This rule therefore that because it is first in time before another it is in order to bee first treated vpon before an other or because other as yet were not therefore that which was before made a perfect regiment is no perfect nor good argument Which argument being grounded on so vncertaine and weakâ foundation all that is built thereon is easily shattered The Papistes for the traditions of the Church which they call the vnwritten worde or veritie vnwritten vse the like argument against the authoritie of Gods written word and veritie of the Scripture The word was deliuered by tradition of preaching before it was deliuered by writing therefore traditions are of no lesse authoritie nor lesse to be beleeued then the written worde and holie scripture yea the Churches authoritie is aboue the scriptures and is the iudge thereof Thus doe the Papistes encroche from the time to the authoritie as our brethren heere doe Nowe as this reason faileth both for the Senioritie of time and forestalling the order of place and much more for claiming any prioritie in dignitie and most of all for inferring any such honour as perfection of regiment so for the truthe of this proposition that The Church of God was perfect in all her regiment before there was any Christian Prince I can not yet sée howe directly it can be iustified For if this were true then there neede no regiment of Christian Princes at all And howe then haue the Christian Princes anie authoritie at all in Eccl. causes Or âf they haue anie howe came they by it if the Churches regiment were perfect or the Church perfect in all her regiment before there were anie Christian Prince Or whereto serueth the Christian Princes supream authoritie in Ecclesiasticall causes if not to make the regiment of the Church in better estate For otherwise the Church were as good without it if she be no better in her Regiment by it then she was before shée had it But it is not so both the church and her regiment is bettered by it Which your selues are faine in part to confesse euen heere in the conclussion of your argument saying of God who hath most mercifully and wisely so established the same to wit the churches regiment that as with the comfortable aide of christian Magistrates it may singulerlie prosper and flourish c. And againe for the church craueth helpe defence of christian Princes to continue and go fore-ward more peaceablye and profiâablye to the setting vp of the kingdome of Christ. Although héere ye will affoorde no more but this yet if there were no more this is inough to ouerthrow your saying that the church of God was perfect in all her Regiment before there was any christian prince For if this comfortable aide helpe and defence to continue and goe forewarde in so great matters as more peaceably and profitably to the setting vp of the kingdome of Christe were taken awaie then the church of God though I graunt it may continue and against the aduersaries thereof preuaile Yet should she not be perfect in al her Regiment needing this comfortable ayde help and defence of christian Princes And the setting vp of the kingdome of Christe shoulde with more trouble and lesse profit go fore-warde yea rather it should go back-warde and he hindered though it continue and not so singulerly flourish and prosper but decay And is this so smal a matter in your eyes brethren as that it nothing appertained to the Regiment of the church but that crauing all this of christian princes and so without them wanting the same ye dare so boldly auouch that she is perfect in all her Regiment without it Doth she craue that she wanteth not Then is she a wanton Doeth she want it then is she not perfect in all her Regiment Or doeth it not greatly pertaine vnto her Regiment Or doe yee thinke that this shall salue the matter because the churche may continue and againste the aduersaries thereof preuaile without it Our question nowe is not of the substance and beeing of the church but of the Regiment of it Neither yet simply of the Regiment but whether she were perfect in all her Regiment before any christian princes were or no The church I graunt was then and shall continue euer and she had euen then a Regiment also Yea and that Regiment in soone respectes might be called perfecte for that time while there were not such open professed christian princes to be foster fathers and noursing moothers of the church as God bee praysed now there are For concerning the Rectors of the church then as they were then more perfect and singuler persons so had they more perfect and singuler extra-ordinary offices and withall more excellent giftes to be able to gouerne it the better But this argueth so little the churches perfection then in al her Regiment vnderstanding the same of all her ordinary externall Regiment whereupon our question is which Regiment shee was not then so perfectly come vnto that rather their extra-ordinary gifts and offices of Apostles Euangelistes Prophetes c. were added for that time to supplye furnish that part of the Regiment thereof that was afterward to be made more perfect concerning the ordinary state by the accesse of the Christian Princes following Except therefore our Brethren intende vtterlie to shake off all Christian Princes and account their supreame authority in Church causes if not now to be nought yet to be nought worth and altogether vnnecessary to the perfection of the Churches Regiment how can this be any good argument to infirme it now because admitting this also were true there were no ChristiaÌ Princes theÌ what do they inferre here-upoÌ that there is no more néede héerein of Christian Princes now then there was then presupposing that then héerein there was no néede at all of them that were a very suspitious and perrilous conclusion For although theÌ there were the lesse néede of them because that néede was then other-wise supplied yet those supplies not continuing and malice increasing both of aduersaries without and of Hipocrites within and the giftes also that remaine decreasing there is now farre more neede of the Christian Princes supreame gouernment to the perfecting of the Churches Regiment And so the state of the time for the regiment of the church differing the argument of the Regiment from the time then to the time now is defectiue But if they néeded then héerein the helpe of christian Princes as they do nowe then was not the church perfect in all her Regiment otherwise than as it was extraordinarylie supplied before the christian Princes helpe and comfortable aide was added Before which time those temporary supplies comming to the church as the Manna and other extraordinary helpes made the Iewes estate to flourish prosper and goe fore-ward in the Desertes though they ceased when they came to the land of promise So the church might bee
ouer-seer of Gods Church and many of them be such their selues If ye say it was not the diuels Bishop For he was not yet come but that as Beza and Danaeus saye hee made notwithstanding a way for the diuels Bishop to followe after The reuerence still reserued of so learned and reuerende men I dare not thinke so hardelie of them For what is that but to be the diuels Bishops gentle-men vshers preparers and fore-runners of his Antichriste And so all comes to one they were all the diuels Bishops saue that the lesse hurtfull diuels went before and the more perillous diuels came after But all of them diuels incarnate and no better then the diuels Bishops But God forbid that euer we should so say or thinke of them It is no charitable iudgement of any be he neuer so reuerende and learned man vpon so manie holie auncient as good and perhaps better Bishops of God then is himselfe But if to mollifie all this he will defende this part of his distinction they are of man but not of the diuell theÌ let him put out these words brought in by the alone wisedome of man yea then let him confesse for in the end he shall be driuen vnto it that this B. of man is euen the very B. of God also If he say it can not be the B. of God because it is besides the expresse worde of God that which is included can not well bee called besides but within And then who séeth not that if it were so besides yet that is no barre if it be not debarred by the expresse worde of God but be eyther of necessarie consequence included or a matter left at libertie and not expressed Neither is this any whit enclining to the errors of the Popish Bishops of the diuell that would bring in anie doctrines of diuels or diuelish traditions of man into the Church of God besides that is without and against the Scripture For if the Papists can prooue any of those thinges though not expressed yet of necessarie consequence included in the scripture we refuse them then had they matter indéede to be iustly offended with vs. But where their doctrines and traditions which we refuse are such as are neither expressed nor included in Gods word what are they but in effect against it Prooue this Bishop that ye call of man to be of that stampe and then indéede Out on him yea and out with him He is then of man I graunt but he is of the Diuell also and we will God willing with you renounce and defie him But as for those holie auncient Fathers they brought in no other Bishop but such as had good warrant both inclusiue and also expresse in Gods word And we haue none I hope nor defende anie but that accordeth with these holie Fathers and is not onely of man but of God also And as we say thus for the partie defined so for the definition that this Bishop of man is a certaine power giuen to one certaine Pastor aboue his other fellowes yet limited with certaine orders or rules prouided against tyrannie That the partie to whom power is giuen may be called figuratiuely the power it selfe is indéede in the expresse worde of God Rom. 13. Let euerie soule be subiect to the higher powers Now-beit for such a learned man in a definition to set down in the front of anie treatise to expresse the nature of a thing vpon the light and truth whereof all the treatise dependeth he should me thinkes auoide such figures speake plaine and not say a Bishop is a power giuen to a Pastor for this is rather a definition of the Bishops office then of the Bishop that enioyes it But because they be so néerely conioyned and haue relation one to the other let that goe And although this difference heere set downe that applyeth this definition to the partie defined bee so large that it stretcheth to other persons as well as to a Pastor and so conteyneth more than doth a Bishop yet let that goe too But doe ye thinke that a power limited with orders or rules prouided against tyrannie is not a good and lawefull power Or is such a power of the Diuell If all power that is indéede power be of God is not this much more of God and acceptable to him Yea but say you be it neuer so good yet the same to be giuen to one certaine Pastor aboue his fellowes that is the point this learned man denyeth Yea is that the matter And what if he himselfe or euer he turne the leafe in expresse wordes do say all thinges ought to be done orderly in the Lordes house and therefore that some one shoulde be president in euerie assemblie And can this bee doone with-out a certaine power bee giuen to one Pastor aboue his other fellowes Yea but that will hée saye is not giuen him to continue but for the continuaunce of the assemblie But this was lesse out of the definition and he was called simplie the Bishop of man that had a certaine power giuen to one certaine Pastor aboue his other fellowes yet limited with certaine orders or rules prouided against tyrannie So that hée that hath this power giuen him for a time of an assemblie is by this reckoning the Bishoppe of God And he that hath giuen him for longer time than an assemblie is the Bishop of man But I praye you haue me reuerentlie commended to this most reuerende and learned man and desire him to shewe mee this in the expresse worde of God For I feare not but that where-soeuer he shall finde the one I will hazarde to finde the consequence of the other And if this power may be giuen of man for a time it is not then I take it the difference of the power it selfe so much nor of the competencie of it to the persons as the difference of the time howe longer the person shall enioy this power that we contend for We agrée that such a power as is limited with certaine orders or rules prouided against tyranie is good and lawefull and of GOD. We agrée also that it may be giuen of man to a Pastor aboue his fellowe Pastors for a time and hee still remaine a Pastor and they still remayne therein his fellowes but in respect of this his limited power giuen him he is aboue them for the time Is nowe the limitation of time of the substance to make such difference and that before God But I doubt not if there bee no worse matter in the power it selfe wee shall easilie obtaine a little longer time than of a short assemblie that our Bishop of man being the man of God may be Bishop of GOD also and not so soone made a quondam and an-other placed in his Bishopricke Since be-it shorte or long there is no daunger at all of anie tyrannie in it But as hee limiteth him for the time so he addeth after this definition a limitation
Creta Paule mentioneth not that he should make Deacons but Priestes and Elders onelie vsing that name indifferently for Byshops So that where the name is not expressed might not Epiphanius well avouch that this maketh nothing against the state in generall of the office in that place not expressed For perhaps it was not yet established there as afterwarde it was And doth not Saint Ambrose confesse as muche and more than this euen vppon the place of Ephes. 4. so much vrged He gaue some to be Apostles and some Prophetes c. Applying them to the vse of the Church after the Apostles times saying the Apostles are the Bishops the Prophetes are the expounders of the scriptures Although among the verie beginninges there were Prophetes such as Agabus and the foure Virgines prophecying as it is conteyned in the Actes of the Apostles Howe-beit for to commende the principles of the Faythe the Interpreters are nowe called Prophetes The Euangelistes are the Deacons such as was Philip. Although they bee not Priestes yet may they preache the Gospell but with-out a chayre euen as Stephen and Philip mentioned The Pastors may be the Readers who with their reading fatten the people that heare them because man liueth not in breade onely but in euerie worde that proceedeth out of the mouth of God But the Maisters are the exorcistes because they appease correct the disturbers or else those that were wont to instruct and trayne vp with readinges those infantes that were to be instructed As is the manner of the Iewes whose tradition made a passage vnto vs which is by negligence worne out Among these after the Bishop he is vnderstoode to be more who for the hidden sense of the Scriptures opened is sayde to prophecie especially because he draweth out the wordes of the hope to come Which order may nowe be that that is of the Priest hoode or the Eldership For all the orders are in a bishop because first hee is a Priest that is to saye the Prince or chiefe of the Priestes and he is a Prophet and an Euangelist and the other offices of the Church are to be fulfilled in the ministerie of the faithful Notwithstanding after that in all places the Churches were constituted and offices ordeyned the matter was composed otherwise than it beganne For at the first all did teach and all did baptize what dayes or times soeuer there was occasion For neither Philip sought time or day wherein he should baptize the Eunuche nor interposed any fasting Neither Paul and Silas differred the time that they might baptize the chiefe man vnder the tribune or the keeper of the prison with al his Neither had Peter Deacons nor sought the day when he baptized Cornelius with all his house neither hee himselfe did it but he bad the brethren that went with him to Cornelius from Ioppe For as yet besides the seauen there was no Deacon ordeyned As therefore the people encreased multiplied it was graunted to them all at the beginning both to preach the Gospell and to baptize and to expounde the scriptures in the Church But when as the Church had compassed about all places conuenticles were appointed and rectors other offices were ordeyned in the Churches That none of the Clergy durst which was not ordeined to presume vpon him the office that he knew was not coÌmitted or graunted vnto him And the Church began to be gouerned by another order prouidence because that if all might doe the same thinges it should be vnreasonable and it would be thought a common most vile thing From hence therefore it is whereupon neither Deacons nowe doe preache among the people neither the Clerkes or the Layitie doe baptise