which adhere to it establish'd a Society or Church in the World which he purchased with the most inestimable price dignified with the highest Priviledges encouraged with the largest Promises back'd with the most ample Authority and will always defend with the strongest Guard against all Power or Policy on Earth or under the Earth so that as he hath told us the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it But now where this Church is to be found and what are the measures of our Obligation to it hath been a long and great debate especially between us and the Romanists In most of their late Controversial Books they have seemed ready to wave disputes about particular points in hopes of greater advantage which they promise themselves from this venerable name and that bold though most false and presumptuous claim which they lay to the thing it self even exclusive to all others which will appear from the true but short and plain state of the case between us the chief design of this attempt Now that we may not charge them nor they us falsly or rashly I. It may be convenient first to lay down some Principles concerning this Church in which they and we seem mostly agreed though all our Writers express not themselves alike clearly herein II. To propound the chief Bands of Unity within this Church III. To mark out the most obvious Defections from them by the Romanists IV. To shew the Reformation in the Church of England proceeded and was framed with all due regard to the preservation of them V. To clear it of the most common Objections VI. To consider the strong obligations from hence upon all sorts of Dissenters among us to embrace and continue in its Communion I. The former will soon be dispatcht which I reduce to the following particulars 1. That our Blessed Saviour always had and always will have a Church in the World in which his Doctrine hath been and shall be so far profest and his Sacraments so effectually administred that they who rightly improve them may not want necessary supplies for their present spiritual life or future hopes of Salvation though the extent of the Church as to its boundaries and the perfection of it in degrees may be vastly different at one time and in one place from another This many Prophesies in the Old Testament and Promises from our Saviour in the New give abundant ground for our Faith to rely upon and the experience of all Ages hitherto hath confirmed 2. That this Chruch is a distinct Society within it self furnished with sufficient Authority in some to Govern and Obligation in others to be Subject necessary to every Society which the power of the Keys given by our Lord to receive in or shut out and the exercise of Discipline from Divine Precept and Scripture Examples evince beyond all exception But then this Ecclesiastical Power in whomsoever placed or strained to what height soever can never extend to vacate or change the express Institutions of Christ or take away our Obligation to his revealed Truth and direct Commands In case of any competition the Apostles defence may be ours We must obey God rather than men And St. Pauls profession We can do nothing against the Truth but for the Truth And again If we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel c. let him be accursed Gal. 1. 8 3. This Church must be visible as every Society is more or less whose parts are so and whose Profession must be so Our entrance into it is in a visible manner by Baptismal Initiation Our obliged Communion with it is in diverse outward sensible Acts which the representation of it by a Body or Building might prove More clearly it is likened to a City on a Hill which cannot be hid Mat. 5. 14. Set up as the Light of the world an Ensign to the Gentiles which all Nations should flee unto or else it would witness against them wherein its Followers should take Sanctuary and find a Refuge 4. Within these Boundaries we have the only hopes of safety here and happiness hereafter What God may do by his supereminent unaccountable power in an extraordinary case is presumption for us but to inquire into Out of this Ark there is no prospect given to us of any escape from the Universal Deluge All the spiritual Promises concerning this life or a better are made to this Church the Members of his Body who is the Head Therefore the Apostles preach to Jews and Gentiles the necessity of receiving this Character Seeing there is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved as St. Peter attests Acts 4. 12. 5. This Church is but one It is an Article of our Faith exprest in our Creed to believe it so For there be many members yet but one body One Spirit quickning all One Lord and Head over all One God and Father of all one Faith one Baptism one Hope of our Calling in all as the Apostle argues Eph. 4. 4 5 6 7 c. II. Now we are to enquire what are the chief Bands of Unity in the Church which make keep and evidence it to be one How we may secure our selves within this Garden enclosed this Spring shut up this Fountain sealed as the Ancients usually apply that Cant. 4. 