not much better then that we have noted of the Minorite Friar For the saying of Hierome That it is not a Church that hath not Sacerdotem we that are Presbyters may as well conceive that he meaneth a Presbyter as he a Bishop that he meaneth a Bishop and Hierome a Presbyter as wee are if he were alive would as wee verily beleeve give sentence on our side For First it cannot bee denied that though there bee more dignity in a Bishop the is more necessity of a Presbyter that is of one to officiate in preaching the Word and administration of the Sacraments whereof there is continuall use then of a Bishop to ordaine if none could doe it but a Bishop which is required but sometimes and though a Bishop performe the same acts yet hee doth them not as a Bishop but as a Presbyter Secondly if Hierome meant that there is no Church without an ordaining Bishop and that is his opinion as his Lordship expounds him it is his errour an uncharitable errour which casteth not particular Christians onely but many Orthodox Churches out of the communion of Saints and consequently out of the state of salvation whereas if some Bishops had been as remote non-residents from their Bishoprickes as the Pope from Rome when he resided at Avinion in France or had medled no more with the Churches under their charges then the Italian Priests did when they had Benefices in England and knew onely the names of them and received tythes from them but did nothing for them or in them yet there might for all that bee true Churches and salvation in them well enough For of what use is such a Bishop or such a Priest either to the being of a Church or the well being or salvation of a Christian Thirdly if his words were true in that sense wherein his Lordship taketh them it would be necessary there should be as many Bishops as Churches and so that Bishops should be rather Parochiall then Diocesan Fourthly if the place in Hierome be unpartially perused it will not make much for the necessity of Bishops for Hierome in his Dialogue against the Luciferians whence the quotation is taken speaketh of one x Hilarius cum Diaconus de Ecclesia recesserit cum homo mortuus sit cum homine pariter interiit secta quia post se nullum clericum potuit ordinare Hieron advers Luciferian Dialog tom 2. fol. 49. col 2. Hilarius a schismaticall Deacon who dyed in the schism and his sect with him because being but a Deacon hee could not ordaine a Clerke to succeed him upon this saith Hierome y Ecclesia autem non est quae non habet Sacerdotem Ibid. It is not a Church which hath not a Priest The word is Sacerdotem which seemeth to bee of the same sense with the word Clericum a little before and that is there meant of him who is next above a Deacon and he is a Presbyter not a Bishop whose office in administration of the Sacraments is there particularly noted which belongeth to a Presbyter ut sic as he is a Presbyter not to a Bishop as he is a Bishop Object But hee speaketh of ordaining and that in Hieromes judgement was proper to a Bishop Answ 1. Hierome knew well enough that of old though it were otherwise in his time Bishops alone did not ordaine Church Ministers but the Presbytery with them 1 Timoth. 4.14 if not without them for many hold that at that time there were no Prelaticall Bishops above their brethren even to this day there is a shadow of that sociable power in ordination of Ministers of the Church of England retained in practice by the imposition of the hands of Presbyters with the Bishop and required by constitution in the 35. Canon of the yeare 1603. And some learned Papists are of opinion though it come too neere the truth to be common among them that Bishops may delegate their power both of z Episcopum in sua provincia posse committere simplici sacerdoti quod conferat sacramentum Confirmationis Martin Ledesma prima 4 ti qu. 13. a. 11. Confirmation and of * Episcopos posse delegare potestatem sacerdoti ordinandi sacerdotes aequè ac Papam Novariens tract 1. part 2.13 apud Fran. à Sancta Clara Apolog. Episcop pag. 249. Ordination to Presbyters or Priests Secondly though where there were Bishops anciently and usually ordination was not conferred without them yet where there were none without them it might be lawfully and effectually done as we shall note in another place and therefore no such necessity either of them or of ordination by them as is pretended And though the over-high exaltation of Prelates hath depressed Presbyters so farre below the right and power of their order that it is made in some mens conceipts a strange thing and a kind of presumption in any case to take upon them the ordination of Ministers yet Hierome surely was not of their mind when hee gave them the honour which some Episcopall parasites appropriate to Bishops to bee accounted the successours of the holy Apostles as he doth in the first of all his Epistles which is written to Heliodorus Thirdly from Hieromes words in this place wee may rather collect that a Presbyter as well as a Bishop may ordaine since hee denieth that faculty but to a Deacon then that by the word Priest a Bishop must bee meant and ordination peculiarly derived from him Fourthly howsoever where hee saith that it is not a Church that hath not a Priest hee is in reason to be understood not of one that hath power to make a Priest but of a Priest already made for such a one a particular Church cannot want but of a Bishop unto it there is no such need Fifthly if Hierome in this place being zealous against schisme spoke somewhat too freely in favour of Bishops which yet is doubtfull though more probable that he spoke on the Presbyters side then of the Bishops It is certaine that in other places which wee shall observe afterward hee expresseth himselfe farre from such fondnesse of affection to Bishops as his Lordship deduceth out of his words So much for the Testimonies of Hierome wherein wee crave his Lordships patience and pardon for our boldnesse since his explication and application thereof for the necessity of Bishops to the being of a Church and so by consequence to salvation hath put a necessitie upon us seriously to examine what hee said and meant Object There be some who to assert a necessity of Discipline say that Discipline comprehendeth a preaching Ministry and that 's necessary to salvation Answ 1. There is neerer affinity betwixt Preaching and Doctrine then betwixt Preaching and Discipline which is exercised more in matter of a Quid prodesset disciplinam habere in conversatione scientiam in praedicatione nisi ad sit bonitas in intentione Sermo ad pastores in Synodo congregatis Inter opera Bernardi col 1730.