Neyther are the faithfull baptized whatsoeuer day they list except they be sicke The writings therfore of the Apostle in all points agree not with the ordinance that nowe is in the Churche For because that these thinges were written euen in the very beginnings for he calleth also Timothie that was of him created a Priest or Elder a B. because Priests or Elders were at the first called Bishops that the one giuing place the follower should succeede him To conclude in Aegypt the Priestes or Elders do ensigne them if the B. be not present But because the Priestes or Elders following beganne to be found vnworthie to holde primacies or chiefe gouernements the reason was altered the Councell prouiding therefore it was constituted by the iudgement of manie Priestes that not the order but the deserte should create the Bishop least that an vnwoorthie one should rashly vsurpe and be an offence to manie Thus doth this most Reuerend and learned Father S. Ambrose write also euen as much or more than Epiphanius doth on these wordes alleaged by the Apostle But nowe saith our most Reuerende and learned man whome yet can Epiphanius persuade that it was for want of fitte men onely that there were many Bishops in euerie Church Doth Epiphanius goe about to persuade anie héereunto Or had hée anie cause to persuade this vnto them Which if hee would haue gone about to persuade he should haue contraried his owne spéech that sayde there were some places where there was no Bishop This therefore is rather a deprauing of that which Epiphanius doth alleage against Aërius then that Epiphanius vsed anie deprauing of places alleaged by Aërius out of Paule Nowe to conclude with Epiphanius for he letteth slippe all his argument that by comparison he maketh from the examples of so manie thinges in the old Testament that at the first were not ordeined he saith for that which he calleth the 3. reason out of the historie of those times For that which not onely Hierome but Epiphanius against the Miletians also reporteth concerning them of Alexandria that is Alexandria neuer had two Bishops as the other Cities vpon what ground the men of Alexandria did it and followed not the examples of other Churches let them see to it Nay let this our most Reuerende and Learned man him-selfe see to it if it please him If not let vs see to it a little better For hee settes it heere downe in such sorte that the reader not perusing the histories for this matter would thinke that all other Churches had two Bishops at once faue onelie Alexandria Whereas except it were Ierusalem that so had by a rare occasion as is declared or that vppon the absence age or infirmitie of the Bishop an other helper to him were chosen which was called Coepiscopus not onelie Alexander but all other Churches in Christendome whereof any record maketh mention I speak within the boundes of my serch for it haue euen from the Apostles times if they were so auncient vsually continued vnder the ecclesiasticall gouernment of one Bishop as by their successions set downe by Irenaeus Eusebius Theodorete Socrates Sozomene Hierome and others doth appeare Yea by Epiphanius
full well discerne how farre our verball contentions with our ouer zealous Brethr. differre from their verberall persecutions of them our ouer furious aduersaries and are indeede no sufficient cause to confirme or stay them in their errours Albeit I graunt they do so of the which I am the sorier if it otherwise pleased God And would to God our Brethren with vs wou'd better thinke hereon that wee might both of vs being Brethren once againe bââtherly ioyne and combine our selues together ãâã in the vnitie of ââr doctrine so in the vniformitie of our discipline against the professed aduersaries of the Gospel and of vs both either to their conuersion or confusion And I doubt it nor but that if our brethren shall yet now at length enter with vs into a more aduised viewe and circumspect examination of these matters either they will remitte their further contention or debate them with more deliberate moderation to the better stopping of the âduersaries mouthes and to our owne fuller resolution Which sequele if it please God to effect I haue thus farre hazarded in this iust and necessarie defence to expose my selfe to the hartburning hard speaking God knowes of howe many a one whome in the Lord these opinions herein set aside I loue and honour in all duetie and glad would I haue beene that some other had employed their trauailes in this businesse wherof many on our side the Lord be praised for them had beene able to haue discharged the same a great deale better And I lingred the longer expecting if any would preuent me but when none did it or did vouchsaâe it and I was drawen into the action on the foresaid prouocation and was afterward of diuers requested not to withdrawe my selfe from this occasion considering withall that I had before opposed my selfe against the publike aduersarie in the like argument of the Christian Princes supreme gouernement in Ecclesiasticall causes which our brethren here also though in another manner but no lesse perillous call againe in question that nowe I should likewise beare my selfe on euen hand yea were it against mine owne deare brethren in Christ and her maiesties loyal and louing subiectes though greatly ouer reached in the heate preposterous earnestnes of their pursuite herein How leuelly I haue borne my selfe without gaule or splene in affection or stile my duitie to God to his trueth to his church and to her maiestie reserued hauing my quarell onely to the matters not to the persons I referre me to the equitie of the reader My purpose God he knoweth is not wittingly to giue iust offence to any of our brethren Which if notwithstanding any shall take for that I spare not to discouer the defectes of their arguments for that I admonish them albeit I trust in spiritu lenitatis of their vntempered speaches aswell against our and their most gratious Soueraigne and all Christian Princes soueraignetie as against the authoritie and persons of our prelates and of vs their fellowe ministers in the Gospell and against our ministerie and prescribed forme of prayer and sacraments or for that I obserue more narrowly now and then their absurdities and contâadictions to them selues and their dangerous positions to our state or for that I sende home againe vnto themselues those foule-mouthed slaunders wherewith vntruely they burden our church and vs or for that I dissent from the iudgement or interpretation of those famous late writers whome our brethren stand so much vppon or for that I go to the pitche of the controuersies and so largely prosecute the chiefest of them If our brethren shall thinke these things too hardly followed their owne importunitie being the cause and their full at least their further satisfaction being my drift I hope they will the easilier affoord me their excuse And I humbly beseech all our good meaning Brethr. that are otherwise persuaded herein than we are to suspend their sentence but for the while that they shall with indifferencie and without partialitie read and ponder these debatings to and fro betwixt our brethren and vs and then a gods name giue their verdict as God shal moue them hauing the feare of God before their eyes and a right zeale of his trueth and glorie in their hearts with ân vnfeined loue and reuerence to his church Which done if I for my part haue herein âffended any I hartily crie them mercie and shall be readie by the grace of God on all âue warning and conuincing to the vttermost of my skill and power to retract or amend ãâã and so I trust and craue of all our brethren that they will not disdaine to doe the like Not regarding the person of the defender but the proues of the defence whereby God âilling we shall the sooner finde and the better conclude the cleere true and full deterâinations of all these questions And to the intent gentle reader thou shouldest the readilier finde out anie of the âointes here in controuersie I haue distributed all this answere to our brethrens learned âiscourse into seueral books prefixing their arguments to euery of them besides the titles of the pages and the marginall quotations which in stâede of an Index may serue ãâã lead thee And though directly it pertaine not to me yet I craue the Printers and ãâã owne pardon for a great number of petit and some grosse escapes in the impression ãâã haue fallen out the more for the difficultie of my coppie vnto him and by so often ââterchanging of the character either in citing our brethrens wordes or some other testimonie or the text it selfe of scripture as Pag. 146. lin 34.35 Pag. 227. lin 6.7 where the letter of the text is not distinguished Besides the Hebrue wordes for the most part some Greeke with wrong letters And many wordes and sentences which the composer nor corrector did well conceiue and haue so passed I being not alwayes present at reuising the prooues But the learned and discreete reader may discerne them of which escapes the chiefe and most are noted The residue I pray the reader vouchsafe to amend with his penne sith I cannot do it with mine in all the copies And so committing it to the good successe that God shall send it and to the gentle construction of all our learned and other good brethren in the Lord and of euery indifferent Christian reader that is rightly desirous in the feare of God and loue of his trueth for tââ benefite of his Church and stay of him selfe to fadome the bottom of these controuersies and wisheth the final pacification of them I conclude with the holy Apostles most godly prayer Phil. 1. And this I praye that your loue may abound more more in knowledge in all iudgement that ye may discerne things that differ one from another that ye may be pure without offence vntil the day of Christ being fulfilled with all the fruites of righteousnes which are by Iesus Christ vnto the glorie praise of
denie the habilitie of many of our brethren to be able to interpret the scriptures in the deliuerie of the doctrine thereof to be equall either with the Bishops or with any other For it is not the accesse of the Bishops dignitie that maketh the person a better interpretor then he was before he was called to the dignitie it sufficeth if being in the dignitie he imploie himselfe in his former faithfulnesse And would God our brethren also would restraine their emulation to this comparison to be equall or better in interpreting and in the deliuerie of the scripture then the Bishops as Ierome contended with Augustine And though Augustine were a Bishop Ierome but a Prieste which Ierome confesseth and yet euer sharplie threatned the conflict with Augustine if he were prouoked thereunto Neuerthe-lesse Augustine reuerently aunswereth Quanquam c For although according to the tearmes of honour which the vse of the Church hath now obtained the office of a Bishop be greater then the office of a Priest or elder notwithstanding Augustin is in many things lesse then Ierome yea correction is not to be fled from or disdained though it come from any that is the lesser And in this behalfe of interpreting the scripture Cyprian honored Tertullian and diuerse Bishops specially Alexander Theoctistus reuerenced Origen And yet these men for all their giftes in interpreting the Scriptures and deliuery of doctrine being farre superiour to the most part of the Bishops did not therefore encroch further into any superiority or equallity of authority and dignity with the Bishops Let our brethren interprete the Scriptures and deliuer the doctrine sincerelie and therein excel the Bishops as they may easily do both by cause of the Bishops great age and great imploying in the gouernment and iurisdiction of the Church As Augustine modestly confesseth of himselfe vnto Ierome saying Nam neque in me c. For I neither see in my selfe so much knowledge of the diuine scriptures yea or that now there can be as I see there is in you And if I haue any facultie in this matter I imploy it as I may to the people of God But to apply my selfe more diligentlie to my studies then for the furniture of the thinges that the people heare I cannot by any meanes for the Ecclesiasticall businesse So that héerin the inferior as these our brethren may haue more opportunity in interpreting and deliuery of the Scripture And I warrant then the Bishops will not refuse them euer a whit for their so doing but helpe encourage and defend them Which although any Bishop fore-slowed or enuied to doe yet ought not any of our brethren hauing such equal giftes with the Bishops in the interpreting of the scriptures and deliuerye of doctrine and withal being lawfully called by the Bishops into the ministery to exauthorate and withdrawe themselues from the ministery for these controuersies of equall gouernment with the Bishops But sée how captiously our brethren deale in citing the testimony ofthe Arch. for where he saith It is not to be denied but that there is an equallity of al ministers of Gods word quoad ministeriuÌ touching the ministery for they haue all like power to preach the word to minister the sacraments that is to say the word preached or the sacraments ministred is as effectuall in one in respect of the ministery as it is in an other But quoad ordinem politiam towching order and gouernment there hath alwayes bene and must be degrees and superiority amongst them These words do our brethren drawe to this obiection that they are not comparable in learning to the Arch-bishops and Bishops at leaste say they let their owne opinion that in interpreting the Scriptures deliuery of doctrine we are equall with them perswade them But who seeth not that these words of the Arch-bishop do not inferre an equallity of the giftes in the ministers as hauing these giftes equally but an equalitie of their ministery in the hability to haue them and doo distinguishâ onely betweene the power of order and of iurisdiction And therefore this is but haled to aunswere the obiection of this comparison betwéen the learning of the Arch-bishops and Bishops and the learning of our brethren in the interpreting the scriptures and deliuery of doctrine to be equall But our brethren saie Who if they could straine their consciences to subscribe to the Archbishops articles they would gladly receaue them to be the Embassadors of Iesus Christ. These words againe are somewhat intricate so that wee might misse our brethrens meaning while they neither plainly expresse who they are that would gladly receaue nor whome nor what neither yet to whome these wordes to be the Embassadors of Iesus Christ are referred whether to them selues or to the Arch-bishops and Bishops But I coniecture their meaning to be this that if these our brethren could straine their coÌsciences to subscribe to the Arch-bishops articles they would gladly receaue those articles that they might thereby haue liberty to preach and so to be the Embassadors of Iesus Christ. If our brethrân héere meane by the Arch-bishops articles the articles where-upon it was by the Arch-bishops and bishops of both prouinces the whole Cleargie in the conuocation holden at London c. 1562. Put forth by the Queenes authority some of which articles our brethren afterwarde in this learned discourse pag. 135. do roughly challenge for diuerse grosse and palpable errors how truly or falslie and with what gââd conscience they burden them therewith I reserue to the examination of the proper place But bicause they séeme not so much to meane those articles for then they should straine their consciences apparantly to farre in calling those articles the Arch-bishops articles which were the articles not onely of Arch-bishops but also of the bishops and of the whole Cleargie and sett forth by her Maiesties authority therfore I rather take it that our brethren meane by the Arch-bishops articles The Articles where-unto all such as are admitted to preach reade cathechyse minister the sacrameÌts or execute anie other Eccl. function do agree and consent testifie the same by the subscription of their hands viz. 1. That her Maiestie vnder God hath and ought to haue the soueraigntie and rule ouer all manner of persons within her realmes dominions and countries of what state either Ecclesiasticall or temporall soeuer they be and that none other forraine power prelate state or potentate hath or ought to hâue any iurisdiction power superiority preeminence or authority Ecclesiasticall or spirituall within her Maiesties said realmes dominions or countries 2. That the booke of common prayer and of ordering Bish. Priests Deacons contayneth in it nothing contrary to the word of God that the same may lawfully be vsed And that I my self who do subscribe wil vse the forme of the said booke prescribed in publike prayer and administration of the Sacraments and none other 3.