12 to this one Enclosure of the Church 1. This appears in the Vnity of Belief not only inwardly but in the outward profession of the same Faith which was once delivered to the Saints and hath been generally preserved and continued down throughout all Ages of the Church In testimony whereof the most eminent Bishops upon their first Consecration sent to their Brethren Confessions of their Faith 2. In the Vnity of Charity and Affection as Fellow members one of another as well as of the same Head that if one suffer all the rest suffer with it and if one rejoyce all rejoyce with it Having an intimate Fellow-feeling of all the Good or Evil which befals any joyn'd in so near a Relation beyond the compassion of ordinary Humanity whereby we are bound not only to pray for but by all offices of kindness and most intimate Affection especially to assist and relieve each other in the same Houshold of Faith So that by our Personal Consecration all our Labours and Estates are in some measure devoted to the Honour of God the Service of his Church and the Necessities of any of its Members 3. In the Vnity of Worship whereby we are obliged not only to offer up the same Worship for substance but also in the outward Act to joyn and communicate with each other therein to present the same Prayers and Praises to celebrate together the same Sacraments to hear the same Instructions to frequent the same Religious Assemblies as much as possible that we may with one mind and with one mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 15. 6. For as the Command
of God the Honour of his Religion the Edification of his Church the Propagation of his Truth and the peculiar Promise of his Presence and Blessing require a solemn publick exercise of all Religious Worship in united Congregations so hereby we most sensibly prove and secure our unity therein Whoever then needlesly separates himself from this Church or refuses to joyn in Communion with its Members so far as it is in his power where he may without violence to any Doctrine or Precept of Christ such a one divides himself from his Body and so from all the Promises that we know of the Sacred and comfortable Influences of that one Head and one Spirit 4. In the Vnity of Discipline whereby every Act of any particular Church conformable to the Institutions of our Saviour and the universally received practice of his Church stands confirmed as an Act of the whole Church Particularly whoever is admitted into it accordingly by Baptism in one place is to be accounted a member of the Church Catholick and received into its Communion where-ever he comes it no evidence appear of his exclusion by any after regular Censure Likewise into whatever Office or Ministration any are orderly admitted in one part thereof in the same are they to be acknowledged in all others though without that particular Jurisdiction which they had in their own But whosoever lies under any Censure in one Church he is to be supposed under the same in all others and not to be received into Communion till the Sentence be reversed by the same Power or a still higher and greater Authority according to the Fifth Canon of the Council of Nice and the design of their form'd and communicatory Letters without which none were to pass from one Church to another Thus every Church is accountable to its Neighbour Churches and so to the whole Church for its Actions that one may not do what the other undoes without any regard to this Unity which would lead to the confusion and distraction of all Wherefore to put an end to such differences when risen or obviate any growing mischief thereby and to receive Appeals from persons who think themselves aggrieved or injured by their own Bishop or Church a Council of all Bishops in each Province is appointed twice in the year by the same Canon and in many others But there was no mention then of any farther or higher Appeal Thus an amicable correspondence and intimate communication was maintained between the Neighbour Churches and their Governours and by them with others removed at a greater distance throughout the world These need no long proof but may be taken as generally granted the main dispute will lie in the particular application of the two last Now to prevent as much as may be all difficulties about them it may be added to the third of Vnity of Worship that it will be very convenient if not absolutely necessary in any setled established Church that there be some set Forms of publick Ministrations without which it is hard for any to know before hand what they joyn with especially for strangers But then these Forms should be as plain and simple as possible with as little pretence as can be of any danger to the known Will and Word of God For no Obligation whatsoever can tie me to communicate with another in that which he forbids and it will be a great temptation to more than suspect this danger when mens private opinions or fanciful transports are mingled with them which have little shew of Scripture or the general practice of the Church in all Ages to justifie them The readiest way I know of to prevent that hazard after all other care about the matters contained is to endeavour that these Offices be as near alike in all places as can well be yet every difference in Judgment when no violence is offered to the Foundation of Catholick Faith and Unity must not break this Communion according to that profession of St. Cyprian Judging no man nor excluding him from the right of Communion if he think otherwise where the dispute was thought of no mean concern especially in this cause Which St. Augustin oft alledges against the Donatists that boasted so much of St. Cyprians judgment against his declared