was intwisted in it as it followeth in the next words THE OATH Nor will I ever give my consent to alter the Government of this Church by Archbishops Bishops Deanes Archdeacons c. as it stands now established and as by right it ought to stand WHerein are observable many particulars and each of them questionable which wee will propose in that order which may best conduce to make our Doubts capable both of right understanding and due satisfaction it is this 1. The degrees of Government 1. Expressed 2. Concealed under the c. 2. Their state as it now stands 3. Their right as it ought to stand 4. Their perpetuity not to be changed 5. Our Constancy that though they should be changed we should not consent 1. Of the degrees of Governours exprest viz. Archbishops Bishops Deanes and Archdeacons DOUBT 6. Whether the degrees here specified be propounded to bee allowed in the same 6. Particular Doubt or in a different degree of assent and approbation THE REASON BEcause there is no distinction of them in the Oath but in title and order and yet there is so much difference betwixt them in respect of approbation that Deanes and Archdeacons before now were never by attestation or subscription so farre approved as Archbishops but especially as Bishops have been how then can wee be so certaine of them as now to give them as it were per saltum the highest degree of ratification at once viz. a solemne Oath when hitherto wee were never required to give our hands or passe our words on their behalfe and if the assent be intended in a different degree how can wee compose our consciences in one and the same act of swearing to approve further of the one then of the other the words of the Oath sounding the same degree of assurance to them both If then we take them together wee cannot find how wee should avow their approbation in one joynt and indistinct asseveration especially upon Oath But for Deanes and Archdeacons we have particular Doubts First of Deanes The DOUBT is 7. Particular Doubt What Deanes are here meant THE REASON BEcause in the whole Canon law there is no title of the degree of a Deane saith a Azor. Inflit. tom 2. l. 3. c. 17. pag. 360. Azorius and in divers Authours we find the name Deane of a different acception for besides the Military sense wherein it signifieth a Captaine of ten men as b Decanus dicitur qui decem militibus praeest Lindw constit lib. 2. fol. 58. p. 1. col 1 Lindwood hath it the Monasticall sense as it is taken and explained by Saint c Aug. de morib Eccles c. 31. Augustine for him who hath the Government of ten Monks the Academicall sense whereby it signifieth the same in some Colledges which the word Censor doth in some others there is an Ecclesiasticall Deane and ambiguity also in the word with that restriction for as d Duaren de minist l. 1. c. 8. Duarenus and others from him doe distinguish there is one sort which are called urban another Vican to speake in the phrase of the present age the Urban we may call Cathedrall Deans the Vican Deanes Rurall the more e In processe of time Archipresbyters were called Decani Bish Downh li. 1. pag. 188. of the defence of his serm ancient name of such was f Concil Turon 2. Can. 6. an 566. Concil Antinodor Can. 40. an 615. Archipresbyter that is as the word importeth and g Presbyterorum dicitur ut Archidiaconus Archisubdiaconus Diaconorum Subdiaconorum primi principes Onuphr interpret vocum eccles addit vitis Pontif. Rom. pag. 61. Onuphrius expounds it the chiefe or principall Presbyter and such a one is the Cathedrall Deane among the City Presbyters and a Rurall Deane among the Presbyters of the Country Whether Cathedrall or Rurall Deanes or both be intended in this Oath is somewhat doubtfull That Cathedrall Deanes are meant it is probable because they are placed next after Bishops and h So by the name of Archipresbyter is hee called and put before the Archdeacon Concil Carthag 4. can 17. before Archdeacons and though the Archdeacon i Archidiaconus sit proximus post Episcopum ejus Vicarium salvo tamen jure Decani quod ad Cathedralem Ecclesiam spectat Reform leg Ecclesiastic de Ecclesia Minist c. 6. fol. 48. b. bee said to bee next after the Bishop and his Vicar i. Generall it is with reservation of the right of the Deane in respect of the Cathedrall Church And that Rurall Deanes should not bee excluded is probable also because Bishop k The Government and Discipline of our Church by Archbishops Bishops Archdeacons Rurall Deanes c. established Reformat leg Eccles Tit. de Eccles Bish Downh in his answer to the Preface of the Refuters of his consec Serm. pag. 6. Downham brings them in as Church Governours with those that are named in this Oath and for that they are called l Archipresbyteris sive Decanis Ruralibus Ibid. c. 5. fol. 48. a. Archipresbyters which is a title above Archdeacons and in some places have had more jurisdiction as in this Diocesse untill a very few yeares last past then the Archdeacons have had And if both bee here meant then first concerning the former sort DOUBT 8. What is the Authority and Government of Cathedrall Deanes 8. Particular Doubt THE REASON 1. BEcause Deanes Cathedrall and Rurall being both comprehended under the title of Archipresbyters their office is so described by m Lindw prov constit à fol. 39. ad 46. inclusivè Spalat de Repub Eccles li. 4. c. 5. pag. 590. Lindwood and others that it is difficult to discerne what is proper or peculiar to them in severall Secondly where they are more distinctly set downe the n Decani Cathedrales ' Ecclesias juxta illarum constitutiones regant Collegiorum Canonicorum tum aliorum Clericorum Ecclesiae praesint ut Archidiaconi foras sic illi domi hoc est in Ecclesia Cathedrali Episcopo sint adjumento Reform leg Eccles c. de Eccles Minist c. 8. fol. 94. p. 21. Cathedrall Deane is brought in as President of the Canonicall Colledge for the government of the Cathedrall Church according to the Constitutions of their foundation and so is said to be an assistant to the Bishop at home that is in the Cathedrall Citie as the Archdeacon is abroad in the Country but there cometh in much doubt and ambiguity what Government is meant for the Bishops and Deanes are often at difference about their Authority which is more or lesse according as the Charters of their foundation doe vary which to some give a larger some a lesser power and preheminence For the Deanes of Westminster and Windsor as o By the Bish of Chest that now is wee have heard have Episcopall Jurisdiction which other Cathedralls for the most part have not Some have Statutes
expunge his name out of the Catalogue of u One onely branded Hereticke i. Aerius in so many hundred yeares opposed Episcopall government Bishop Hall of Episcopacy part 1. p. 66. Heretickes but to enroll it in the Register of Orthodox Doctors And for the Tridentine Decree it is the lesse to be regarded because wee may say as Bishop Jewel doth of x As for the words of Leo his own authority in his own cause cannot be great Bish Jewel defence Apol. part 2. c. 3. pag. 101. Leo The words of the Bishops of that Councell are of no great weight because they make a Decree in their owne cause But Chrysostome and Augustine were Bishops though Hierome was none and yet they spake of Bishops and Presbyters so equally as hath beene said and if untruly indiscreetly also because both against the truth and themselves We may say the same of Bishop Jewel whose judgement is plaine against the opinion of Divine Right by his exposition of Saint Augustine fore-alledged Besides y Panormitanus in quaestionibus suis ex mala interpretatione Hier. negat hanc Divino Jure inter Episcopos Presbyteros distinctionem Franc. à Sancta Clara Apol. Episc pag. 64. Panormitan and z Fulv. Pacian de probationib l. 2. c. 28. fol 96. Pacianus very famous men in their faculties the one for a Canonist the other for a Civilian and divers more to say nothing of the a Chamier tom 2. l. 10. c. 6. pag. 350. learned men of the Reformed Churches in forraine parts will not admit of any preheminence of a Bishop above a Presbyter by Divine Right All which wee alledge not to contest with the reverend Prelates in point of Authority but to shew that if an acknowledgement of Episcopall preheminence as of Divine Right bee required in this Canon and by that wee have shewed wee have cause to suppose it it is too problematicall an opinion for such confidence as should accompany an Oath Of Archbishops Of Archbishops though their Authority be greater yet as touching the Tenure by Divine Right our beliefe is lesser for they that hold Bishops to bee superiours to Presbyters by Divine Right as the Apostles were superiours to the 72. Disciples doe not for the most part unlesse they be Papists allow of Archbishops in that sacred Episcopacy and even he who was an Archbishop himselfe and highly advanced in print the Episcopall degree hath out of Ignatius observed and thereby affronted the Papall usurpation that the twelve were all b Abundè probavi Christum suam Ecclesiam Apostolis omnibus aequè commendâsse eosque ad hoc necessariâ potestare aequè omnes adornâsse confentit Ignat. episi ad Philadelph dum ad Apostolos veluti ad Presbyterium Ecclesiae Collegium recurri postulat Collegium verò Aristocraticum nemo ignorat Spalat de Repub Eccles lib. 1. c. 12. pag. 137. The Archbish that now is saith the like of the Aristocraticall Government and equality of the Apostles and quoteth Bellarm. de Ro. Po. l. 1. c. 9. to the same purpose making account his words are a confession of the truth against his owne side So in relat of his conference pag. 168 200 202 380. See Bishop Hall of Episcopacy part 2. pag. 13. equall as an Aristocraticall Colledge no Prince or Monarch ruling over the rest as the Romanists pretend and assume in the name of St. Peter wherein Saint c Jam illud considera quà m Petrus agit omnia ex communi Discipulorum sententia nihil authoritate suâ nihil cum Imperio Chrysost bom 3. in Act. Apost cap. 1. tom 3. col 459. Chrysostome is directly opposite unto them observing how Saint Peter in an assembly of the Disciples doth all by their common consent nothing by his owne authority nothing in a lofty or a Lordly manner For that Authority which they take up as Saint Peters right his Master and ours thought too much for him or any one man else fore-seeing as the Archbish of Spalato noted d Spalat de Repub. Eccles l. 1. c. 12. p. 138. That a Monarchy in a Church-man would bee apt to breake out into a tyrannie over the Church And for the tenure of Archiepiscopall authority wee may beleeve Bishop e Bish Jewels defence of his Apolog part 2. c. 3. divis 5. pag. 110. Jewel where hee saith in answer to Master Harding that though Primates or Archbishops had authority over the inferiour Bishops yet they had it but by agreement and custome neither by Christ nor by Peter nor Paul nor by any right of Gods Word Object If it be objected as by some it hath been that though the Apostles had no Archbishops among themselves who had a priority of Order and a majority of Rule above the rest of that fundamentall Function yet in respect of other Bishops constituted by them they were all Archbishops to those that were under them It may be answered Answ 1. That the right of Episcopacy hath not been so well cleared by Scripture that it should bee taken for an undoubted ground whereon to erect an Archiepiscopall power for there is so much difficulty and dispute about that as makes it to us uncapable of the assurance of an Oath Secondly our Protestant Divines when the Papists plead for Peters Episcopall or Archiepiscopall supremacy at Rome to maintaine the usurpations of the Pope upon all other Churches answered that as we conceive according to the truth that to bee a Bishop or Archbishop and an Apostle imports a repugnancy for both Bishops and Archbishops were confined to a certaine compasse for their Authority but the Apostles were of an unlimited liberty and power both for planting and governing Churches all over the world wherein they had every one of them such an equall and universall interest that f Non erat ea facta divisio scil inter Apostolos ut alter ab alterius abstineret Apostolatu Baron Annal. tom 1. an 51. 27. col 424. no Apostle had any part of the world to himselfe wherein the rest had not an Apostolicall and Pastorall right as well as he which is not nor can be so in Episcopall or Archiepiscopall callings Object If the opinion of g Estius comment in 1 Tim. 5.19 col 809. Estius be interposed viz. That Archiepiscopacy was founded when Timothy was made Bishop of Ephesus the Metropolis of Asia wherein he had h Bish Hall reckons 36. Bishopricks under Ephes part 2. p. 24.43 See Will. Synops papis controv 5. in append ad quaest 3. p. 273. many Bishops under his Jurisdiction that to say nothing of what is said of the unbishoping of Timothy and Titus in a particular booke of that title being brought in without proofe will bee as readily k Didoclau Altare Damascen pag. 175. denied by some as it is easily affirmed by any and if we should say that untill Pope Zepherinus in the third Century named himselfe an l Cent. 3. c. 10.