vnprofitable labourers saue in respect of merite towarde God wee confesse indeede as Christ willeth vs to acknowledge our selues That when wee haue done all we are able to do we are but vnprofitable seruaunts but not in all respectes vnprofitable But if our so long labour haue had the lesse profit to our more gréefe why do not our brethren looke rather to the cause and hinderance of it for perhaps it is not so much of the laborer as of the aduersaries that haue resisted vs. And haue we not aduersaries inow of Sathan of Antichriste of his ministers of the vnthankfull worlde c. but that our owne brethren wil be euen almost as bitter against vs as the worst If therefore we haue so long laboured with so little profit laie the fault where it is Remoue the impediment and then God before let vs say with Peter Luc 5.5 Though I haue laboured al night long and haue taken noâhing neuârthelesse Lord at thy worde I will cast foorth the net And then no doubt God will blesse our labours with more profit And if our brethren when we becken to them will come and helpe vs we shall enclose such a multitude of Fishes that our nettes shall bee full And if our nettes breake let vs mende them againe vniformely together And then our state shall bee if it bee not as beawtifull and farre more beawtifull I do not doubt it then anie of all our neighbours is But God blesse our neighbours and make vs more thankfull and lesse contentious and new-fangled then we be and not onely more obedient to our Ciuill Christian Magistrates but more reuerent to the Ecclesiasticall gouernours as the Apostle Heb 13.7 c. giveth vs good counsell Remember them which haue the ouer-sight of you whiche haue declared vnto you the wordâ of God whose faith followe considering what hath beene the ende of their conuersation Iesus Christ yesterdaye and to daye the same also is for euer Be not caried about with diuârse and straunge doctrines And in the 17. verse Obey them that haue the ouersight of you for they watche for your soules as they that must geue accounts that they may do it with ioy and not with griefe for that is vnprofitable for you And if there bee any disorder in doing this their duty the fault being personall the state is not to be defaced as disordred but the faults redressed and the state stand But where the inferiours will presume to disobey yea to alter thâ state of their Superiours and to set vp them-selues will not onely set out the Bishops and Archbishops but the supreame authority of their Soueraigne too If this should be suffered the state would then indéedâ become a most disordered state And would worke a worse waie to Antichrists pride and presumption bringing in manie straunge kindes of false doctrine and confusion and bréede a greater mysterie of iniquitie while euery particuler congregation or seniorie among them may thus following the deuises of their owne braine and pretending vpon a barâ fact or order or office that they finde mentioned in the scriptures though perhaps cleane other wise then they take it inforce a warrant of Gods worde for them to followe Yea to thinke the onely experience of any of their neighbours successe in imitation of the like a sufficient perswasion for them to leaue the state vnder which they liue and conâmeliouslie to reuile it for a disordered state and to preiudice and alter thâ gouernement established and to bring in a new Quaternion of Gouernours by whome onely all matters maye bee directed which are commonly called Ecclesiasticall without any other superior ouerâight or gouernment of Bish. or Arch. or any supreame authority of the Prince tâ be admitted among them Ha brethren marke the mysterie of these deuises more aduisedlie anâ I thinke you will saye at least-wise yee may saye that if our statâ were disordered these things would not bring it into better order but set it quite out of all order and hazarde the cleane ouerthrow of the whole state If the axe were gone is this the remedy to hurle the helue after it howbeit our brethren héere if the helue be not missing but not orderlie set on would cast both helue and axe and all away Now least we might perhaps mistake our brethrens wordes and so might be suspected to slaunder them in saying they woulde cleane excluââ with the Bishops and Arch-bishops superiour authoritye the supreame authority of the Christian Prince and so of her Maiestie from the direction of all Ecclesiasticall matters albeit their words aforesaid are plainâ inough yet this their resolute conclusion in these wordes make it manifeste There remaineth therefore of these before rehearsed onelie in the Church these Ecclesiasticall offices instituted by God namelie Pastors Doctors Gouernours and Deacons by which the church of God may according to his worde be directed in al matters which are commonly called Ecclesiasticall Here is the conclusion of this Tetrarchie the Prince is not at all mentioned but cleane excluded from the direction of all Eccl. matters and thâ direction committed to these 4. onely which particuler onâly debarreââ both the Prince and all other besides these 4. Yet because among these 4. estates this word Gouernours might carye such a generall sense as that they might séeme not to exclude but to include the Prince to shew therefore their meaning the plainer that they intend not to include the Prince at al in the Quadrant of these 4. kindes estates of personages vnder the ambiguous name of Gouernours our brethren procéede saying But while wee speake of Ecclesiasticall gouernement it may bee thought of some that we shoulde intreate first of the supreame authority of Christian Princes where upon it seemeth that all the regiment of the church dependeth which is such a myste to dazle the eyes of ignorant persons that they think all things in the Ecclesiast state ought to be disposed by that onely high authority and absolute power of the ciuill Magistrate In these wordes our brethren fore-séeing that some iuste oâfence might arise héereon that professing a Learned discourse and hauing delte thus farre in the Gouernement of Ecclesiasticall matters and quartered the same into these 4. Tetrarks Pastors Doctors Gouernours and Deacons and that all Ecclesiâsticall matters are to be directed only by these 4. the Christian Prince as God bee praised is amongst and ouer all vs her most excellent Maiestie is not onely all this while not mentioned but excluded and so excluded that whether her Maiesties estate be preiudiced héereby is not so much as called first in question and the Princes authority being first debated and resolued vpon then to haue procéeded to the limiting and deciding of these Tetrarks seuerall or conioyned Gouernement Therefore our brethren thinke it nowe belike highe time to mitigate this offence and to preuent this obiection And indéede brethren it is a good obiection
and the matter and the endes thereof are no lesse of God then the spirituall power and reuengement of the Ecclesiasticall ministerye sithe these two distincte functions haue alwayes beene ioyned together in the Church and the holy Ghost reckoning vp rulings and gouernements among the giftes and functions of the Church doth generally comprehende all kindes of offices yea doeth rather expresse both the Ciuill and the Ecclesiasticall power and reuengement by the selfe-same meanes With what rashnesse would the aduersaries excâude that from the Church except they will take this away withall Besides this not onely the Scripture calleth the distinct Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall function by the selfe same names by reason of the coniunction and vse of them both in the Church but also calleth the ministers of them both Guides and Praesidentes This is manifest by the conference of the Testimonies Mat. 27. ver 2. Act. 23. ver 26. Hebr. 13. ver 7. and 17. 1. Pet. 2. ver 14. for in these places the worde ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is commonly attributed as-well to the Ciuill Magistrate as to the Ministers of the worde To conclude when Paule 1. Cor. 12. v. 10.28 29 And 2. Cor. 10. v. 5. 6. doth reckon vp powers and reuengement against all contumacie lifting vp it selfe against God wherewith Peter strake down Ananias and Sapphira Act. 5. and Paule strake blinde Elymas the Sorcerer among the giftes and powers of the Church who woulde exclude the powers of the Magistracie ordeyned of God for the punishment of euil-doers from his Church Either of the powers is of God aswell this ordinary of the Magistrate as that extra-ordinary you see the reuengement of the wicked to be both waies approued of God although the properties of the offices the forme of the reuenging are distinguished It is not to the purpose whether ye kil with sworde or with worde as saith Lactantius there is no difference in the very substance of the reuengement the end of either power is al one to wit the glory of God shyning in the righteous punishment of the euil Yea rather since that teÌporary power of punishing the obstinat hath ceased after that kings are now made the nourishers champions of the Church Therfore the church of Christ hath so much more need of this ordinary power reuengement of the Magistrate wherby the good may be defended the euil punished Lo Christian Reader the scripture teacheth that the Ciuill power hath alwayes beene ioyned with the ministery of the word in the Church Thus saith Gellius Snecanus one of the principal writers at this day of these our brethren the Learned Discoursers side Wherein we sée how our brethren runne vpon the same flats that the Anabaptistes do Grounding themselues against the Princes supreame authority in Ecclesiasticall matters on the very selfe-same reasons that those Heritikes doe And the very same reasons whereby Gellius confuteth the Anabaptistes doe also directly confute these Learned discoursers The Anabaptistes say these words Gouernours and Rulers Rom. 12. and 1. Cor. 12. are to be vnderstoode onely of Ecclesiasticall Gouernours and Rulers and doe not our Learned discoursers auouche the same But Gellius héere verie exactly doth confute it The Anabaptistes say that in Christes and in the Apostles time there was no Christian Magistrate as Gellius setteth down their obiection pag. 568. and what doth this differ from this assertion of these our Learned discoursers The Church of God was perfect in all her regiment before there was anie Christian Prince I doe not speake this as though these our Learned discoursers did sauour of Anabaptistry or fauour Anabaptistry wittinglie God forbid Howbeit in a heate zeale inconsideratlie they runne vpon these quick sands But Ictus Piscator sapir Gellius who sawe the state endaungered when this old supposed and new deuised Seniorie was set vp and that the Anabaptistes vsed these arguments against the Christian Magistrates was driuen not onely to wring these weapons out of their handes but to breake them in peeces as naughtie argumentes And will our brethren now take vp the broken shyuers and fight with them to put backe the treatise of the Christian Princes Gouernment Let Gellius therefore come foorth and plainely tell them that this is no plaine reason to proue their matter by but both a friuolous and intrue assertion that the Church of God was perfect in all her Regiment before there was any Christian Prince No no brethren saith Gellius it is nothing so your saying is not agree-able to good order of teaching The Scripture teacheth that the Ciuill power hath alwayes beene ioyned with the Ministerie of the worde in the church If it were alwayes ioyned it was ioyned euen then when our brethren auouche it was not onely disioyned but that the one was perfecte when the other was not at all But because this Gellius a Phrysian in the Lowe Countries is one of the chiefest writers of our brethrens side in those reformed Churches of whome our Discoursers willed vs before to embrace that moste bewtifull order of Ecclesiasticall Regiment which God so manifestlie doth blesse and prosper in our neighbours handes and heere they remember vs againe that the Church of God doth stande at this day in moste blessed estate where the Ciuil Magist. are not the greatest fauorers it is good therefore that our brethren should see both howe they are troubled with Anabaptistes among these our neighbours where this order of Ecclesiasticall Regiment so much extolled by our brethren is set vp And to see the iudgementes of our brethrens best fauorites and most experienced in these matters how cleane contrary it is to these our learned but not experienced discoursers iudgements Whereby our learned brethren may learne not onely to make better reasons but much better and with more reason to waxe wiser héerein with this Gellius and rather vse their reasons to beat downe the Anabaptistes then to vse such as the Anabaptistes vse to beat back the christian Princes And good brethren marke the reasons of this Gellius well and ye shall finde them fully to aunswere your reasons in this matter Gellius still procéeding against the Anabaptistes beateth especially on these points that the Churche and the faithe of the olde and new Testament is but one and the same pag. 559. That there is one and the same doctrine of both the couenaunts aswell concerning the article of Magistrates and controuersie of punishing the euill or vse of the sworde as concerning the morall workes of Gods Lawe pag. 560. Whereupon hee discourseth by particuler collations of the olde and new Testament how not onlie God in them both is shewed to be the authour of the Magistrate but how the like thinges are required of the Magistrate in both estates howe both Testamentes direct the Magistrate to one ende howe both Testaments giue Magistrates like authority in punishment how all manner of persons aswell Ecclesiasticall as Ciuill were and are subiecte