practice To the same purpose may be applied the treatment of St. Polycarp in Rome by Anicetus the Bishop though they differed about the time of the celebration of Easter and in other points which could not be agreed between them yet this last not only invited the former to Communion with him but also-to celebrate the sacred Eucharist in this Church as the words are generally interpreted which St. Irenaeus not long after urges strongly against Victor who was hastening to excommunicate the Asian Churches for the same difference contrary to his Predecessors practice As to the Fourth of Vnity of Discipline if Unity of Government in all parts be not indispensably necessary to it yet it will be so far as not to abrogate or invade the positive Institutions of our Saviour himself herein and be more than convenient that it be as conformable as it is in our power to make it in one place to what it is in another It seems horribly presumptuous violently to thrust out of the Church that Government under the influence of which Christianity hath been conveyed and preserved from the Age of the Apostles in the most distant places upon pretence of erecting a new better Scheme or model of our own or because of the intricate use of one or two terms in Scripture when the Church was in its first formation though against the plain current of it in other places and the uninterrupted tradition of the whole Church A Church indeed must be more or less perfect according to its Government for suitable will be the Exercise and Authority of its Discipline What allowance may be made for those who desire to come as near as they can to the Primitive Pattern though it be not in their power to reach it in many considerable points I am not now to dispute But most inexcusable and highly obnoxious are they that by extreme violence and usurpation endeavour to destroy what they found regularly established to their hands III. But we are here most concerned with the bold claims of the Romanists amidst their most obvious Defections who have made it the principal Band of Unity in the Catholick Church to be subject to the See of Rome and the pretended Vicar of Christ therein as the Universal Head and Monarch of the Church this they have determined as de fide and put into their very Creed and excluded all that do not expresly own it But against this as a great breach of Christian Unity we have many just exceptions and been always ready to prove them so 1. In that no evidence from Scripture appears of any such Authority conferred upon him or them But many strong
will think this no hard supposal though their orderly Sentence carries the most venerable Authority below Heaven It seems to argue the heighth of Blasphemy to arreign God himself of indiscretion if it be possible for any man or number of men to err from their Duty And very presumptuous it is to charge the Supreme Providence of defect in the provision for the continuance of his Church if they be capable to fall away yea let God be true but every man a liar when brought in competition He will not be tyed up by our most plausible Methods in the way of securing his own Truth which shall at last prevail though condemned whose wisdom is unsearchable and his ways oft past our finding out He will bring to pass his own holy designs though by means to us most unlikely or it may be seemingly opposite Whoever seriously reflects upon these things will have little reason to quarrel at the Reformation for want of this formal establishment in Council No Christian or Church is chargeable with the lack of that which it is not in their power to procure Men may please themselves with remote Speculations and the fairest hopes and wishes of such an Authoritative Decision of the disputes in controversie but if it be not to be had we must rest content with and make the best use we can of that provision which God in mercy hath indulged us for our sufficient satisfaction and safety Every particular National Church directly subject to no other may and ought to reform it self from known Abuses keeping within the Rule of Gods Word avoiding as much as possible giving just offence to any beside and being ready to give an account of its proceedings therein to all and to alter any thing that shall be found amiss or add whatever may be proved wanting to receive others into its Communion and to communicate with them so far as may be consistent with common Christianity own'd by all endeavouring to preserve Peace and Unity with all that call upon the same Lord praying to God to increase and improve them more and more such hath been the continued aim and proceeding of the Church of England We believe no true Member of this would have refused the general Communion of the truly Catholick Church in St. Augustine's Age or for some time after though possibly every opinion or practice then current be not suited to their present judgment or wish Neither can we think after so strange alteration of Circumstances through so many degenerate Ages that holy Father in his eminent zeal for the most Catholick Communion therein would now have been much moved by our present Adversaries arrogant claims of it to themselves alone though against the Rules and Principles of it with all others No Foundation is laid for it here but by the absolute submission of all others to their usurp'd Authority and rash or impious determinations Now who can hope for an universal Peace and Unity from such terms of accommodation only fit for an insulting Conquerour to impose like those which Nabash the Ammonnite propounded to the men of Jabesh Gilead to thrust out all their right eyes and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel 1 Sam. 11. 