col 275. Archbishop or untill the reigne of Constantine as a very learned m Archiepiscopi Patriarchae in usum abierunt quorum ante Constantini tempora altum silentium Dan. Chamier de oecumen pontif lib. 10. cap. 6. tom 2. pag. 353.20 Writer hath observed there is no mention of an Archbishop it will not bee easie perhaps for any by legitimate Testimony to bring in an instance to disprove the observation in the Easterne Church and for the Westerne it came later thither as the Sun-setting cometh after the Sun-rising And Filasacus a Divine of Paris saith n Filasac de sacr ep Anth. ch 19. sect 1. Concil Matisc 1. Can. 4. It is not used in these parts untill the first Matiscon Councell scil anno 587. Which may bee to us the more probable because we have had experience in our owne time of a o Doct. Saravia saith the Assemblies of the Presbyterians are no Synods but Conventicles because he readeth not of any Synod without an Archbishop Sarav de Triplic ep q. 3. p. 90. principall point of now-Archiepiscopall Government the Presidentship of a Provinciall Synod without an Archbishop So was it in the yeare 1603. when the Bishop of London was President of the Synod then assembled Archbish p Archb. Whitgifl in his reply to Master Cartwr p. 310 313 427 432. Whitgift against Master Cartwright endeavoureth to maintaine That the office of an Archbishop was in use in the Apostles time and by their q Can. 33. or 34. as some accompt p. 470. Archb. Whitgi appointment in an Apostolicall Canon and that r Ibid. pag. 400. Titus was an Archbishop over Crete and ſ Pag. 470. Dionysius Areopagita the Scholar of S. Paul Archbishop of Athens But his proofes as some of us upon examination have found them are too low and too flat for the height and compasse of the Arch of his Asseveration especially as applyed to the state and authority of Archbishops in the Church of England the prelation particularly opposed by Master Cartwright who conceiving both the authority and title of an Archbishop by Scripture to belong peculiarly to Christ and not finding the name t The title Archbishop is proper to Christ as appeareth by Saint Peter where he calleth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is an Archshepheard or Archbishop for Bishop and Shepheard are all one Ibid. p. 300. Archbishop there taketh up the title Archshepheard 1 Pet. 5.4 as equivalent to it The greatest Antiquity and best Authority that wee find for that title is that which u Archb. Whitgifts reply to Mast Cartwr pag. 323. ex Mr. Fox Martyrol tom 1. p. 146. Archbishop Whitgift citeth out of Master Fox viz. That in the time of Eleutherius an 180. there were in Britaine 28. head Priests which in the time of Paganisme they called Flamines and three Archpriests among them which were called Archiflamines as Judges over the rest these 28. Flamines upon the conversion of the Britains were turned to 28. Bishops and the three Archiflamines to three Archbishops which if it be true yet it is far below that which is alledged for the calling of Archbishops and yet more ancient then honourable for the conformity to Pagan preheminence Nor will it serve to say as Pope x Eugen. 4. Epist ad Episcop Cantuarien ait Cardinalium nomen non fuisse in principio nascentis Eccles expressum munus tamen officium à B. Petro ejus successoribus evidenter crat institutum Fran. Long. annot in 2. Concil Rom. pag. 201. Eugenius the fourth said of the name Cardinall that though it were not expresly mentioned in the beginning of the Christian Church yet the office was instituted by Saint Peter and his successours For not to insist upon the name Cardinall of which the saying of the Pope is an unprobable fiction superiority among Bishops is to be reduced rather to a secular then to a sacred Originall For our Archbishop of Canterbury that now is saith y Archb. Laud in his relat of his confer pag. 176. It was insinuated if not ordered that honours of the Church should follow honours of the State as appeareth by the Canons of the Councell of z Concil Chalced Can. 9. Act. 16. Chalcedon and Antioch It was thought fit therefore though as Saint a Cypr. de simplic Praelat Episcopatus unus est Cyprian speaks there bee one Episcopacy the calling of a Bishop bee one and the same that yet among Bishops there should be a certaine subor dination and subjection the Empire therefore being cast into severall divisions which they then called Diocesses every Diocesse contained severall Provinces every Province severall Bishops the chiefe of a Diocesse in that large sense was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sometimes a Patriarch the chiefe of the Province a Metropolitan next the Bishops in their severall Diocesses as we now use the word Among these there was effectuall subjection grounded upon Canon and positive Law in their severall Quarters all the difference there was but Honorary not Authoritative So farre he where though he name the title Bishop Patriarch and Metropolitan hee doth not mention the title Archbishop And though hee grant that b Archb. Laud ubi supra pag. 168. the Church of Rome hath had and hath yet a more powerfull principality then any other Church yet he saith shee hath not that power from Christ The Romane Patriarch by Ecclesiasticall constitutions saith hee might perhaps have a primacy of order but for principality of power they were all equall as the Apostles were before them and hee might have said so much as well of Bishops as of Patriarchs for except for Ecclesiasticall Constitutions and positive Lawes they are not subordinate one to another neither the authority nor title then of Metropolitan or Archbishop is taken to bee so ancient or warrantable by the Word of God as that of the Bishops in the judgement of such as are the dearest friends to Prelaticall dignity Yet as wee deny not but that an inequality betwixt Bishops and Presbyters is as c Inaequalitatem inter Episcopum Presbyterum esse vetustissimam vicinam Apostolorum temporibus ultrò fatemur Fr. Chamier de oecumen pontif l. 10. c. 6. tom 2. p. 85.3 col 2. Chamier confesseth most ancient and very neere the Apostles times so wee yeeld it as probable that Archbishops are very ancient also and as certaine that there have been and are very many as worthy to be Archbishops as others to be Bishops and that there have been of that elevation men of as eminent desert for learning and devotion both in ancient and later times as any that have lived in the same Ages with them but in regard of more doubt of their Authenticke tenure then of that of Bishops though that also bee very much doubted of wee have the lesse heart to sweare to Archiepiscopall preheminence Object If it bee said that
à Deo Artic 11. Wickl Imputat in Concil Constam fol. 437. Concil Caranz None should be excommunicated by any Prelate unlesse he know him or rather thus unlesse hee conceive him excommunicated by God And if so while God is pleased as we hope he is to accept our endeavours to glorifie his Name and edifie his Flocke wee trust it will not be held any part of godlinesse with the Pastorall staffe to drive any faithfull Pastour from the fold of Christ 2. On Charity Secondly wee ground our Hopes upon your Lordships Charity whereof the fundamentall Rule in the Affirmative part is u Mat. 7.12 To doe unto all men as wee would they should doe unto us and in the Negative not to offer that to others which in the like case our selves would not suffer And we doubt not but your Lordship would bee loth that your feare of offence against God and your conscience should be so severely punished as by the Canon is threatned to such as are affraid to take this Oath and if you looke but upon us without reflecting upon your Lordships wee trust that for this after our long and studious endeavours in the University wherein some of us have spent our Patrimonies which might have maintained us in another course without Ecclesiasticall meanes after our constant and painfull imployment in our Pastoral charges even to the tyring out of our strength after our families are increased beyond our abilities to support them without the meanes wee receive from the Church and for many of us wee may say but poorely with it you will not by the discharge of this Canon upon us put us upon the poore refuge of the Canon of the x Clericus victum vestimentum sibi artificiolo vel agriculturâ praeparet Concil Carthag 4. Can. 51 52 53. Councell of Carthage made for inferiour and single Clerkes to labour in husbandry or manufactures which your y Ministers shall not give themselves to any servile labour Can. 75. Canons precisely prohibit for our maintenance sweare we dare not digge we cannot we were no Fishermen nor Tent-makers or other Artificers before we entred upon this holy calling and to begge we are ashamed and we may be also affraid since by the Law z The Complete