the interpretation of the holy scripture For saith Ambrose by Prophets he vnderstandeth the scriptures interpreters which you say are your Doctors for as a Prophet foretelleth things that are not knoweÌ so also he is said to prophecie while he openeth the sense of the scripture that to many is hidden c For the church hath nothing greater more profitable then Christian doctrine the interpretation of the scripture c. And again he that prophecieth studieth on euery part to profit his Church For he that prophecieth performeth that for which cause the assembly is gathered together For he speaketh vnto meÌ edification exhortation consolation To wit while he expoundeth the secrecies mysteries of the scripture and out of theÌ doth either exhort to the studie of godlines or else coÌforteth those whoÌ faint heart or terror or dispaire or impacience of trauaile hath almost broken And this it is to speake to edification That is to say by speaking to endeuour tende therto that thou mayst profit the hearers But of this place it is cleare that a Prophet is the same with Paul that vnto vs is a Doctor a Bishoppe a Preacher or an Euangelist To this agréeth Aretius and saith Hereupon it appeareth that most great are the profites of interpretation whose partes are so bright And saieth Gualter vppon the same place Heereupon Doctors in the scriptures are called Edifiers And for this cause the Apostle called himselfe a Maister builder It pertaineth to these men before all things to care that they lay a good foundation that is to wit euen Christ which otherwher is called the foundation of the Proph. Apost And theÌ that vpon that alone they build nor mingle any stubble hey wood or ought else straunge froÌ Christ. Moreouer that diligently they plie the work with all care least sathaÌ with his mynes secretly wrought do vndermine it nor that it be ouer-turned with the whirle-windes stormes of tempestes nor finally that any as sande without lime of their owne voluntarie slide and fal away Ministers also must remeÌber that there is need of continuall perpetuall building Partly because the infirmitie of the beleeuers requireth dayly a-new renewing partly because new stones must often be layde vpon this holy edifice that more may dayly be gathered to Christ and his kingdome be enlarged perpetually But in this place is euident the craft of Sathan who that hee might make all men more remisse and slouthfull in this studie deuised certaine edifices of Temples Towers Colleges and Chappels that are called eternall and are builded with great charges the spirituall Temple of the Lorde being in the meane time neglected which lyeth there almost altogether in ruyne where this frantike lust of building raygneth For eyther there are no builders at all or they are trecherous Who as the scripture speaketh of the Priestes of the Iewes hauing reiected that precious stone of the foundation do declare that all their help of saluation is in things improfitable pernitious Let them take heed therfore of their exaÌples that will speake edification The other head of the eccles ministerie is Exhortation There is need of this for those who do not straightway obey when they are taught those things that are necessary to attain saluation For by nature we be more slow to heaueÌly things And that is more hurtful we are delighted with sinnes and errors Wherfore there is need of rebuking our sins errors need of reprouing exhorting Whereof we haue most graue examples in the Prophets whom God in old time commanded as watchmen to blowe the trumpet of his word that they might stirre vppe all men to doe their duetie The Apostles each where followed these to say as nowe nothing of Christe whose most graue exhortations are read in the Euangelistes Therefore they do very greatly erre that at this day will haue none of this to bee done but as though the naked and simple doctrine might suffice do take most greeuously all rebuking and exhorting But howe necessary these are the licentiousnesse of most cruell wickednesse daylie encreasing and the most corrupt manners of all men aboundantly beareth witnesse but because the Church hath many that are exercised with tentation and all kind of afflictions there is added a third head consolatioÌ To the which appertaine those things that in Ezechiel are spoken of the office of the good faithfull Pastor when as the Lord promiseth that he will be hee which will require the loste sheepe reduce the expulsed binde vp the wounded strengthen the weake And in consideration of these things the ministers of the Churches ought so to behaue themselues that they alwaies remember they shall then at length be faithfull to God if that being intentiue with all their minde on the peoples studies maners they set foorth all these things most diligentlie according to the consideration of the hearers and of the times To this ought to be referred those things that S. Paule to Timothie writeth of cutting aright the word of God And the things that Christe deliuered vnder the parable of the Steward 2. Tim. 2. Matth. 24. Zuinglius on the 24. verse of the same chapter bréefelie knits vp all the matter saying To prophesie is to teache to admonish to comfort to reprooue and to rebuke And Peter Martyr vpon 1. Sam. 10. ver 9. But in the Primitiue church when Prophecy flourished what difference was there between a Prophete and a Doctor I aunswere that although the office of them both were al one yet were Doctârs instructed by Maisters but Prophets spake on the sudden beeing mooued by the inspiration of the holy Ghost without anie helpe of man Thus doo all these and manie moe late and notable learned writers agréeing with the old Fathers and almoste with all the interpreters of the Scriptures accord that by this Prophet héere mentioned he meaneth a Doctor or Teacher But withall that this Prophet Doctor or Teacher communicateth in his teaching and interpreting of the Scriptures in all the parts of a Pastors office without restraint anye more then the Pastor is restrained from any part that apperteineth to a Doctor Yea as Peter Martyr noteth on the same chapter verse 6 on these words What shall I profite you except I speake vnto you either by Reuelation or by knowledge or by Prophecie or by Doctrine Chrysostome thinketh reuelation prophesie science and doctrine to signifie the same thing And that Paule by a certeine circumlocutioÌ expressed a gentle diminution that might easilie be perceiued of the hearers Other beleeue that these are diuerse giftes by which the Churche might be edified and some do fit these wordes thus that reuelation should bee ioyned to prophesie for Prophets doo not treate or speake but that thing that is reuealed to them And likewise they will that knowledge should cleaue to doctrine For no man teacheth right but that which before he knew
Wherevpon also it appeareth againe that we said before the estimation of the giftes are to be esteemed according to the profit edification of the church which is set in the confirming of faith religion And Musculus to the same purpose saith Wherfore euen as he there said he that prophesieth speaketh to men to edification exhortation and consolation so heere also when he had said except I speake to you he addeth either by reuelation or by knowledge or by prophesie or by doctrine c. Or by doctrine saith he hee that speaketh by reuelation or by science or by prophesie serueth to informe vs in our faithe and vnderstanding of things either hid or to come But he that speaketh by doctrine serueth to compose our life and frame our manners Thus farre I thinke this terme ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in this place may not vnfitlie be seperated from the generall doctrine by the which all things in the word of God are taught Hierome also thinketh so for he expoundeth it with this paraphrase except either I interprete it vnto you or make plaine those hidden thinges of the lawe that I know or expound prophesies or teache you morall institutions I knowe that Ambrose diuides not these thinges For he saithe all these signifie one thing For none can teache except it be vnderstood neither indeed can they be Reuelation knowledge prophesie and doctrine except they be vnderstood Wherefore to speake by Reuelation by knowledge by prophesie or by doctrine is altogither to speake with vnderstanding And so dooth Chââsostome expouÌd it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. But that which he faith is on this wise Except I shall speake that which may of you bee easilie conceiued and is cleere Notwithstanding in the meane time he forbiddeth not that we may not by a fitte diuision and perteining to the purpose distinguish betweene these things and giue to euerie one his proper sense For as when he said before he that prophesieth speaketh to men to edification to exhortation and to consolation hee expressed the profit of generall prophesiyng so heere he setteth downe certeine parts and instruments thereof or rather founteines For that whereby is one thing and that wherevnto is another thing that the Prophet speaketh in the Churche And therfore saith Gualter Paule setteth doctrine after these things which applieth euerie one of them to the hearers according to the consideration of the places and times that they may serue for the instruction of euerie one And to conclude for the amendment of their life and maners And this is that parte wherein the edification of the Churche and of euerie member thereof doth cheefelie consist c. And to this purpose speaking of these gifts as instrumeÌts to edificatioÌ Paule bringeth in the similitude of musicall instruments Whereon saith Gualter we will not thinke that Paule doth rashlie vse this similitude For verie well and elegantlie it shadoweth out the vse of the Ecclesiasticall ministerie and office of the Ministers The Pipe admitteth manie and diuerse waies of tuning and the Citheran or Harpe consisteth of diuerse chordes and stringes and euen so the maner of preaching the worde of God is not one but often in one Sermon with a marueilous harmonie do concurre doctrine admonition exhortation rebukings threatnings and consolations c. This was Saint Paules doctrine for a Doctor whome héere hee calleth a Prophet and for Prophesiyng And which your selues call teaching saying The office of teaching is the principall office that is in the Churche By that wee be taught to know God and how to serue him and what benefits to looke for at his hand Without which knowledge there can be no felicitie but onelie destruction looked for according to the saying of the wiseman Where prophesing faileth there the people perish So that as your selues confesse also that by Prophesiyng is meant this your firste office of Teaching which is indéed being vsed as it ought to be an excellent office But as Gualter saithe on the verse 24. concerning the vse thereof it is not a simple reciting and interpretation of the scripture as you would make it But as we haue heard in the beginning of this chapter suche another as is applied with exhortation consolation to the edification of the whole Churche and of euerye one And therefore it ought so to be exercised that it should pearse into the mindes and conuince them of sinne which propertie Christe sayde should be the worke of the Holy-ghoste in the Apostles And to conclude that it so worke that all may perceiue that they are spoken of But of this chapter you giue more occasion to note héereafter Onelie this now at large for the office of Doctors or Teachers of Doctrine called heere Prophets and interpreters of Scriptures that they were not thus limitted onelie to teach true doctrine and to confute all heresies false opinions by the worde concerning all articles and principles of Christian Religion without applying their teaching to anye particuler state of time of persons or places And nowe let vs sée howe yee can prooue this by examples The example or practise of this office is set foorth Acts. 13.1 where it is recorded by S. Luke that Paule and Barnabas before the Holie-ghoste commanded them to be seperated for the worke whervnto he called them were in the number of Prophets and Doctors with Simeon Niger Lucius of Syrene and Manahen in the Churche of Antiochia where they continued in that office a whole yeare in which Citie the Disciples were firste called by the name of Christians Act. 11.26 Likewise Apollos which was an eloquent man and mightye in the Scriptures firste at Ephesus but afterward being more perfectlie instructed in the waye of GOD by Aâuila and Priscilla in the Churche of Achaia exercised the office of a Teacher with great profite of them which had beleeued and to the great confusion of the stiffe-necked Iewes while hee prooued plainelye by the Scriptures that Iesus was the Christe Acts. 18.28 For the practise mentioned in the Scripture this might suffice that is noted by Sainte Paule in this chapter 1 Corinth 14. with the iudgements of all these writers yea of themselues concerning these prophets that were Doctors and of the manner of their teachings But now bicause for this practise and example héereof these our Bretheren the Learned Discoursers haue héere set downe some other examples also to prooue this practise let vs follow and peruse the same And first note this that these examples héere alleaged mention no perpetuitie much lesse prooue it nor any prescribed rule vnto themselues much lesse to others And bicause of all the persons héere named Act. 13. Barnabas is first and Paule is last the other haue little record saue the bare names let vs looke vpon this first and last as the more notable by whom we may leuell the others as lesse knowne And héere at the entrie in
