successor to Aidan To this Quotation 't is said by some that Aidan was ordain'd by Bishops which they would ' thus prove There was always one Bishop in Hy Monastery as Bishop Usher tells us out of the Ulster Annals and another person Ordained perhaps only by the Bishop of Hy who was returned back from Northumbria Then at least there were present two Bishops for Aidan's Ordination Answ. 1. We have no Author near that time that saith there was a Bishop constantly resident at Hy which our Adversaries think a good Argument against the Scottish Historians As to the Annals of Vlster we leave them for Apocryphal as not being attested by any Author of that Age. 2. But suppose there were a Bishop resident at Hy he was subject to the Abbot who was the only Church-Governour of the Island and the Provinces about The Monastery was not only exempted from the Government of the Bishops which is usual but the Bishops of the Province were subject to the Abbot and therefore the parallel Instance of Oxford being under the Jurisdiction of the Chancellor and not of the Bishop of the place which is urged by some is not to the point for the Bishop is not subject to the Vice-Chancellor as the Bishops were to the Abbot of Hy. The Bishop of Oxford hath a Jurisdiction over all that have a Parochial Cure in the University versity who swear Canonical Obedience to him which cannot be said of the Bishops under the Jurisdiction at Hy 3. The second Bishop said to be at Hy when Aidan was Ordained cannot be produced out of Bede It doth not appear that he was Ordained Bishop Bede calls him only Sacerdotem a Priest Or if he was how will it appear that he was Ordain'd by the Bishop of Hy Ordain'd perhaps only by the Bishop of Hy saith the Learned Historian Here is a plain begging of the Question It is taken for granted that this Man was Ordained by the Bishop of Hy which we deny and which Bede no where affirms Finan's Ordination was by the Seniores and their Abbot as Bede saith and therefore his Predecessor had no other 'T is objected further That Finan must needs be Ordain'd by Bishops because there were three Bishops at the Ordination of Cedd This deserves to be taken notice of by our Aversaries and consider'd in other places where Bede speaks of Scottish Ordinations I answer we have taken notice of it and find it doth not at all concern the thing in question For Cedd's Ordination was at Lindis-farn in England out of the Liberties of the Abbots of Hy. Let one Example be produced of Ordination by Bishops within the district of Hy and 't will be something to the purpose which I have not yet met with Bede speaking of the British Bishops calls them Presbyters or Teachers so that 't is uncertain what sort of Bishops the old Brittains had 'T was many years after Cedd's time before the British Churches would submit to the Roman Yoke of Discipline when they had throughly imbib'd the Romish Modes and Customs then at a Synod held at Celichyth A. D. 816. 't was decreed That none of the Scottish Nation should be permitted to use the sacred Ministry among us It 's argued further against the Scotch Ordinations that they must needs be Episcopal because the Romans did not dislike the Orders that they found in the British Church If by the British Church be meant the Church of South Britain 't is not to the purpose as we observed before but if the Orders conferred in the Monastery of Hy be intended the Romans were not so ignorant of the Priviledges of Abbots as to dislike their Ordinations which to this day are allow'd by the Canons of that Church XI The ancient Waldenses had

their Ministers Ordained by Presbyters without Bishops They maintain all Ministers to be in a state of parity and their Presbyters imposed Hands for Ordination These were the Fathers and famous Predecessors of the Protestants who bore the heat of the day They had the honour to be first Witnesses against Antichrist and are to this day as the Bishop of Salisbury calls them The purest Remains of primitive Christianity From them the Fratres Bohemi had their Succession of Ministers for they sent Michael Zambergius and two more for Ordination to the poor Waldenses who never had a Bishop among them but in Title only In compliance with their desires two of their Titular Bishops with some Presbyters that had not so much as the Titles of Bishops made Zambergius and his two Collegues Bishops giving them power of Ordination We dislike not that for Orders sake the Exercise of this Power should be ordinarily restrained to the graver Ministers provided they assume it not as proper to themselves by a Divine Right nor clog it with unscriptural Impositions XII Wickliffs followers here in England held and practised Ordination by meer Presbyters and least any should think they did so of necessity for want of Bishops it 's to be noted that they did it upon this Principle that all Ministers of Christ have equal power as the Popish Historian saith who complains how all parts of England were full of those People and that the Prelates knew of these things but none were forward to prosecute the Guilty except the Bishop of Norwich XIII In the Island of Taprobane or Zeilan as 't is now call'd there was a Church of Christians govern'd by a Presbyter and his Deacon without any Superiour Bishop to which he or his Flock was subject This Island is above two thousand Miles in compass a Province big enough for a Bishop yet had none in Iustin the Emperour's time which was about the Year 520 but was under the Jurisdiction of a Presbyter Ordain'd in Persia who in all likelyhood Ordain'd his Successor and would not be at the trouble of sending for one to very remote Countries By this Passage it appears that Bishops were not thought Essential to