Justice p. 212. nu 16. edit 1638. begging Scholars are no better then Rogues and so to be severely punished rather then charitably relieved what then shall we doe It is a good Rule given to Visiters by Gavant saith a * Bish Hall in his second book of moderation sect 9. p. 65. reverend Writer of your owne ranke that they should be sparing in making Decrees and no lesse profitable to spirituall Governours which Erasmus relates out of Gershon that they should not rashly throw about the Thunderbolts of their censures lest they should not take time sufficient to distinguish betwixt such as are more capable of pity then of severity and those who are more worthy of the rod then of the spirit of meeknesse to spare the one though they punish the other And wee looke for no lesse moderation and mercy from your Lordship since a b The Gouncell of Challons Can. 41. Councell adviseth you thus It becometh them who are in eminent roomes to deale mercifully with their inferiours knowing that they are brethren And while we accompt you in regard of the gravity and eminency of your parts and places Fathers wee cannot but hope that you will deale with us as with your sonnes with a c As for rule if we affect any but fatherly and moderate and such as must necessarily be required we doe not deprecate to censure Bish Hall of Episcopacy part 2. p. 58. fatherly moderation and not thinke us worthy to bee dis-inherited or cast off while wee desire and endeavour faithfully to hold on in our course of the service of God and his Church And we doubt not but you will remember the godly and gracious words of your owne Ordination d In the book of Ordination pag. penult That you have your Authority not to destroy but to save not to hurt but to help e Ibid. And that you are to be to your Flocks shepheards and not wolves to be so mercifull as not to be remisse so to administer Discipline as not to forget mercy and to bee so farre from oppressing of us that if wee were oppressed by others you should bee ready to succour us This is one end of Episcopall Visitations for which there is a Decree in a Councell of Arles to this effect f The Councell of Arles an 813 Can. 17 p. 564. Patrick Sympson of the Church Let every Bishep visit his bounds once every ye are and if he finde the poore to be oppressed by the violence of the mighty then let him with wholesome admonition exhort them to desist from such oppression and in case they will not desist from their violence then let the Bishop bring the cause to the eares of the Prince Nor doe wee conceive our different perswasion concerning this Oath doth represent us unto you as unworthy of your fatherly Compassion since he that of late hath shewed himselfe a most zealous Patron of Episcopall preheminence expresseth a pitifull affection towards the Divines of the Reformed Churches notwithstanding many greater differences then this of the Oath in this sort g Bish Hall in his Apolog. for Episcopacy part 1. sect 17. pag. 108. We heartily pity saith he the incompetent provision of our forraine brethren whose parts are as eminent as their maintenance is poore He whose charity reacheth so far off in commiserating the poverty of forrain Divines would not surely and wee trust many of the reverend Prelates are as pitifull as he be a meanes to make such miserable objects here at home by depriving of so many conscionable Ministers as make scruple of the Oath of the due provision whereof they are lawfully possessed especially if hee remember the Canon of the Matiscon Councell which saith h Episcopalis domus ad hoc instituta est ut sine personarum acceptione omnes in hospitalitate recipiat Concil Matisc 2. Can. 13. That a Bishops house is purposely appointed to afford hospitality to all that need without respect of persons And that other Canon of Charity which goeth under the name of the Apostles in these words i Si quis Episcopus aut Presbyter Clerico ex inopia laboranti necessaria non suppeditaverit à communione rejicitor si perseveraverit deponitor ut qui fratem suum necaverit Can. Apost 58. If any Bishop or Presbyter doe not minister to the necessities of a Clerke that is in want let him be debarred from the communion and if hee persevere in his want of pity let him be deposed as guilty of his brothers death in withholding from him brotherly reliefe Which not onely by the generall duty of Christianity but by especiall promise the Bishops of England are bound in conscience to
we may justly expect from our Popish opposites or require more of us then any Church ever did hitherto Long before these Canons were set forth and h Queen Elisabeth began her reigne Novemb. 17. an 1558. and these were published ann 1561. soone after the reformation of Religion by Queene Elisabeth there were we confess certain protestations to be made promised and subscribed by them that were afterwards to be admitted to any office roome or cure in any Church or other place Ecclesiasticall But we conceive besides other differences to bee touched under another title that neither these protestations are equivalent to such a solemne oath as now is required of us nor that there is such need of it now as there was of them at that time Object If it be said that in these times there is such division and distraction among us that there is need to fasten us together by such a sacred bond as that of the Canon Answ Wee thinke it reasonable to reply That neither the want of such an oath was the cause of the distemper of the times nor that the urging of it will be a convenient cure thereof but rather the contrary since there is more agreement betwixt peace and love which may best be preserved where offensive things are not urged then betwixt love and compulsion especially if as of this oath it is conceived it incroach upon the conscience without any great need as from them that require it or without sufficient ground to satisfie such as should receive it And wee see by the operation of it already daily producing more and more dislike of it that it is not like to be a remedy against any malady already discovered but rather a meanes to exasperate the disease though this bee besides the intention of them that propound it whereof there was the lesse need because as our learned and religious brethren the Divines of Aberdene have observed i Generall Demands of the Ministers and Professors of Aberdene pag. 29. There bee other meanes more effectuall for holding out of Popery and so of any other unlawfull Innovation in which we ought to confide more then in all the vowes promises of men yea also more then in all the united forces of all the subjects of this Land to wit diligent preaching and teaching of the word frequent prayer to God humbling of our selves before him and amendment of our lives and conversations and arming our selves against our adversaries by diligent searching of the Scriptures whereby we may increase in the knowledge of the truth and in ability to defend it against the enemies of it These have been the chiefe meanes to advance both the Doctrine of truth and the Discipline of manners and they will be the best meanes to hold them up still with them there will be no need without them none aide by oaths of this kind There be some that say This Oath was framed for tryall how men stand affected to the present government and whether they be inclined to such a change in the Ecclesiasticall state for Doctrine or Discipline as tendeth to disturbance of the civill government also especially to derogation from his Majesties Authority this is partly implyed in the Preface of the Oath which beginneth thus This present Synod being desirous to declare their sincerity and constancy in the profession of the Doctrine and Discipline established in the Church of England and to secure all men against suspicion of revolt to Popery or any other superstition decrees c. and in this respect they conceive the Oath is of necessary use To such as thus plead for it we thinke it meet to make this answer 1. Concerning the venerable Synod that though some persons in it being suspected of unsound Doctrine of a Popish straine might doe very well to give all due and probable satisfaction to acquit themselves of that imputation wherein we are perswaded of some that they have been untruly traduced yet wee conceive this Oath not so pertinent to that purpose as is alledged because the third Canon which insisteth much in the discovery and pursuit of Papists and none else importeth more opposition to Popery then this sixth Canon doth which requireth the Oath since as wee shall manifest in another place it commeth with a deeper charge against those who are the greatest Adversaries of Popery then against Papists themselves Secondly for the other part of the Oath concerning Discipline or the government by Archbishops c. we apprehend no need of an Oath to