plaine and expresse terme we méete in all these persoÌs with those that are intituled by the name of Teacher or Doctor on which title our Bretheren take holde And albeit the Text setteth it downe not in the name of Doctor onelie but calleth them Prophets and Teachers or Doctors yet that makes no matter For as speaking of teaching they alleaged prophesie before so héere they take these names ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as diuerse names betokening one matter For if they doo not so either they speake contrarie to themselues or nothing to the purpose Contrarie if the Doctors intermeddle in other mens functions distinguished from theirs Nothing if they meane not they were suche Doctors as héere they take vpon them to prooue vnto vs whose office is onelie to teache true doctrine and confute all heresies and false opinions by the word of God concerning all articles and principles of Christian religion without applying their teaching to any particuler state of time of persons or places But it followeth The example or practise of this office is set foorth Acts. 13.1 c. So that their meaning is to prooue all these héere recorded by Saint Luke to be suche and no other sorte of Doctors To which purpose how truelie these examples fitte let vs sée besides the conference of the Scripture howe they contrarie in these examples the Doctors that their selues most estéeme Caluine vpon these words Acts. 31.1 writeth thus What Doctors differ from Prophets at the least-wise in my iudgement I haue expounded on the fourth chapter to the Ephes. 11. And on the twelfe of the former Epistle to the Corinthians 28. In this place these two are synonyms that is diuerse wordes signifiyng all one thing that Luke might signifie there were manie men in that Churche indewed with a singuler grace of the spirite for to teache Truelie I see not how it agreeeth to take prophets for those that excelled in the gifte of foretelling But rather I suppose it is noted that they were excellent interpreters of the Scripture But such did exercise the gifte of teaching and exhorting euen as Paule dooth testifie in the foureteenth of the former to the Corinthians 29. Wee must regarde the drifte of Luke Paule and Barnabas were ministers of the Churche of Antioche from thence God now calleth them to another place Least any should thinke that Churche to be stripped naked of good fitte Ministers that God prouided for others with the damage thereof Luke preuents it and teacheth that there was such plentie that helping the neede of others notwithstanding it had a residue left so much as was inoughe for the vse of it selfe Wherevpon it appeareth how liberallie the grace of God was powred on that Churche from whence Riuers might bee drawne hether and thether So also dooth God enriche certeine Churches aboue others in our time that they might bee Seminaries to spread abroade the doctrine of the Gospell By which iudgement of Caluine it appeareth that those Prophets of whome wee haue spoken 1. Cor. 14. were these Doctors being Interpreters of the Scriptures How-be it not bare interpreters but suche as ioyned the gifte of exhorting with their teaching Gualter saith on the same place Act. 13.1 But they are called Doctors who do publikelie instruct the Churche and doo orderlie applie the holie Scriptures to the institution of all whome at this daye we call either Pastors or Ministers of the worde Therefore there was not at Antioche onelie a Churche but also a Schoole out of which the learned Ministers were sent to other Cities c. Beza also vpon the second verse Act. 13. When as they ministred ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is while they exercised their office to wit of teaching of Prophesiyng For a little before he had said they were Doctors Prophets Therefore Chrysostome rightlie interpreting ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã while they were ministring that is saith he ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã while they were preaching Wherevpon saithe the Geneua note The worde signifieth to execute a publike charge as the Apostleship was so that heere is shewed that they preached and prophesied While they preached saith Bullenger while they redde holie things interpreted and taught others and while they were occupied with holie thinges For holie things are preaching the reading of the Scripture interpretation doctrine and suche other matters So that by all these learned mens iudgements and by the apparance of the verie text it selfe concerning the example and practise of this office it appeareth how vntrue this is that the office of Doctors is onelie to teache true doctrine and to confute all heresies and false opinions by the worde of God concerning all articles and principles of Christian religion without appliyng their teaching to any particuler state of time of persons or places But to sée this practise better by these perticuler examples let·vs begin with Barnabas which in the text is firste named And whose verie name saithe Saint Luke Acts. 4.36 is the sonne of consolation On which Beza saithe they that are skilfull of the Chaldie deriue it from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Bar which is Sonne and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Nephesh that is Soule as though yee would saye he that refresâeth the Soule Vatablus saithe Full of consolation that is one moste apte to comfort And trowe yee this Surname giuen him of the Apostles for other-wise his proper name was loses or as some copies haue it Ioseph euen as Christe had giuen surnames to some of the Apostles as Peter signifiyng a Stone and Boanerges signifiyng the sonnes of Thunder was giuen him by them for anye greater cause then for his comfortable and effectuall kinde of Teaching And if it were so can we suppose his Teaching was with-out application and exhortation But let vs not stand vpon coniectures nor on his name but on his dooing Dooth not the text expresselie say Acts. 9.26 When Saule was come to Ierusalem he assaied to ioyne himselfe vnto the Disciples and they were all afeard of him beleeuing not that hee was a disciple but Barnabas tooke him and brought him to the Apostles and declared to them how he had seene the Lord in the waye and that hee had spoken vnto him and howe he had spoken boldlie at Damascus in the name of Iesus Can we conceaue that Barnabas could doo all this or be-it that Paule did declare some parte thereof with-out application of the particuler state of the time of the persons of the places But what say you to this place conteyning the foure verses 22.23.24 and 25. immediatlie precéeding that place that is cited by your selues Act. 11.26 Then tidings of those things to witte that a great number in Antiochia beléeued and turned to the Lorde came to the eares of the Churche which was in Ierusalem And they sent foorth Barnabas that he should goe to Antiochia Who when he was come and had seene the
forsoothe hee being furnished with the testimonies of the Scripture and other helpes of the Holie-ghoste did as it were ouerwhelme all his aduersaries For the word of disturbing them that Luke vseth dooth signifie that when Paule pressed them beyonde measure they were so dashed that they were not their owne men The manner of his disturbing them is expressed in that Paule confirmed Iesus to be Christe For the sense is when the Iewes cheefelie would striue against it they were notwithstanding ouercome and confounded So that Paule by experience prooued that it was moste true which he pronounceth that the Scripture is profitable to reprooue 2. Tim. 3.16 And he performed that which in another place he required of a Bishop and a Doctor For he was armed with the word of God to auouche the truthe Tit. 1.9 And indeede Luke comprehends two things that Paule in disputing was a Conqueror in suche sorte that he made the Iewes to fall And yet their stubbernesse was not so broken and tamed that they would yeeld vnto the truthe Bicause for all this their consciences turmoiled within them and being dashed downe from the degree of their false opinion they neuer a whitte submitted themselues to Christe Therefore so often as heretikes doo arise to oppugne the right faith so often as the wicked doo enterprise to shatter all godlinesse so often as naughtie persons doo obstinatelie withstande let vs remember from hence to fetche our armour c. Thus dooth Caluine liuelie expresse the vehement moouing of affections to astonish the hearers that S. Paule vsed in his teaching and making it all one office in the Doctor and in the Bishop and applying his precepts to Timothie and Titus to this dooing of Paule and to the dutie of all true and zealous Teachers And héerévpon also dooth Gualter gather this generall rule This place saithe he admonisheth that the doctrine of the Gospell ought to be preached In which pointe the opinion of manie is that they thinke a simple and full explication of the mysteries of saluation dooth suffice and that they labour in vaine and are intollerable authors of dissensions which reprooue the tyrannie of Antichriste oppugne superstition and publikelie vndertake to enter into controuersie with the professed enimies of the truthe True it is that the simple doctrine of the truthe mought haue sufficed except there were suche as would endeuoure to lappe the same in errors and darkenesse and withdrawe the vnheedfull out of the pathe of truthe but sithe there haue beene suche bothe in times paste and at this daye maye commonlie be founde it behooueth the faithfull to be admonished that they should not giue eare vnto them Which thing you shall neuer bring to passe except yee make an euident proofe that they erre all the world ouer Againe when the impudencie of manie breaketh out so farre that openlie they dare gaine-saie the truthe they are publikelie also to be confuted least by their rashnesse they shoulde make the cause of the truthe suspected Wee read that not onelie the Apostles but Christe himselfe did either of these things Whose example all these worthilie ought to follow whosoeuer will be called and counted the Ministers of his Church Which is the cause that Paule would haue such kinde of Doctors which cannot onelie instruct the rude in sounde doctrine but also conuince those that speake against it Titus 1. And he testifieth also that the Scriptures are giuen to the same end that they may serue for rebuking of the aduersaries 2. Timoth. 3. Which seemed to the Holie-ghoste a matter of such importance that he would not onelie haue the Deceauers of that age to bee reprooued by the Apostles but hee would haue vs also to bee admonished of those that in the laste times should moleste the Churche By which generall rule of Gualter agréeing with Caluine héerevpon it appeareth that Paule applyed his doctrine and ioyned admonition and redargution as well as exhortation and consolation to his Teaching And that this Teaching is so little distinguished from the Pastors office that it is common with the office and dutie of all Bishops and Ministers of the worde And that except these applications be ioyned therevnto the simple declaration of the truthe although it be fullie set out dooth not many times suffice to ouerthrowe the malapart importunitie of the aduersaries And as Paule thus not onelie for the occasion of that time but for the example of our and all times made this introduction into his office of Teaching so hée continued in such feruencie till he met with Barnabas at Ierusalem after thrée yeares trauell in Arabia and all in this Citie of Damascus that the Iewes no doubte exasperated by his laying so hardlie their errors and obstinacie to their charges wente about to kill him From thâ which daunger being escaped and come to Ierusalem after Barnabas had exhorted the Disciples to admitte him into their companie Hee was conuersante saith Luke verse 28. with them at Ierusalem and spake boldlie in the name of the Lorde Iesus and disputed with the Grecians But they went abouâ to slaie him Belike he was still more earnest in reproouing them than all the resâdue For the worde ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifieth not oâelie that hee spake boldlie or confidentlie but frankelie and freelie and that with liberty and reprehension Wherevpon the Geneua Margine noteth making open profession of the Gospell And saithe Caluine In which wordes Luke praiseth his fortitude in professing the Gospell For among so manie hinderances hee durst neuer haue hissed had not his brest beene endewed with a rare constancie In the meane season all are prescribed what they ought to doo to witte euerie one according to the measure of his faithe For althoughe all bee not Paules neuerthelesse the faithe of Christe must breed so muche confidence in our mindes that when it is needfull for vs to speake we waxe not altogither dombe We must saithe Marlorate héere be alwaies readie to render a reason to all that aske it of the hope that is in vs. And is all this freenesse of Saint Paules teaching and example to all men without anye application c. that so mooued the aduersaries that they still went about to murther him Loe saithe Caluine for zeale furie Neither can it be otherwise then that superstition should be fierce cruell Indeed it beseemeth the godlie to be kindeled with an holie anger when they see the pure truthe of God to bee corrupted with false and naughtie opinions but so that they moderate their zeale that they determine nothing excepte the cause be throughlie viewed that they maye reduce them that erre into the waye Laste of all if they see their frowardnesse to bee paste hope yet maye not they snatche the sworde bicause they should knowe that reuengement is not of GOD committed vnto them And therefore Paule peaceablie auoydeth from them whome hee had thus prouoked by his earnest teaching c. Therefore