2. Object 3. Sometimes they object to us the personal miscarriages of some ingaged in the Reformation Answ If any did what they ought not or with unjustifiable designs what they ought the Church is no way accountable if what they did in the Reformation as such were good and they had sufficient Authority for doing it which we are ready to maintain that is all she is responsible for were other imputations really true which they oft are not However it will be an endless dispute and if determined would add little to the cause I may add few great and publick Changes are brought about where so many interests are concerned either way to promote or hinder them in which all things are carried with that clearness and evenness that were to be desired Private Persons are not chargeable with the supposed defects of publick Administrations of which they have not the management if nothing be required of them against their express Duty and they be provided of all necessary means of their Salvation though they may be inclined to wish some things had been ordered otherwise Object 4. Our Enemies on both sides are apt to object to us the want of due Discipline if not absolutely necessary to the being of the Church yet so far useful to the well being and perfection of it that it ought to have great weight in determining our choice to one Communion before another and is one of the most sensible bands of Unity in the Church Answ 1. The restauration of the Primitive Vigour of this hath been always wish'd for by our Church as in the Preface to the Commination but the accomplishment is very difficult From the degeneracy of the Age which would hardly bear it He that Governs in a less Sphere will find how oft he must bear with things which he does not approve and much easier it is to find fault with than to amend what sometimes we know to be amiss From the multiplicity of Divisions which weaken all endeavours towards it and then froward men unworthily charge the Church with what they themselves make almost unavoidable whereas if executed it would reach themselves as nearly as any who are now so clamorous against the most tender and charitable endeavours towards it as cruel and inhumane 2. The Pretences to it in the Church of Rome according to general practice so far as it can appear to us and we can judge by nothing else are more dangerous than any of these Omissions when turn'd into a constant circle of sinning private Confession and Priestly Absolution upon the imposition of very insignificant Penance and so over again For hereby men have the Authority of their Church to confirm in them the dangerous presumption that they have thus readily cleared themselves before God and so soon perfected their Repentance for such Sins which we find them not so watchful against afterward as that ought to suppose or make them Whereas the Church of England commends private Confession for our clearer satisfaction and direction in difficult cases as most needful but cannot truly say that it is an indispensable condition of our pardon which was never so believed or practised in the Church for many Centuries If people will not be persuaded to their Priviledge unless they be forced to it by false denunciations they must look to that if they miscarry it lies at their own door while they have no hopes here given them of pardon but upon such an intire Repentance as destroys the habit of sin and plants the contrary Grace and what need they may have of the Assistance of a Spiritual Guide and other helps in many Cases in order to this effect they may best consider 3. However the due administration of
us repugnant to the Bond of Unity in the whole Many of our Church yea our Constitution it self have been often charged and reviled though most unjustly with too favourable an inclination to them of Rome because whatever of good Order and decent Solemnity as well as sound Doctrine and wholsom Instruction was found among them is still retained and cherished by us And that we are not so hasty and peremptory in unchurching them all together or damning presently all that have been or are still of their Communion as some would have us which is in effect for being more tender in preserving the Principles of true Catholick Unity than in pleasing some private humours or prejudices Still we must be aware that no pretended Charity to them nor yet compliance with those who pretend the greatest opposition to them must tempt us to betray the Truth of God or violate our Obligation to his Commands on either side and within those bounds to consult as much as possible the Peace and Unity of his Church and continue therein If the former retort our kindness upon us in new Oppositions If the latter load our religions care and modest caution with all those dreadful imputations due to others If we suffer from both sides whilst it is only for speaking the Truth and doing our Duty which we have no power to alter we may justifie our selves before God and our own Consciences and in due time with all good reasonable and considerative men and then it is no matter