declare the sincerity and constancy of the Synod in that respect for who maketh doubt but Archbishops Bishops Deanes and Archdeacons who carry most sway in all our Synods are willing enough to maintaine their dignity and authority and unwilling to subject either of them to Papall usurpations He is a man of little faith who will not take their bare word for that without an Oath or will require so much for no reasonable man can thinke otherwise of them though they say nothing For we cannot imagine if it were but for the Archbishops owne sake that he sitting as President of the Synod would ever submit to any usurpations of the See of Rome since hee knoweth and would have others know from him for hee hath published it in print that the Pope hath acknowledged k Pope Urbane the second accounted my worthy Predecessour Saint Anselme as his owne Compeere and said he was the Apostle and Patriarch of the other world So Archbish Laud in his relation of his conference with Fisher p. 171. Anselme a worthy Predecessour of his in the See of Cant. for his owne compeere the Apostle and Patriarch of the other world And hee sheweth himselfe willing enough to take his Holinesse at his word and to keep him out from all command over the Britaine Church alledging l Ibid. ex Guid. Pancirol that it was never subject to the See of Rome having a Primate of its owne and that Primate for the present is himselfe Thirdly for others this Oath can be no good Criterion to try mens sincerity to either Doctrine or Discipline for many things by divers may bee beleeved liked and preferred before any other of that kind so that they would bee loth to change them and yet may they be unwilling to take an Oath for constancy to them For instance wee beleeve kneeling at prayer to bee lawfull laudable and the best gesture wherein to present our devotions to God yet wee would not be put to sweare never to consent to a constitution for standing at prayer since for it there is first m Mar. 11.25 Luk. 18.11 Scripture secondly a Decree in the first n Consona conveniens per omnes Ecclesias custodienda constitutio est ut stantes ad orationem vota Domino reddamus Concil Nicen. 1. Can. 20. Nicen Councel thirdly a continued practice of it in the Church for o From before Tertullians time untill Anselme Archbish
of the same signification by his Majestie in his late large Declaration And all three signifie with reference to the Church Ecclesiasticall callings ordinances and the exercise and application of them to such as are subject to them both wherefore they that are best acquainted with them all stile their bookes of them indifferently of t Mr. Travers or Udals Eccles Discipline Ecclesiasticall Discipline u Dr. Bridges his defence of the governmeÌ„t of the Church Church Government and x Mr. Hookers Eccles Policie Ecclesiasticall Policie and in a large sense the terme Discipline containeth them y The dispute against English Popish Ceremonies c. 8. sect 8. as it is cited in the Scottish Duplies p. 93. all And so it is taken by z Archbishop Whitgifts Reply to T.C. pag. 372. So also in the History of the Councell of Trent l. 2. p. 135. And Bishop Hall of Episcopacy part 3. p. 4. Archbishop Whitgift where he reduceth all that concerneth Religion to Doctrine and Discipline and so it seemeth they doe who composed the Oath as appeareth by their entrance into it And though sometimes that word be strictly taken for the censure of manners or correction of offenders as in the Preface of the Communion Booke usually read upon Ashwednesdaies yet in a large sense and that very familiar it is put for the whole policy or government of the Church whether a of which Discipline the maine and principall parts were these a standing Ecclesiasticall Court to be established perpetuall Judges in that Court to be their Ministers others of the people twice so many in number as they annually chosen to be Judges with them in the same Court Master Hooker Praefat. of Eccles Polit. pag. 5. Master Cartwr Archbish Whitgist Rep. p. 2. Presbyteriall as in Geneva or Episcopall as with us a principall part whereof is Hierarchicall Imparity in that sense it was said by Master b Master Mountag Appello Caesarem p. 108. Mountague That the Synod at Dort in some points condemneth the Discipline of the Church of England meaning especially the Government by Bishops and so also did the c Dominus Episcopus Landavensis de Disciplina paucis monet nunquam in Ecclesia obtinuisse Ministrorum paritatem non tempore Christi ipsius c. sic Synod Dord sessione 145. April 30. Antemerid Bishop of Landaffe take it when in answer to him and confutation of him hee repeated the defence made by himselfe for the Hierarchy of the English Church in that Synod noting in few words concerning the Discipline That the Church never had a parity of Ministers no not in Christs time wherein there were the twelve Apostles superiours to the 72. Disciples which he sheweth was not contradicted by that Synod In the same sense it is used by d Patres non volentes sed nescientes non per Apostasiam aut contemptum sed per infirmitatem ignorantiam lapsi sunt qui in Disciplina aberrarunt Parker de Polit Eccles lib. 2. cap. 8. where by Discipline must be understood the Government by Bishops others who are not of the same mind in the point of Episcopacie The observation of this imparity in giving precedence to Superiours is called Discipline in the e Scimus inviolatè permansisse Ecclesiae Disciplinam ut nullus fratrum prioribus suis se auderet anteponere Concil Milevitan Can. 13. thirteenth Canon of the Milevitan Councell the Ceremonies also in rule and practice are reduced to Discipline in the prefatory Declaration before the Communion Booke under this title Of Ceremonies why some abolished some retained where it is said that some of them doe serve to decent order and godly discipline and againe without some ceremoniâ—s it is not possible to keep any order or quiet discipline in the Church which implyeth both the constitution and observation of them and to this acception of the words Discipline and Government in this Oath we rather incline but cannot of our selves so certainly resolve it as that we dare sweare it DOUBT 2. What is meant by the Church of England 2. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause of the ambiguity of the terme Church which is variously f See Doctor Downham in the defence of his Sermon lib. 2. c. I. p. 4. Master Jacob in his book of the necessity of Reform the Minist and Cerem Assert 1. pag. 6. with others distinguished but especially because the new Canons bring in a new acception of that word new in respect of the language of Protestant Divines for in the fourteenth Canon where caution is given concerning commutation of penance by the Bishop or his Chancellour there is this proviso That if the crime be publickly complained of and doe appeare notorious that then the office shall signifie to the place from whence the complaint came that the Delinquent hath satisfied the Church for his offence The satisfaction is by the payment of a pecuniary mulct that is made to the Bishop or his Chancellour either of them then or both together seemeth to bee called the Church in that Canon and that contraction of a word of such a large comprehension as the right acception of it requireth might breed some suspicion of symbolizing with the Popish Dialect though the sense bee not Popish wherein by an intensive Synecdoche that which is most extensive and diffused all over the world is shrunke up into the person of one man the Pope But because the matter of commutation in that Canon is of a narrower compasse then either Doctrine or Discipline in this wee may take the word Church in a larger acception and that may be either for the Clergy in generall when it is used by way of distinction from the Laity or as the 139. Canon decreeth it The Church representative in a Synod which g Episcopi sunt Ecclesia representativa ut nostri loquuntur Bellar l. 3. de Eccles c. 14. Archbishop Laud seemes to take the word Church for the Bishops in the Epistle Dedicatory before his Starre-chamber Speech where he makes request in the Churches name that it may bee resolved by the reverend Judges that keeping of Courts and issuing of processe in the Bishops names are not against the lawes of the Realme fol. penult p. 1. Papists restraine to Episcopall Prelates Or as the 19. Article taketh it A visible congregation of faithfull men in which the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments duly administred Or as in the 35. Article it may stand for the place where the people are assembled and holy offices performed but which of these or whether any other sense of the word Church bee meant in this place we leave it to those who have authority to interpret the Oath to resolve DOUBT 3. Why the Discipline is linked with the Doctrine of the Church of England for necessity of salvation 3. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause it seemeth to us to coast somewhat towards the conceipt of