what ye wit the Speculatiue and contemplatiue doctors They of all other vsed a kinde of teaching and confuting much like this manner for the moste part without applying their teaching to any particuler state of time of persons or places As for al other exaÌples of the practise of Doctors both before Christs time and in Christes time and in the time of the Apostles and in the time next after them and so continuing till these Schoole-men began and from them vntill God raysed vp better Doctors among vs and among vs of all these and other godly learned Doctors not so muche as one appeareth that thus preciselie was limited onelye to teache but had liberty to exhorte and applie and yet exceeded not his office But nowe hauing considered the institution and practise of this Doctor thus far forth let vs returne to our Learned discoursers collection héereupon Therefore if we purpose to haue the Church to flourish in true knowledge we must prouide that this office be restored both in the vniuersities and in as many other places as may bee aswell for the better instruction of all men which are desirous to learne as especially for the information of those which shoulde occupie the roomes of Pastors Of whiche sorte there ought to be a great number alwayes in good towardnesse to take charge of so many seuerall flockes as must of necessitie be in so great a Church as this is By this kinde of Doctors that is héere vrged the Church would sorily flourish restored that can-not be which neuer was Howbeit to haue Doctors or Teachers more especiallie though not onely to dedicate themselues to teach true doctrine and to confute all heresies and false opinions by the woorde of God concerning all articles of true Religion both in the Vniuersities and in as many other places as may be Is not thus farre said amisse But this farre differeth not in methode but in matter and that in one of the principall pointes thereof from that which before was vrged that hereunto God had prouided that certaine men shoulde bee appointed in euery congregation But héere yée are well fallen from euery congregation to the vniuersities and as many places as may be This draweth néere indéede to the Englishe forme at Geneua and to the Scottish But the néerer to any of them the further from yourselfe And as ye were too peremptorie in that pointe whiche héere yee mitigate so there where yee saide they shoulde employe themselues whollie or principallye to the studie of holye scriptures c. Whiche woorde principally beeing also a gentle lenitiue of the woorde whollie is cleane contrarye to it selfe and to your laste assertion that the office of Doctors is onelie to teache true Doctrine and to confute all heresies c. Which againe is an-other difference not from your brethren but from your selues nor yet so much in methode as in matter Neyther can I sée howe this also doeth hang together that the especiall ende of these Doctors is for the information of those that should occupie the roome of Pastors and the Pastors office is not onely teaching but exhortation is the principall parte of their office And shoulde the informers and Teachers of their offices not deale at all with exhorting and applying which principally pertayneth to Pastors but teache onelie So indéede they might make them Learned Doctors like them-selues but sory Pastors with whose office they haue not to meddle Mee thinkes it were better saide of the twaine these offices being thus distinguished if Pastors did informe Pastors and Doctors too since they may bothe Teache and exhorte and Doctors maye not exhorte but teache onely But of these thinges I wil- be gladde to bée my selfe a learner when I shall get a Doctor that can more learnedly discourse vppon them In the meane season let vs now leaue both these imagined and other Doctors not to euery congregation but rather to the Vniuersities and other fitte places for them as Cathedrall and Collegiat Churches c. Where I truste some good Teachers and Doctors bee And now let vs come to viewe the Pastors The Argument of the 3. booke concerning the 2. Tetrarke called the Pastor FIrste for the titles and names of Pastor Elder Priest Superintendent Ouerseer and of Bishop Of the indifferent vsage of the names of Pastor Elder and Bishop Of one or many Bishops in one Citie Of their equalitie in dignitie and authoritie Of those Bishops that S. Paule called together to Miletum Whether the name were not made peculier to one in the Apostles times Whether Timothie and Titus were not such Bishops How the Apostle calleth them Bishops at Philippos Of the Superioritie among the Apostles and whether Iames were Bishop of Ierusalem Of the name and office of Priestes and Bishops in the Primitiue Church and so continuing till Aërius moued the first question heere-of and of the Fathers opposing them-selues against him Of Ieromes reasons for the occasions and endes thereof Of the auncient Fathers interpretation of the former places and of the continuall practise heerof in all Churches That this order was no way to Anti-Christes pride and tiranny but the stop there-of And of the originall and state of the Church of Rome and of the schisme made therin by Nouatus a Bishoppe of a new making and of his Puritanisme BEsides Doctors there must bee Pastors ordayned in euery congregation which haue diuerse appellations in the Scripture As Ephes. 4. they are called by the name of Pastors bicause they ought to feede the seuerall flockes of Gods sheepe committed to their charge As it appeareth Act. 20.28 1. Pet. 5.2 They are called also Elders not alwayes in respect of their age but of their office and grauity For Timothie was but a young man yet had the office of an Elder This name was receaued of an auÌcieÌt custome of the people of Israel who vsed so to cal those that were rulers or officers among theÌ as it appeareth by many places both of the olde and newe Testament but chieflie in Num. 11.16 Where god ordained seuentie Auncientes to assist Moses in his gouernement who were also indued at the same time with the spirit of Prophecy froÌ which time it became an ordinarye office and name of Gouernours in Israell Wherein we haue to note against the Papistes that the Ministers of the Churche are neuer called in the newe Testament by the name of sacrificing Priestes which were vnder the Law but often are called Elders of the similitude of those auncients that gouerned the people of GOD. Whereas if they had beene appointed of God to bee sacrificers the similitude and name of sacrificing Priests would a great deale better haue agreeed vnto them But wher-as both these names were vsuall amongst the Iewes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the one signifying sacrificers and the other Elders the spirite of GOD dooth often call the Ministers Elders but euer-more verye preciselye
other ministers of the Church fewe or manie were not onely of this one Citie of Ephesus but of diuerse besides there-aboutes Neither is this my coniecture onely although if it were I hope the indifferent marker not of men but matter shall finde it carieth probabilitie but Gualter also is herein of my opinion For saith he he calleth out euen vnto Miletum which is about thirtie or fourtie miles distant the Elders or Bishoppes of the Ephesians and of the Cities adiacent and taketh order with them for waightie matters in a generall Synode But nowe let vs presuppose that all these Pastors Priestes or Elders were onely of the Church at Ephesus doeth it followe necessarily therevpon that because Saint Paule calleth them all by the name of Bishoppes they might not heare be Metaphorically called or rather in some respect then as the name might afterwarde and euen in the Apostles times be more properly restrayned to some Pastors that had some superioritie ouer their fellowe Pastors So that all were not of equall dignitie and authorite though these at that time were For as this name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã came from the heathen so when it was first borowed of the sacred writers and beganne to be vsed in the Churche of God it might be vsed more indifferentlie As also the name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Which names are not alwaies vnderstood in the Scripture in like proper sense as since they haue vsuallie béene and be accepted And yet to this daye we doo not so restreine this name Bishop but in respect of that the nature of the worde implyeth we maye not onelie vse it still for euerie Pastor or Minister of the worde and sacraments but also as wee commonlie saye euerie man is a Bishop ouer his owne familie and families also are sometimes called Churches As Col. 4.15 and euery faithfull man is called euen a sacrificing Priest as you translate it and a King Apoc. 5. But all this debarreth not but that these wordes maye in other places be taken in other senses and maye more properlie bee applyed to some especiall offices And so is the name of Bishop bothe wayes taken And to shew this more manifestlie as we allowe not any of the errors or abuses of the Popish Bishops or other their ecclesiasticall orders or offices any more then any of our most zealous Bretheren do so if we peruse euen their owne assertions and the auncient Fathers bothe for this title of Bishops and other titles orders degrées dignities and differences of the state ecclesiasticall in the Primitiue Churche wee shall finde sufficient proofe and warrant héereof The writers of the Centuries Cent. 1. lib. 2. cap. 7. pag. 507. in their title of the policie or gouernement of the Churche doo saye Among the persons that gouerned the Churche in this age these differences doo occurre For some are called Apostles Eph. 4. 2. Cor. 12. And not onelie those twelue Disciples of Christe are noted by that name but Paule euery where in all his Epistles calleth himselfe the Apostle of Christe and Act. 14. Paule and Barnabas are called Apostles Epaphroditus is named the Apostle of the Philippians Philip. 2. Andronicus and Iunias are notable among the Apostles Rom. 16. Other Prophets Ephesians 4. 1. Cor. 12. By this name bothe they were called that were famous in the gifte of Prophesie and also they that interpreted the Prophets that is the Scriptures Act. 11. c. Act. 13. Other Euangelists Eph. 4. Hee gaue other to bee Euangelists By this name they not onelie appeare to be called who wrote the historie of the Gospell as were Matthew Marke Luke Iohn but they also which euerie where did teache the Gospell For Philip one of the seauen Deacons ordeined in the beginning at Ierusalem is called an Euangelist Act. 21. And Paule bids Timothie doo the worke throughlie of an Euangelist 2. Tim. 4. Other Pastors Ephes. 4. Other Doctors Ephe. 4. and 1. Corin. 12. Other Elders 1. Pet. 5. or Bishops for Bishops and Elders are taken for the same Act. 20. Paule saith to the Elders of Ephesus the holy Ghost hath placed you Bishoppes to gouerne the Church of God Tit. 1. I haue left thee in Creta that thou shouldest in euerie towne ordaine Elders c. For a Bishop must be blameles c. Iac. 5. Here euen as you would haue it these Centuriographers doe distinguish betwéene the persons that were Pastors and that were Doctors And also they made Elders and Bishops to bee all one But they make Elders or Bishops to be distinguished from Pastors And how agréeeth this with that you héere auouche that by the name of Elders the Pastors are called and that Bishops be Pastors and that the names of Pastors and Ouer-seers doo concurre Neither agréeeth this with you that they saye after they haue reckoned vp Deacons and waiting Ministers or attendants on the Apostles Meminerunt c. They remember onelye three degrees Apostles Presbyters or Bishops and Deacons All which three were founde in some Churches while as the Apostles were yet aliue For in the Churche of Ierusalem in the beginning there were twelue Apostles who exercised the ministerie of the Churche But the number of the Churche increasing and when necessitie required a more diligent care of the things that were common seauen Deacons are chosen and ordeined Act. 6. There are also in the same Churche Prophets Act. 11. There are Apostles and Elders Act. 15. They were receaued of the Churche and of the Apostles and Elders When Paule came last of all vnto Hierusalem hee founde there Iames and the Elders whoe are sayd to haue come togither Act. 21. In the Churche of Antiochia for a time were Paule and Barnabas who are called Apostles and Prophets Doctors whome it is lawfull to call Elders If nowe the sacred writers of the New Testament doo remember but onelie three degrees Apostles Elders or Bishops and Deacons which all thrée were founde in some Churches while the Apostles were yet liuing which is the time that you prescribe and which is the time whereof these men said in the beginning of this matter that in this parte no age is to be compared heerevnto where is then become the Ecclesiasticall gouernement of all these foure persons Doctors Pastors Gouernours and Deacons Where are héere your Gouernours if yée include them in the name Elders they expresse what kinde of Elders they were Elders or Bishops As you héere saye and ye call them Pastors and they say that those whome we may call Elders were Apostles Prophets and Doctors So that your other gouerning Elders that were neither Apostles Prophets nor Doctors are excluded and your distinction also betwéene Elders and Doctors is remooued Neither doo euen your owne examples which immediatlie followe any whitte helpe you In the Church of Phillippos are Bishops and Deacons Phil. 1. Paule and Barnabas are saide to create onelie Elders Act. 14. Paule biddeth Titus to make