Churches no not in the sixth Age and that meer Presbyters have power of Jurisdiction and consequently of Ordination The Fathers in the second Council of Carthage A. D. 428. did observe that until that time some Dioceses never had any Bishops at all and thereupon Ordained they should have none for the future They would never have made such a Canon had they concluded the Government by Bishops to be Iure Divino CHAP. XI Objections against Ordinations by Presbyters answered 1. That it is against the Canons So is Episcopal Ordination 2. It destroys the Line of Succession answered in Seven Particulars 3. The Case of Ischyras consider'd A Passage in Jerom explained I Will briefly reflect upon the most material Objections that are made against the Ordination I plead for Object 1. Ordination by Presbyters without Bishops is condemned by the Old Canons Answ. 1. Many things are reserv'd to the Bishops by the Old Canons meerly to support their Grandeur For this reason the Consecration of Churches the Erecting of Altars the making of Chrysm the Reconciling of Penitents the Vailing of Nuns c. were appropriated to the Bishops All this is ingeniously acknowledged by the Council of Hispalis Let the Presbyters know that the power of Ordaining Presbyters and Deacons is forbidden them by the Apostolical See by virtue of novel Ecclesiastical Constitutions They add that this was done to bear up the dignity of the Bishops For the same reason the Chorepiscopi or Country Bishops were restrained from Ordaining in the Council of Antioch For the same reason 't was decreed in the Council of Sardis A. D. 347. That no Village or lesser Town must have a Bishop nè vilescat nomen Episcopi 2. Episcopal Ordinations also as they are now managed will prove Nullities by the Old Canons The Ancient Canons call'd the Apostles which are confirmed by the sixth General Council at Constantinople do depose all Bishops that are chosen by the Civil Magistrate Can. 29. If any Bishop obtains a Church by means of the Secular Powers let him be deposed and separated from Communion with all his Adherents This Canon is revived by the second Council of Nice which the Greeks call the Seventh General Council All our English Bishops are chosen by the Magistrate and not by other Bishops or the Presbyters and People of their Diocess The King 's Writ of Conge d'Eslier to the Dean and Chapter to choose their Bishop is only matter of form for the King chooseth properly and the Dean and Chapter cannot reject the Person whom he recommends nor are they the just Representatives of the Clergy and People of the Diocess whose Suffrages were required of old in the designation of a Bishop Can. 6. Forbids Bishops to intermeddle with Secular Affairs upon pain of Deprivatiion Let not a Bishop Presbyter or Deacon assume worldly Cares and if he doth let him be deposed Bishops at this time were not Judges in Civil Matters nor Ministers of State as being a thing inconsistent with their Office 2 Tim. 2.4 Can. 80. adds A Bishop must not engage in Publick Administrations that he may give himself to the Work of the Ministry Let him resolvedly decline these or be Deposed for no Man can serve two Masters The Church of England doth not observe the Canons of the first General Councils which some would have us believe are the measures of her Reformation next the Scripture The fourth Canon of the Council of Nice requires the Ordination of a Bishop to be by all the Bishops of the Province at least by three with the Consent of the absent Bishops expressed in writing I never knew the Consent of all the Bishops of the Province required much less expressed in Writing before the Consecration of English Bishops Can. 5. Requires Provincial Councils twice a year This is not observed Can. 6. and 7th establish the Rights and Priviledges of Metropolitans Quaere Whether Austin the Monk whom the Pope made Arch-Bishop of Canterbury did not wrongfully invade the Rights of the Brittish Bishops over whom Pope Gregory could give him no just Power notwithstanding his pretended Grant mentioned by Bede which are not restored to this day and if so whether this doth not make a Canonical Nullity in the whole Succession of English Bishops who derive their Line from that usurping Prelate Can. 15 and 16th forbids Ministers to remove from the Church in which they were Ordained I might mention several other Canons in this Council which are not observed as the third the eleventh the fourteenth which in the Greek is the eighteenth the nineteenth and twentieth which forbids kneeling upon the Lord's days No more are the Canons of the Great

Quia Concilii Nicaeni Operâ quod celebrandum curaverat Ecclesiae pacem restituerat Arrianorum impias controversias compescuerat Constantius added one more and there were but five Temples in that great City that was little inferior to Rome in the days of Iustinian See Gentiletus his Exam. Concil Trid. lib. 5. sect 48. Some of our greater Parishes have as many Chappels or Places of Publick Worship as there were Temples in Constantinople which are but a small part of an English Diocess But the Learned Mr. Baxter and Mr. Clarkson have so fully proved the English Species of Episcopacy to be destructive of the Scripture and Primitive Form that until they be solidly answered we will take it for granted that it is a Humane Creature which grew up as the Man of Sin did and owes it's being to the meer favour of Secular Powers who can as easily reduce it to it 's primitive Nothing Some have pretended to make Bishops of the seven Asian Angels when they have proved their power of Jurisdiction and the extent of their Diocesses to be the same with ours they shall be heard The state of Ephesus one of the seven Asian Churches we have seen