Franciscus à Sancta Clara Provinciall of the minorite Friars who holdeth h Ubi nulli praeesse solent Episcopi deesse debent Presbyteri hos si domas quam miserenda quaeso horrenda sunt quae necessariò subsequentur nam ubi nulli sunt Presbyteri nulla erunt Sacramenta nisi fortè Matrimonium Baptismus Franc. à Sancta Clara Apolog. Episcop pag. 151. That where Bishops doe not rule there are no Presbyters where no Presbyters no Sacraments Hee excepteth according to the tenet of his Church Matrimony and Baptisme the former as a Sacrament the later as a Sacrament and more then that in the Popish opinion as necessary to salvation and hee so farre enforceth this necessity as to say i Episcoporum necessitatem inficiari nihil aliud est quà m Dominicae pasâ—ionis irritationem subintroducere nostrumque redemptionis piaculum evacuare Ibid. pag. 152. That to deny the necessity of Episcopacy is nothing else but to bring in the irritation of the passion of our Lord and to evacuate the vertue of his redemption which is in effect as Doctor du Moulin wrote to Bishop Andrewes k Hoc asserere nihil aliud esset quà m omnes nostras Ecclesias addicere Tartaro Pet. du Moulin cpist 2. Episc Wintonien pag. 173. opusc to damne the Reformed Churches of France and other Countries to the pit of Hell which being brought in as a consequence of the Bishops Tenet of the Authority of Bishops that reverend Prelate very wisely and religiously shunneth saying l Caecus sit qui non videat stantes sine ea Ecclesias ferreus sit qui salutem iis neget Episc Winton Resp ad epist 2. Pet. du Moulin pag. 176. opusc Hee wants his sight that seeth not Churches standing without that Discipline and hath an iron heart that consenteth not that they may bee saved and therefore our late learned Soveraign King James lest he should be mistaken in some of his speeches of some of those who had no good conceipt of the Discipline of the English Church when his monitory Preface wherein hee toucheth most upon such matters was published in Latine that hee might not bee thought to condemne the Churches whose Discipline is different from ours he expresly professed m Puritanorum nomine Ecclesias apud exteros reformatas earumveregimen non designari mihi est decretissimum rebus alienis me non immiscere sed illas reformatae Religionis libertati permittere sic ad fin Praefat. monitor in 8o. printed Lond. 1609. That by that hee had said therein hee intended neither reproach nor reproofe to the Reformed Churches or to their forme of Government but left them free to their Christian liberty And when the Bishop of Landaffe asserted the Ecclesiasticall Imparity of the Church of England at the Synod of Dort hee did not seeke to obtrude it as necessary to salvation but used this caution in the conclusion of his speech n Haec non ad harum Ecclesiarum offensionem sed ad nostrae Anglicanae defensionem The joynt attestation that the Discipline of the Church of England was not impeached at the Synod at Dort pag. 17. This I say said hee not to give offence to these Churches scil those whose Clergy assembled at that Synod but for the defence of our Church the Church of England And the Church of England surely at that time was farre from the conceipt of the Franciscan Friar fore-mentioned when hee and other learned Divines were sent to that Synod the most generall Synod of the Reformed side that hath been held since the reformation of Religion to assist with their consultations and to confirme with their suffrages and subscriptions the Decrees of that Synod wherein among many Presbyters there was but one Bishop and hee not President of that Assembly And when hee who hath pleaded for Episcopacy not onely as a pinnacle of honour but as a pillar of support to the Church wrote thus against the Brownists I o So Bishop Hall in his Apology against the Brownists sect 19. p. 588. reverence from my soule so doth our Church their deare Sister those worthy forraine Churches which have chosen and followed those formes of outward government that are every way fittest for their owne condition It is enough for you to censure them I touch nothing common to them with you which wee alledge not against the government of Bishops In a meet and moderate imparity as the same p Bishop Hall his prop of Church government added to his Irrefrag prop. pag. 6. Authour stateth their preheminence but onely against the necessity of their superiority to salvation which is the point wee have now in hand Whereto agreeth that of Epiphanius who conceived more necessity of a Deacon to a Bishop then of a Bishop to a Church saying q Ubi non est inventus quis dignus Episcopatu permansit locus sine Episcopo verùm sine Diacono impossibile est esse Episcopum Epiphan haeres 75. l. 3. tom 1. pag. 215. That where there was not a man of sufficient worth to bee a Bishop the place might be without one but it is impossible said hee that a Bishop should bee without a Deacon And the fifth Canon of the second Councell of Carthage decreeth r Placuit ut Dioceses quae nunquam Episcopos acceperunt non habeant quae aliquando habuerunt habeant Concil Carth. 2. Can. 5. That those places which never had Bishops shall have none at all and those that had them should have them still which they would not have done if they had conceived Episcopacy to be of necessity to salvation or of necessity to the being of a Church Quest But is there any cause to conceive that any of the late Synod imagined a necessity of Bishops either to save a Chrisian or to constitute a Church Answ Wee take not upon us confidently to impute that opinion to any nor can wee acquit the chiefest of them from such a conceipt for the Å¿ Archb. Laud in his relat of his conference with Fisher pag. 176. marg Archbish in his reply to A.C. having brought in a sentence out of Saint Hierome which is this t Ubi non est sacerdos non est Ecclesia Hieron advers Lucifer where there is no Priest there is no Church he taketh the word Sacerdos for one who hath the power of ordaining which in Hieromes owne judgement is no meere Priest but a Bishop only and thence concludeth so even with him no Bishop no Church which he so approveth as if some who professe more good will to Bishops then Hierome u See Doubt 16 pag. 80. and in the conference at Hampton Court pag. 34. are these words Hierome no friend to Bishops by reason of a quarrell betwixt the Bishop of Hierusalem and him elsewhere doth should say somewhat more or the same that he did with more confidence which to us seemeth little lesse and
the King before his Speech in the Starre-chamber Lord Archbishop of Canterbury that now is Object But howsoever if the mention of his Soveraigne Authority bee omitted there is the lesse to sweare to and so the charge of the Oath is more light and may for that the more heartily be taken Answ It is true if the omission give no occasion of timerous surmise but to some it doth and if in charity wee hope the best of it in this case there is cause yet to doubt of the c. and therefore wee further demand of the subordinate Governours implyed in it The 14. DOUBT Who and what Governours they be 14. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause in the title of the seventh Canon there is mention of Archbishops and Bishops with an c. and in the body of the Canon Deans and Archdeacons are added to them and the next words are and the rest that beare office in the same that is in the Government of the Church of England And those that beare office besides these that are named are Guardians of Spiritualties Suffragans Chancellours Vicars generall Commissaries Officials Surrogates For the first t The Kings Preface before the late Can. pag. 9. Guardians of Spiritualties u So in the stat of 25. H. 8. c. 21. are those to whom the spirituall Jurisdiction of any Bishopricke or Archbishoprick is committed during the vacancy of the See x Episcopi Suffraganei coadjureres Episcoporum quorum vice nonnunquam ordinant Ministros Diaconos dedicant Ecclesias confirmant pueros ante informatos rudimentis Christianismi Doct. Cous de polit Eccles Angl. c. 7. Vide etiam Reform leg Eccles de Eccles Minist c. 16. fol. 51. b. Suffragans are titular Bishops ordained to assist the Bishop in his function whose turne they supply now and then in Ordination of Ministers and Deacons dedication of Churches confirmation of children that have been instructed in their Catechisme Chancellours who exercise ordinary Jurisdiction in the City of the Episcopall See next to the Bishop and by Authority derived from him y Can. 104. Vicars generall in some Diocesses are the same with the Chancellours as we may see by the stile of their Processes but if