Elders or Bishops in euerie towne in Creta Tit. 1. Hee prescribeth to Timothie what manner of Bishops and Deacons he should ordeine 1. Tim. 1. Paule sendeth for Elders out of Ephesus whome hee calleth Bishops to come to Miletum vnto him Act. 20. Thus doo they diligentlie search the Scriptures and examine the churches state and conster the word Bishop as you woulde haue it for Elder or Minister of the worde and saye that these were the Elders of the Churche of Ephesus that Paule sent for and yet all this will not helpe to finde out one place recorded in the Scripture while the Apostles liued where the gouernement Ecclesiasticall was directed by all these foure kinde of persons ioyned togither and one distinguished in office froÌ another as you by the examples of the Apostles would prescribe But since they cannot doo it I beséech you doo it and set downe the place where all these foure concurred And yet if ye so did and no rule prescribed for all to doo the like may not we pleade also to be the churche of Christe though we haue no such preests Elders Gouernours nor suche Doctors distinct from pastors as these Churches had not in all the Apostles times To conclude say these writers of the Centuries But howe manie persons exercised the ministerie in euerie churche is not noted in the histories nor is any where commaunded that they should in euerye place be a like many But as the fewnesse or the multitude of the assemblie required so were fewer or mo admitted to the Churches ministerie They appointed Prophets Euangelists Pastors and Doctors not to bee certeine degrees of persons in the Ecclesiasticall regiment but they seeme to be reckoned either among the Apostles and their fellowes or else among the Elders or the Deacons So that as still these your Gouernours are not mencioned so still your quadrible distinction of these persons and their offices is ouerthrowne and no number commaunded or prescribed Thus doo these setters foorth of this first Centurie or hundreth yeares of the Apostles time and of the Primitiue Churche euen where they make for you concerning the title of Bishops make cleane againste you for your Doctors for your Gouernours for your Deacons whome they make to be Teachers also saying of them Pag. 508. These mens office was to Minister to the table at Hierusalem while the communitie of the goods was there Act. 6. But notwithstanding that they taught also and wrought signes appeareth by Steuen Act. 6 and by Philip Act. 8.23 And in other Churches euery where it was the Deacons office to teache minister Mention is also made of womeÌ Deacons for Ro. â6 Phoebe is called the minister of the Church of Cenchrea The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews calleth them by a generall name the Ministers of the Churche Heb. 13 Obeye your Rulers Thus write they of the office of Deacons so that they were Doctors or Teachers also of the worde and had the cure of soules for so it followeth in the foresaid text And submitte your selues for they watche for your soules all which is cleane contrarie to your prescription Kemnitius also in his second Tome aforesaid before hee come to the Treatise of the equalitie or superioritie of Bishops confuting the decrée of Trident councell for their seauen degrees of orders saithe at large on this wise as for the matter thus it standes bicause manye dutyes or offices doo apperteyne to the ministerie of the Churche which in a great assemblie of beleeuing people cannot all and euerie one of them conuenientlie be dispatched of one man or of a fewe that therefore all things should bee doone in order decentlie and to edification the assemblie of the Churche being multiplyed those duties or offices of the Ministerie began to be distributed into certeine degrees of Ministers the which they called after ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ordinances or orders that euerie man should haue as it were a cerieine station in the which he should serue the Churche in certeine offices of the Ministerie So the Apostles in the beginning attended on the Ministerie of the worde and Sacraments and also on the contribution and dispensation of the almes But afterwarde the number of the Disciples increasing they commended that parte of the ministerie which perteyned to almes vnto other whome they called Deacons And they allege the reason that they so doo to witte that they might trauell in the ministerie of the worde and praier more diligentlie without any withdrawings of them from the same Act. 6. And this firste beginning of degrees or of orders of the ministerie of the Apostlicall Churche declareth whaâ ought to be the cause what the reason what the ende of suche either degrees or orders to witte that according to the consideration of the Ecclesiasticall assemblie all offices which apperteine to the Ministerie may be executed more commodiouslie rightlier more diligentlie and in order with some grauitie to edification And bicause the Apostles out of those Deacons did assume them which were tried afterwards into the Ministerie of teaching as Steuen and Philip it is gathered this also to be the vse of these either degrees or orders that they shâuld be prepared before and prooued in the lesser that afterward the more waightie offices of the Ministerie mighte the safelier and with profite be commended vnto them And this is that that Paule saith 1. Tim. 3. Let them firste bee tried and so let them minister Againe They that haue in the Deaconship ministred well shall get to themselues a good degree So in the Liturgie of the Church of Antiochia Act. 13. There were Prophets and Doctors of whom those did either foretell things to come or expound the more difficult places of the Scripture 1. Cor. 14. These did set foorth vnto the people the principles of Christian religion Heb. 5. Paule and Barnabas doo assume Marke to be a Minister Act. 13. Not onelie that hee should Minister corporall things vnto them but that they might commend to him certeine partes of the Ministerie of the worde as Paule expresselie saith Act. 15. How contrarie this is to your doctrine both for the generall considerations of making degrées in the ministerie on these aforesaid causes and namelie how flat against your assertions for Deacons Pag. 108 I referre to the conference of the Reader till we shall come to your Learned Discourse thereon Nowe to procéede on with Kemnitius In the Churche of Corinthe there were Apostles Prophets Doctors certeine that spake with languages certeine that interpreted some had Psalmes some praiers blessings and thankesgiuings not in priuate exercises but in the publike conuenticles of the Churche 1. Cor. 12. 14. Certeine degrees of the Ministerie Ephes. 4. are reckoned vp First Apostles which were not called to anye certeine Churche neither by men but immediatlie of Christe And had commaundement to teache euerie where And were adorned with the witnesse of
principall beeing or standing office ouer them to a Superintendent or ouerseer of them which was a lower title of superiour dignitye and therfore not giuen or taken of any il purpose so withal it argueth the antiquity both of the matter and of the appropriating of the name Episcopus more peculierly vnto one then before it had bene to be either in or immediatly following the Apost times euen by Bezaes owne testimony out of Iustine and by examining of this worde and title in the Scripture And as Caluine and Beza héere confesse the matter so Gellius Snecanus also de Disciplina Ecclesiastica pag. 440. speaking of the ministerye of the worde concludeth out of 1. Tim. 5. uer 19 20. Whereupon it manifesthe appeareth that euen then a certaine order was ordayned at Ephesus Cui Praefectus erat Timotheus ouer the which Timothie was the Praefect Whome Iustine calleth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and Beza translateth AntistiteÌ whome wecall Bishop All this being considered with the subscription afore-said vnto Timothie argueth that this name Bishop to become peculiar vnto one aboue his brethren and fellow Pastors was neither so late as diuerse take it nor was meerely and altogether mans inuenâion and yet if it had beene ordayned of man being not other-wise prescribed of God it may well be called also euen Gods ordinaunce as we shall see after God-willing upon Peter The Centuriographers writing of the gouernment of the Churche in the time next succeeding the Apostles do say Cent. 2. ca. 7. pag. 125. and 126. But as there was no certaine and prescribed number of Minist of the Church commaunded in the holie Scriptures so according as the necessitie of the Churches required they had moe or fewer And as among them to the intent that there should be some order and that the Ecclesiasticall offices shoulde bee better administred among many by a certaine reason or consideration and that the succession of Ministers might be made in order necessity compelled them to ordayn and to keepe certain degrees of persons But in that matter and also in thys age the most part of the Churches kept a small number and a simplicitie For moe orders than these 3. that is to witte Bishoprick Priesthoode and Deaconrie are not found with approued Authors And the offices which afterwards were distributed to dore-keepers to Readers to Exorcists and to Acolyts were al names ioyned to the office of Deacon and Subdeacon So in the French Church as appeareth by the Epist. of theÌ that were of Lions vnto the East churches are reckoned vp more Ministers of the Church then Bishop Priests and Deacons the other are called brethren Euseb. lib. 4. cap 1. Clemens of Alexandria in the bokes of him that are at this day extant maketh no where mention of moe then of Bishop of Priestes and of Deacons except that in some places hee adioyne Widdowes Neyther yet doeth hee in playne wordes ascribe vnto them a Ministery in the Church muche lesse a degree Also Hierome in his Epist. to Euagrius doth testifie that in the Church of Alexandria there were no moe degrees from Marke vnto Dionise then bishopricke Priest-hoode and Deaconship And so proceeding to other Churches and to Antioche and Rome where out of Iustine they note vnum perfectum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã fratrum and certaine Deacons the other brethren Nicâphorus li. 3. cap. 29. declareth that Eleutherius which was taught the holy Scriptures of Anicetus or rather of Anaclecletus was enrolled in the sacred number of the Cleargy And in the 15. yeere of his age tooke the degree of Deacon and three yeare after was made Priest and in the 10 yeere of his age was chosen Bishop Whereupon may be gathered what degrees were in Rome vnder the raigne of Hadrian c. It is woorthy memory that of euery one Church is onlye found a Bishop in the Priesthoode and in the Deaconship are alwayes found many according to the necessity of euery place or Church Hierome testifieth in his epistle to Euagrius that in the time of the Apostles the degrees of Bishops and Priestes were not distinct but afterward for remedie of schisme one was chosen out of the Priestes and placed in a higher degree and called bishop Which onely in the office of ordeyning should differ from the Priestes Whereuppon it appeareth that about these times this chaunge began in the Church and the office of a bishop higher then the degree of Priesthood not so much by the institution of God as by humane authority for bicause of good order aedification and succession Heereupon it is that Irenaeus calleth Soter Anicetus Hyginus Pius Telesphorus Priestes Euseb. lib. 5. cap 24. And this indifferent vsurpation of this worde bishop and Prieste is also found with others Vnder Traiane as yet liued Iohn the Apostle which was the chiefest founder of the Churches that were in Asia and which also was woont to goe out of Ephesus to the places neere adioyning both partly to ordayne bishops partly to chose the Cleargie by lotte as Clement telleth in Eusebius lib. 3. ca. 23. but he being dead the Apostleship ceased in the Church bicause that vnto their doctrine and writings God would haue the Church at all times to be bounde But the Apostles gaue Churches to Bishops in euerye one place as Irenaeus lib. 4. cap. 63. doeth testifie But bicause the doctrine of the Gospel was to be published throughout many nations therefore the Churches were wonte to choose famous and constant men prest to trauell and ready to teach and to suffer for the Gospell and to impose on them this office that according to the imitation of the Apostles forsaking their goods or disposing them they should trauel through many and farre places of the Gentiles preach the Gospell These were called Euangelists or Apostolicall men and Eusebius testifieth lib. 5. cap. 9. that very many of them were yet vnder Commodus In the number of whome is Pantenus reckoned who was sent of Demetrius Bishop of Alexandria into India c. Out of these obseruations of these Centuriographers vppon the auncient fathers coÌcerning the gouernment of the Churches in this age which was partlie in the time and life of some of the Apostles we also may note these thinges appertayning vnto our controuersie First that there were ordinarily but three degrees of the Ecclesiasticall Ministery Bishoppes Priestes or Elders and Deacons by which Priests or Elders they meane such Priestes or Elders as were ministers of the worde For they speak of those Priests or Elders whose office at the first was not distincte from Bishops So that in the ordinary regiment of the most famous Churches in that age and while some of the Apostles liued and immediatlye after their death these vnpreaching Prelates Preests or Elders that medled not with teaching but were al in gouerning were not accounted any offices or degrees of the Ecclesiasticall ministery But they had onely three as we haue Bishops