already by which we may guess at the rest The Church of Smyrna another of the seven Churches of Asia consisted of a single Congregation that ordinarily worshipped and communicated in one place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let all follow the Bishop as Iesus Christ doth the Father and the Presbytery as the Apostles and reverence the Deacons as God's Commandment Let none mannage any Church matters without the Bishop And a little after he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where the Bishop is there let the Multitude be even as where Christ is there the Catholick Church is it is not lawful without the Bishop either to baptize or to make Love-feasts Here it is evident 1. That the Multitude which were the Bishops Flock ordinarily worshipped God together 2. That they did this under the conduct of their respective Bishop who was ordinarily present with every Church Assembly 3. That he was the ordinary Administrator of Baptism to his Flock which he could not do had it been as large as our present Dioceses 4. That the same Assemblies had a Bishop Presbyters and Deacons For the same Multitude is to follow the same Bishop Presbyters and Deacons and how could one Parish follow all the Presbyters of all other Parish Churches of a Diocess whom they never knew Ignatius's Epistle to Polycarp who was then Bishop of Smyrna makes it more evident that he was Bishop of a single Congregation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Keep frequent Congregations inquire after all by name despise not Men-servants and Maid servants I leave it to such as are willing to understand the Truth to consider how great Polycarp's Church then was when the Bishop himself was to look after every one by name even the Men-servants and the Maids We find by Ignatius's Epistle to the Philadelphians another of these Churches that the Angel of the Church of Philadelphia had no larger a Diocess then those of Ephesus and Smyrna 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Study therefore to use one Eucharist or Eucharistical Communion for there is one Flesh or Body of our Lord Iesus Christ which is represented in the Sacramental Bread and one Cup which is Sacramentally given into the union of his Blood one Altar one Bishop with the Presbytery and the Deacons my fellow Servants Nothing can be more full than this Testimony They are all to joyn in one Assembly for the Eucharist and there must be but one Altar for this Communion and one Bishop and one Presbytery with the Deacons with him and such a Bishop is a Parish Minister or Rector assisted by his Curates and Deacons the latter of which were originally instituted to serve Tables Acts 6. II. Tyconius's old Exposition mentioned by Austin hath not been yet disproved which is this That by the Angels are meant the whole Churches and not any single Persons Aug. lib. 3. 30. de Doctr. Christian. The whole style of the Text countenances this Exposition for as every Message begins with To the Angel so it endeth with To the Churches III. In the Contents of our authorized Bibles they are expounded Ministers By which we may understand the sense of the Old Church of England agreeable to many of the Ancients such as Aretas Primasius Ambrose Gregory the Great Bede Haymo and many more Scripture is it 's own best Interpreter we find there that the Church of Ephesus over which one of these Angels presided had several Bishops in it and all the other Churches had several Ministers in them as will be acknowledg'd by our Antagonists Now these other Ministers are included either under the name of Candlesticks and so reckoned among the People which is absurd or under the name of Stars and Angels Many may be intended by one Angel as afterward by one Beast cap. 13. and one Head cap. 17. It 's remarkable that it is spoken of the Candlesticks the seven Candlesticks are the seven Churches but of the Stars it 's said indefinitely the seven Stars are the Angels not seven Angels of the seven Churches IV. Angel is a name of Office and not of Order as is agreed by the Learned it is a strange Consequence To the Angel of the Church of Ephesus therefore the Angel was a Bishop and had Authority over other Ministers St. Iohn placeth the Presbyters next the Throne of Christ himself and the Angels further off at a greater distance shall we therefore say that the Presbyters are more honourable then the Bishops the Inference is much more natural then the other if Angels be Bishops as our Adversaries affirm St. Paul prefers the preaching before the ruling Presbyter V. It 's observed by many Chronologers that Timothy was alive when the Epistle to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus was written and shall we think that he had left his first love whom Paul so often commends for his Zeal and Diligence in the Work of God VI. To put this matter out of doubt St. Iohn a Jew calls the Ministers of Particular or Parochial Churches the Angels of the Churches in the style of the Jewish Church who call'd the Publick Minister of every Synagogue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Angel of the Church They call'd him also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Bishop of the Congregation Every Synagogue or Congregation had its Bishop or Angel of the Church Now the Service and Worship of the Temple being abolished as being Ceremonial God transplanted the Worship and Publick Adoration used in the Synagogues which was Moral into the Christian Church to wit the Publick Ministry Publick Prayers reading God's Word and Preaching c. Hence the names of the Ministers of the Gospel were the very same the Angel of the Church and the Bishop which belong'd to the Ministers in the Synagogues We love