the office bee considered of it selfe as some describe it it is very large for thus we find it in Azorius A z Vicarius generalis potest excommunicare suspendere interdicere Sacramenta conferre vel conferendi facultatem concedere conferre Beneficia visitare inquirere instituere eligere confirmare praesentare corrigere punire votum jus-jurandum commutare relaxare Azor Instit tom 2. lib. 3. cap. 43. col 448. Vicar generall may excommunicate suspend interdict conferre Sacraments or give faculty to others for that purpose hee may collate Benefices visit inquire institute elect confirme present correct punish change vowes and dispense with Oaths a Can. 103.119.128.135 Convocat 1603. Commissaries b See Lindw constit provinc l. 1. cap. 1. de accusat verbo mandat Archiepisc are such as exercise Jurisdiction afarre off over those who cannot well come to the Bishops Consistory in the City c Can. 119. Officialls are properly such as exercise Jurisdiction under Archdeacons and are simply called Officialls without addition and if the Commissary bee called by that name as many times he is it should not be simply but as in d Lind. Tit. de sequestr possâ—ss c. 1. verbo Officialis Lindwood with the addition of Foraneus e Can. 128. Surrogates are such as are substituted by Chancellours Commissaries and Officialls To which wee may adde Canons or Prebendaries of Cathedrall Churches who are joyned in Government with their Deanes and are with them to bee à consiliis to the Bishop Clerkes of the Convocation and it may bee Parsons also may bee reckoned among Ecclesiasticall Governours for they are called Rectors of their Churches and Vicars and other preaching Pastours may be so called governing their Flocks as they doe And it may bee Registers Proctors and Apparitours of the Consistory Courts and Church-wardens and Sworn-men in particular Parishes may bee brought into the Oath by the Explication of the seventh Canon And if no Officers bee comprehended in it but Governours no Governours but such as have a coercive or compulsive power there are yet so many severall sorts of them so much diversity among them and so great difficultie to know their Government what it is and how farre it reacheth that very few not onely of the Laitie but of the Clergie also who are not profest Civilians with all can tell what hee sweareth to when hee sweareth to them under their expresse titles much lesse when under the ambiguous Intimation of c. These are our Doubts of the degrees of Government the next particular is their present state 2. Partic. As it now stands The 15. DOUBT 15. Particular Doubt Whether the establishment of the f So the Archbish of Cant. disting in his Speech in the Starre-chamb an 1637. p. 6. Adjuncts or the g So Bish Hall calleth them in the Coroll to his prop. touching Govern p. 7. not necessary Appendences of Bishops bee to bee sworne unto in this Oath THE REASON BEcause with them they now stand Episcopacy is now honoured and assisted by Baronries and the Ecclesiasticall Government by the high Commission now there are but two Archbishoprickes above the Archbishops no Patriarchs and the h Doct. Cous de polit Angl. cap. 3. Archbishops of Canterbury especially have many priviledges and prerogatives all which stand by the support or fall by the weight of Royall Authority from which their i Stat. 37. H. 8. c. 17. Stat. 1. Edw. 6. c. 2. 25. H. 8. c. 19. 1 Elis c. 1. 5 Elis c. 1. 3. Jac. c. 4. Jurisdiction is derived For first as Bishop Godwin observeth when Rich. Clifford was made Bishop of London by the Popes provision against the Kings mind it was King Edward the fourth he k Bish Godw. in his Catol of Bish p. 200. denied to give him his Temporalties and so made him desist from pursuit of that spirituall promotion and the same power will bee we doubt not confessed by all our Bishops to bee in all our Kings successively Secondly for the high Commission it was first set up as some Lawyers have told us but in the beginning of Queen Elisabeths raigne and is not so established but that by Regall power it may bee demolished Thirdly there may bee more Archbishops then two if it please the King for by the same right or better that l Ibid. pag. 58. Offa King of Mercia erected a new Archbishopricke in Lichfield leaving to the Archbishop of Canterbury for his Province onely London Winchester Rochester and Sherbourne may his Majesty that now is erect new Archbishops in what Diocesse hee pleaseth and may restore the old and so not onely Lincolne shall bee an Archbishopricke but m
writings which Bishops have for their Episcopacie which comparison God willing shall bee examined else-where and that x Bish Hall of Episcop part 2. p. 47. there be divers points of faith weighty points which have not so strong evidence in y Bish Hall Ibid. part 1. pag. 63. Scripture so strong evidence that heaven may as soone fall as that faile the Bishops And though some who have beene approved for their very great and faithfull labours in the Church and for extraordinary zeale against all Popish opinions have z Willet Synops Papis contro 5. qu. 3. p. 277. acknowledged somewhat in the calling of Bishops to bee Divine and Apostolicall yet there is much said on the contrary side which if it serve not to induce a deniall of that high and holy claime may occasion at least a doubting thereof And very doubtfull it was in the Councell of Trent by reason of the diversity of opinions there proposed for though the superiority of Bishops over Presbyters were a Hist of the Councell of Trent l. 7. pag. 596. de facto confessed de jure it was doubted whether it were b Ibid. p. 397. by a Divine or by a Pontificall right that is whether by a right derived from the Scripture or from the Pope and we may adde according to the c Ibid. p. 606. Augustan confession or neither for that alloweth no difference betwixt a Bishop and a Presbyter but by custome and constitution Ecclesiasticall and so doubtfull was their d Ibid. p. 597. Tenure that some in that Councell were willing to avoid the discussion of that doubt and the chiefest of the Prelates the e Ibid. p. 638. Cardinall of Loraine when he discoursed of that Question spake still ambiguously and at last concluded That the Question was boundlesse and though they made it more intricate then with us it can bee by their erroneous opinion of the Papall power and prelation over Bishops whereof we conceive no scruple at all since wee reject it as a Paradox in our Church yet there is doubt for all that of the Authority of Bishops by divine right and just ground for that doubt for First Saint f Paulus in Epist Presbyteri Episcopi appellatione promiscuè utitur idque Chrysost August Hier. aliique annotarunt Duaren de minist c. 7. fol. 8. So also Bish Downham in his defence of his consecrat Serm. l. 1. c. 3. p. 64. Bish Hall in his booke of Episcopacie part 2. p. 10 11 20. Paul in his Epistles useth the words Bishop and Presbyter in a promiscuous manner as Chrysostome August Hierome and others have observed and all three have spoken somewhat to bring Presbyters neerer to an equality with Bishops then the Tenet of such superiority by Divine Right as is pleaded for will admit for Chrysostome speaking of Saint Pauls naming of Bishops and Deacons without mention of Presbyters as to all the Saints which are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons Phil. 1.1 giveth this reason of their omission Because saith g Quia scil inter Episcopum Presbyterum interest fermè nihil solâ quippe Ordinatione superiores illi sunt Chrys in 1 Tim. 3. Hom. 11. tom 4. col 1485. he there is in a manner no difference betwixt a Bishop and a Presbyter onely in Ordination Bishops have the * Not by Scripture as is plain by 1 Tim. 4.14 but by humane constitution or custome preheminence the same saith h Quid facit exceptâ Ordinatione Episcopus quod Presbyter non faciat Hier. ad Evagr. tom 2. pag. 334. Hierome in his Epistle to Evagrius and commenting upon S. Pauls Epistle to Titus i Episcopi noverint se magis consuetudine quà m dispositionis dominicae veritate Presbyteris esse majores in commune debere Ecclesiam regere Idem in Tit. 1.5 tom 9. fol. 153. pag. 2. Hee would have Bishops to know that they are greater then Presbyters rather by custome then by truth of any constitution or disposition of the Lord and that they ought in common to govern the Church Saint k Secundùm honorum vocabula quae jam Ecclesiae usus obtinuit Episcopatus Presbyterio major est Aug. epist 19. Augustine to the same purpose saith That the phrase of the Church makes Episcopacy greater then Presbytery which Bishop Jewell rendreth thus l Bish Jewell in the defence of his Apol. part 2. c. 3. pag. 101. The office of a Bishop is above the office of a Priest not by authority of Scriptures but after the names of honour which the custome of the Church hath now obtained