what the clamours and captious cavils of others lay upon us But yet our Adversaries of the Roman Persuasion must take notice that while we are so wary and sparing in our Censures of them we are not the less apprehensive of the extreme danger which attends those gross Errors and Superstitions where with we charge them which have a direct tendency to their ruine and very much undermine the foundations of Faith and good Life which they own in common with us What may be their influence upon any particular persons is more than we dare determine and think always more safe to incline to the favourable side where it may be without prejudice to what is certainly true and good Notwithstanding whatever our opinion be that will not alter the case at last and thus far we are most determinate that the corruptions among them are such which every Church is bound to reform and every true Christian to keep at a distance from as much as is in his power Whatsoever were the condition of those who lived in that Communion before the Reformation many of them groaned under those Oppressions from which we are happily freed nay whatever charitable allowance may still be made for them who now live within those Boundaries where they have little opportunity of knowing better and are under vast prejudices by contrary Education and the severest aw over them How far I say these cases may be pleadable must be left to God and their own Consciences As for those born and bred among us who have been treacherously deluded into Apostacy from us or will persist in their hereditary obstinate averseness to us against the clearest conviction which they may receive and in opposition to the express Laws of God and of the Land to the perpetual disturbance of the State and confusion of the Church there appears no room for any excuse to lessen their Crime or alleviate their doom which will be mightily increased when all manner of hidden and crafty Artifices or open violences against the common Rights of Humane Society and moral Honesty as well as the Faith and Charity of Christs Church are employed and consecrated into a religious but blind Zeal for the destruction of both No marvel if the Nation awakened with the effects hereof which it hath sometimes felt and oftener had reason to fear have provided some servere Laws for an aw over them and to stop the first beginnings of such exorbitant attempts ready to break through all ordinary inclosures and which will hardly be restrained by the usual methods of Government No temper is more difficultly mastered or more mischievous if let loose than such a false firery zeal which neglected burns all before it But whatever may have been their Treatment of us formerly or we may justly apprehend would be still had they any opportunity which God prevent we ought not and hope shall not ever desist from wishing and endeavouring as much as is in our power their real welfare and so of all our implacable Enemies and therein their hearty Union with us in the holy Offices of Religion and Fellowship of Gods Church where they live with the sincere renunciation of those dangerous Errors and Practices that hitherto keep them at a distance from us In Conclusion instead of querulous expostulations ' or catching occasions to find fault we have great reason to admire and adore that gracious Providence which amidst so many Confusions Disorders and Corruptions that prevail too much in most places round about hath placed our Lot in so happy a soil and provided for us so goodly a Heritage and safe Retreat in the Bosom of that Church whose Charity is as eminent as its Faith and its Order as signal as its Purity whose Arms are always open to receive its returning Enemies with the most tender Compassions as well as to cherish its faithful Friends with the most wholsom and indulgent provisions where nothing is wanting to ensure our safety and encourage our proficiency in every thing that is good and excellent which upon former trial of both the opposite extremes the whole kingdom hath seen necessary to flee back into to repair the Confusions and Devastations they had brought and in its most dangerous Convulsions here hath found the readiest Cure and under whose name her very Enemies desire to shelter themselves which finally ingages us to express our gratitude for so peculiar Priviledges by a ready and impartial Obedience to the holy Doctrine we are taught and a fruitful improvement of all those happy Advantages which we enjoy therein That our Lives may be answerable to our Profession and our pious virtuous peaceable and charitable Conversation may be in some proportion as defensible and remarkable as the Principles we proceed upon or the benefits we lay claim to This would most effectually silence the captious Cavils of our Enemies on every side and more powerfully invite them to our Communion than all other the most demonstrative Arguments when their very senses would bear witness that God is in us of a truth I hope we are not destitute of some such eminent Examples of unfeigned Piety true Holiness and universal Probity God Almighty increase their number more and more Yet whatsoever may be the effect thereof upon other men this method would most unquestionably ensure our own firmest Peace here and everlasting Salvation hereafter Here we keep certainly within our own bounds and may most safely and profitably spend all