The Parenthesis is his brought in to make up the sentence of Saint Augustine and as now the distinction of Bishops and Priests is received it cannot as m Willets Synops papis gener controv 93. q. 3. p. 273. some who yet approve of Episcopall preheminence have written bee directly proved out of Scriptures and whereas n Archb. Whitgifts answer to T. C. p. 384 385 Archbishop Whitgift saith the reason why Bishops and Presbyters are taken for the same is because every Bishop is a Presbyter but not on the contrary every Presbyter a Bishop that reason for the Affirmative part is contradicted by o See Niceph. hist l. 12. c. 12. Gers Bucer dissertat de gubernat Eccles p. 27. Franc. Long. annot in concil p. 142. divers Instances and for the Negative it will not passe without exception at least for the Apostles time of which Saint p Idem erat Presbyter qui Episcopus antequam Diaboli instinctu studia in religione fierent Hier. ep ad Tit. cap. 1. Hierome saith that a Presbyter is the same with a Bishop and so was taken untill by the Divels instinct some turned Religion into faction And though q Epiphan haeres 75. l. 3. tom 1. contra haeres p. 215. col 1. Aerius when his ambitious desire to bee a Bishop was disappointed in emulation and anger fell to contemptuous comparisons of Bishops with Presbyters and therefore was noted by Epiphanius in his Catalogue of Heretickes and since him r Mich. Medin de contin sacr homin l. 1. c. 5. Michael Medina made it materiall heresie to deny the distinction of Divine Right betwixt Bishops and Presbyters and the ſ Si quis dixerit in Ecclesia Catholica non esse Hierarchiam divinâ ordinatione institutam quae constat ex Episcopis Ministris anathema sit Concil Trid. ses 7. Can. 6. fol. 561. b. Councell of Trent formally decreed it with an Anathema to those that deny it Yet was not Hierome though a vehement Advocate in the behalfe of the Presbyteriall dignity much lesse Chrysostome and Augustine for such sayings as these ever taxed for heresie Nor is t Altare Damasc p. 276 277 278 279. See also primam Pet. Moulinaei epist Episc Winton p. 161 162. Aerius left without a probable Apologie which may serve with some not onely to
d Archb. Whitgift in his defence of the answ to the Admon p. 386. Archbishops were set up for the keeping out of Schisme among Bishops as Bishops for that end were set over Presbyters we doe not gainsay it but say that our Doubt is not now of the politicke end but of the originall right of their exaltation and withall we may note that this Argument drawne from the prevention of Schisme may climbe too high and indeed it hath done so for at the next step it lifteth up Patriarchs above Archbishops and at the next after that a Pope above Patriarchs and all this upon the same pretence of preventing of Schisme but the further it hath advanced the worse it hath succeeded for the welfare of the Church both in respect of Heresie and Schisme for Bellarmine saith e Omnes Ecclesiae Patriarchales praeter Romanam habuerunt per longa tempora manifestos Haereticos Bel. de notis Eccl. 4. not 5. c. 8. p. 74. All the Patriarchall Churches except the Romane for a long time have had Bishops which were manifest Heretickes If his observation be as true for the most which for a great part we may beleeve though we dare not take it upon his bare word as his exception is false for the Romane Patriarch for he is the most Hereticall and Schismaticall Prelate in the world wee can have no great confidence in the end the keeping out of Schisme unlesse the meanes the raising up of Bishops to that height be found to bee warranted by the Word of God yet wee make great difference betwixt the Popes claime of universall and unlimited Supremacy upon this ground and that of Archbishops and Patriarchs confined within the reach and under the checke and restraint of a temporall Potentate For the other offices of Government named in the Oath or involved in the c. there is none that pleadeth a Divine Right and we may say of most of them as f Bish Downh in the defence of his consecr Serm. l. 1. c. 8. pag. 185. Bishop Downham doth of some of them As for ordinary Vicars that is Vicars which are Ecclesiasticall Judges in ordinary Chancellours or Commissaries scil of the Laity the Bishops in these times i. of Saint Augustine and Ambrose had none not so much as the Steward of the Church might bee a Lay-man They neither did then nor rightly could they claime a Divine and Apostolicall right for their callings which wee may the rather say for the saying of Anacletus who about the yeare 103. being Bishop of Rome hath in one of his Epistles written That there were but two orders ordained by our Saviour viz. of Bishops and Priests nor were any more either orders or degrees either appointed by God or taught by the Apostles whereof though many doubt in regard of that he affirmeth of the originall of Bishops yet they will easily assent to his deniall of the rest and what their right is either by custome or humane constitution we are very doubtfull and while we doubt we dare not sweare 4. Partic. Their perpetuity not to be changed The 17. DOUBT How farre this perpetuity propounded is to be applyed to the Discipline or Government of the Church 17. Particular Doubt THE REASON BEcause as before hath been observed Discipline and Government seeme at the beginning of the Oath to be the same and in this part of it wee find no cause to divide them and then our Doubt is Why a great part of the Discipline and Government consisting in Constitutions concerning Ceremonies and other things of alterable nature as g The accidentall points of Government as the manner of electing Ministers the kind of Discipline accidentall Ceremonies and other such like Rites and Circumstances may bee varied according to time place and persons Archb. Whitgift in a Note of dangerous points of the Doctrine of T.C. presently after the Preface nu 19. The like hath Bish Hall in his Apology against the Brownists p. 595 596. Archbish Whitgift acknowledgeth wee should sweare to a perpetuity whereby we conceive we shall crosse at least the intent of the 34. Article to which the Clergy have subscribed which saith Every particular or nationall Church hath authority to ordaine h The like we have noted before out of the Preface of our Service Booke change and abolish Ceremonies or Rites of the Church ordained onely by mans Authority so that all things bee done to edifying and withall shall much impeach the freedome of future Synods for they that are forestalled with an Oath against change cannot bee so free to change when just occasion requireth as they should be It is an exception made by the Divines of Aberdene against the Oath of the Covenant in Scotland i The generall Demands of the Ministers and Professors of Aberdene Deman 10. p. 26 That it taketh away all hope of a free Assembly or Parliament to judge of the matter presently debated for how can those say they vote freely of any matter propounded to decision and deliberation of the Church and State who have already sworne to adhere to one part of the Question And our dread Soveraigne in his large Declaration sheweth k The Kings Declar. concerning the Tumults in Scotl. p. 330. That points of Discipline Government and Policy of the Church even in Scotland are declared by Act of Parliament Act. 20.21 to bee alterable at the will of the Church it selfe and so repealable by succeeding Acts if the Church shall see cause And our Church to this day doth professe a purpose and desire of alteration of Discipline for in the beginning of the Commination in our Service Booke these are her words Brethren in the Primitive Church there was a godly Discipline that at the beginning of Lent such persons as were notorious sinners were put to open penance c. In stead whereof untill the said Discipline may be restored again which thing is much to be wished it is thought good c. the same desire appeareth in the Synod at l The Councell of Challons held an 813. Can. 25. Symps of the Church p. 560 561. Challons decreeing an intreaty to bee presented to the Emperour That the ancient Discipline may bee restored againe and that they who sin publickly may bee brought to publick repentance and every man according as he deserveth may either bee excommunicated or reconciled And for Excommunication in particular which is a chiefe point of Discipline or Government of which m 1. Whether the name might not be altered 2. Whether in place of it another coercion might not be invented Conser at Hamp Court pag. 19. King James propounded an alteration both for the name and thing c. we conceive it not onely alterable from that which is now but being more frequently inflicted for non-appearance then for the foulenesse of the offence when it doth appeare meet to be altered and reformed according to the n See Reform leg Eccles Ã