the Trinity the coÌmunicating of his body and bloud and if there bee anye other thing that is commended in the Canonical Scriptures Those things excepted which burdened the seruitude of the old people according to the congruence of their hart and of the prophetical time and which are redde in the fiue bookes of Moyses But those things that are not written but that being deliuered we keepe which are indeede obserued throughout the whole worlde are giuen to be vnderstoode that they are to bee retayned as either of the Apostles themselues or of plenary or general Counsels whose authority is moste hole-some in the Church they are commended or decreed vpon As that the passion of the Lord and the resurrection and the ascension into heauen and the comming of the holy Ghost from heauen are celebrated And if any suche other thing shall occurre which is kept of the vniuersall Church whither soeuer it spreade abroad it self As for other things which are varied by Coastes of Countries and by regions as is that that other fast on the Satterday and other not other euery day communicate the body and bloude of the Lord other doo receaue but certaine daies somewhere no daye is left of in which there is not an offering made somewhere on the Satterday onele and the Lordes daie somewhere onely on the Lordes day And if any such other like thinge may bee noted this whole kynde of things hath free obseruations Neither any discipline in these thinges is better to a graue and prudent Christian then to do after that sort after which he shall see the Church doe unto the which he shall happen to come For that which is enioyned neyther againste the Faythe nor yet againste good manners is to bee holden indifferentlye and to be kept according to the company of them among whom men liue So that according to this fatherly aduice and sounde iudgement of S. Augustine conferred with these and other circumstances for the vniting of this name Bishop vnto one more peculierly then to other his fellowe brethren it being neither against the faith nor against good manners though there had beene no mention at all thereof or of that whiche might inferre it in the Scripture and though diuerse Countries had one custom of Gouernement and we another yet were not ours to be disobeyed but straungers comming to vs are to conforme themselues as occasion requireth to ours and muche more our selues not to despise the same But nowe it beeing suche an vniuersall order that it hath al-waies continued euen from the Apostles times and all ouer the Churche in euerye place without alteration nor any age or people haue beene knowen or can bee named in al Christendome where this pretended equality since the Apostles times hath beene maintayned but that there haue bene Bishoppes good or bad that haue beene superiors thoughe not in the office of their Order yet in the office of their Dignitye albeit wee could not shewe in the expresse scripture the time the place the manner of the institution beginning thereof yet maye we safely with S. Augustine conclude that it was not nor could be done without the Apostles Especiallye when wee can shew as we haue showed euen in the plain words of the Scripture the verye matter it selfe not among Priestes in the old Lawe among whom they had an highe Priest ouer them and all the Leuites Princes and Rulers of the Leuites as our Bretheren reason from the Prophesie of Esay that God would take of the Gentiles to be Priestes and Leuites to fulfill this Prophesie by proportions of our Pastors and Doctors but wee stande for the originall practise of it on the manifest examples in the newe Testament The Apostles and that not in respect they were Apostles for so they were sent abroad and not resiant in a place but as they were resiant so Pastors had some higher then the residue some that were Pillers and chiefe among them And like-wise had the other brethren ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã those that were guides and Rulers among them And Timothie the Pastor of the Churche at Ephesus as Caluine saith was the chiefe Ruler saith Beza of all the Pastors there Yea the verye plaine subscription of the Epistle it selfe calleth him plat and plaine The firste Bishop of Ephesus Sithe therefore both the gift of this superior dignity and the application of the name had such auncient originall in the Apostles times when it began had such vrgent occasions where it sprang had such godly purposes where-to it tended had such plausible allowance and authority of all the worlds decreeing to confirme it among whome I hope at least were some good men And lastly sithe it hath had such vniuersall and continuall practise of it among whom also such a multitude of holy learned fathers haue taken them this peculier title and superiority shall we now yéeld to Beza his procéeding on this example Phil. 1. That this was the chiefe occasion of all the mischiefe following Here-upon saith Beza began the Diuel to lay the first foundation of his tirannie in Gods church as though all the administration of the Churche were together with the name traÌslated vnto one All this and that which followeth in Beza hereupon be it spokeÌ with al dutiful reuereÌce to so worthy a man vnworthy affection with in these matters to be so caried away is vnnecessary collected on the sequele here-of howbeit directly indéed no sequel at all True it is that of any neuer so good a thing the Diuell indirectly may pick occasion to worke mischiefe But that can-not be properly avowed that it commeth from thence For as S. Iames saith doth a fountaine send out at one place sweete water and bitter and directly as Christ saith a good tree bringeth forth good fruits If therfore so good an actioÌ done for so good purposes haue not had so good a sequell it is not to be imputed to the matter but to other ill occasions afterwarde When the good housholder had sowed wheate the enuious man on occasion of the seruaunts sleeping sowed Darnel When God had sent Christe into the worlde to be the corner stone of the building by the occasion of mans malice he was called and was indéede to many the stone of offence and stumbling But what of that shall wée take offence also or conclude that Christe is not the God of peace and loue because warre and discorde followes while Sathan stirres occasions to make sects and diuisions where the Gospell is preached and receaued if that were proued to be the very necessary and proper occasion and those euils following to be the direct natural sequeles it were a good argumit ab effectis otherwise on euery accident you may condemne all thinges But all this runnes on this supposal that the whole administration of the Church together with the name is heereby translated vnto one If this sequele did consequently followe then indéed
Paule dwelt two yeeres full in his own hired house receiued all that came in vnto him preaching the kingdome of God teaching those things that concerne the Lord Iesus Christ with all confidence no man forbidding him all which was before his first arraignment at Rome he had much more leysure and fréedome after his deliuerance and before his second arraignment condemnation he might wel deserue this coÌmendation of Irenaeus to be the founder constituter instructer of that Church And as for Peter it might be wel also that he came thither afterward for there is no likelihood of his béeing there before when the Iewes that were so willing to hear Paul said vnto him Act. 28. ver 21.22 we neuer receiued letters out of Iury concerning thee nâither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee but we wil heere of thee what thou thinkest for as concerning this sect we know that euery where it is spoken against Wheras if S. Peter had bin among them especially their B. it could not be but they should of often and fully at least haue heard thereof But as I saide it may bre that Peter also trauelled to Rome afterwards desirous to sée the faithfull there and to doo some good among them as Saint Paule also confesseth of himselfe that he likewise was desirous saying Romans 1. verse 10 c. Praying alwaies in my praiers that by some meane at the last I might take a prosperous iourney one time or another to come vnto you for I long to see you that I might bestowe among you some spirituall gifte that yee might bee established I would yee should knowe brethren that I haue oftentimes purposed to come vnto you and haue beene let hetherto that I might haue some fruite also among you as among other of the Gentiles And no lesse cause had Peter of the like good desire for those that were of the circumcision of whome there were manie at Rome desirous to heare as they called it vnto S. Paule of that Sect. And many godly men came to Rome on such good desires as Origen c. yea euen Irenaeus himselfe that ioineth Peter with Paule in these actions or else if Peter had no wil as Paul had of trauelling thether yet it might be that Peter being of so great fame among the Christians and accounted one of the cheefe pillers of the Churche was vpon some occasion carried thither as Christ said whither he would not haue gone and brought prisoner to Rome as S. Paule was many other were though not recorded And most likelie it is that he suffered there also from whence Neroes persecution sprang Which though it be not mentioned in the Scripture yet the Scripture mentioneth these wordes that our Sauiour Christe said to Peter Iohn 21. verse 28. 29. Verelie verelie I say vnto thee when thou wast younger thou girdedst thy self and walkedst whether thou wouldest but when thou shalt be olde thou shalt stretch foorth thy hands and another shall girde thee and carie thee whither thou wouldest not This spake hee signifiing by what death he should glorifie God And therefore since this was Christes owne prophesie of Peters death this is most certeine that he died not a naturall death but suffered martyrdome for Gods glorie And whye should we denie without any proofe that which all the auncient Fathers so néere Peters time on so great likelihood haue with one full consent so vniuersallie affirmed that Peter suffered at Rome If it be saide that this maye confirme their opinion that saye Peter was Bishop there although that followeth not of any consequence yet sithe that opinion arose not all of nothing it is the more likelie that he glorified God by his death there at least-wise that there he had béene and not béene idle nor vnfruitfull in that Churche when they grew so farre as to say that he was there also the first Bishop For my part vpon the déeper consideration of these things being matters whereof the dissent is no preiudice to our faith I am not of their opinion that saye Peter was neuer at Rome at all I suppose rather that bothe he was there and that for some time of abode he taught there also and that as Saint Paule suffered there which his wordes there written 2. Timoth. 4.6 doo in a manner plainelie declare where he prophesied of his owne death saying for I am now readie to be offered and the time of my dissolution is at hande and as Ignatius and other famous men were fetched thether to suffer death that euen so was Peter caried thether to vse Christs owne wordes and that being at Rome prisoner before he dyed Irenaeus who flourished about the distance of fourescore yeares after Peters death which is no great time and little more than manie a mans age and therefore it is verie likelie that Irenaeus could tell somewhat of it did know that Peter and Paule had bothe béene there and doone bothe of them so much good there that he thought he might worthilie bestowe these titles vpon them that they were founders constituters and instructers of that Churche For although they were not bothe of them yea neither of them the Bishops of Rome their selues yet the Churche there growing great they had not onelie instructed them but set downe suche Ecclesiasticall orders among them as whereby their Churche was then gouerned And as Ireneus saith Linâ Episcopatum administrandae Ecclesiae tradiderunt they deliuered the Bishoprike or office of the Bishop for the administring of the Churche vnto Linus not deliuering the same to Clemens as that puppet which counterfeits him-selfe to be Clement moste impudentlie vaunteth in a forged letter to Iames Bishop of Ierusalem that Peter made him Bishop of Rome but this place of Irenaeus being autentike dooth notablye conuince that shamelesse forgerie and shameth all the Popes and Papists that build their successioÌ manie other riffe-raffes thervpoÌ Neither dooth Irenaeus ascribe the action of making Linus the B. of Rome to Peter alone but to both the Apostles And although this be a good record of Ireneus being almost of the same age liuing not farre from Rome yea hauing béene himselfe at Rome and so searched out the matter more exactly or euer he durst put it in writing and make argument thereon to confute the aduersaries which had it not béene so would quicklie haue taken him tardie and triumphed on the aduantage yet is not his testimonie alone for he also might else as he was in some greater points be by others deceiued but Euseb. likewise citeth other as auncient as Ireneus to the same purpose For saith he lib. 2. Eccl. bist cap. 25. Nero therfore as he professed him-selfe an open enemie of the Godhead and of godlinesse so before other things hee thirsted for the death of the Apostles themselues bicause they were the Capteines and standerd bearers among the people of God
them being Priestes also any of them called Bishop of those Seas or in any one of those places sauing only Ierusalem that had then 2. Bishops together in one Citie Which fell out vpon a straunge occasion is noted as a rare accident And yet in euery of those famous places they had many at least moe than one that were Pastorall Elders that preached ministred the Sacraments in the Bishops absence which againe plainly conuinceth that there was a great difference in the ordinary Gouernement of the Churches besides the extraordinarie gouernment of the Councels betwéene a Bishop and a Prieste or Elder In the one the Bishop being alwaies the Superiour in his particuler Diocese In the other some Bishop being chosen the Superiour or Praesident ouer the other Bishoppes in that prouinciall assembly And to shew this yet more playne and not only this but to measure this matter being but a matter of gouernment if it had beene diuerslye vsed in diuerse Churches and not vniuersally alike in all to declare by this matter héere in question how far foorth we ought and no furder at the furdest to striue against it without making schisme or diuision of the Churches peace and vnity Let vs sée the collections of Eusebius and Ierome about the trouble and pacification of this question for it fitlye serueth to our purpose But the Bishops of the coastes of Asia saith Eusebius lib. 5. cap 24. did rather confirm the custom deliuered them from their auncientes Amongst whome Polycrates which seemed to beare the Primacie among them writing to Victor Bishop of the church of Rome noteth in these wordes the manner of the auncient tradition continued euen to his owne time We therefore saith hee do celebrate the inuiolable day of Easter neyther adding nor diminishing any thing For the great lightes in Asia the chiefe and choise men are fallen asleepe whome the Lorde in his comming shall raise when hee shall come from heauen in glory when he shal call for all his Saintes Among whome is Philip the Euangelist which fell a-sleepe at Hierapolis and also his 2. daughters which waxed olde beeing virgines and another daughter of his replenished with the holy Ghoste which fell a-fleepe at Ephesus And Iohn also which leaned on the Lords brest who was the chiefe Sacerdotall Prieste and wore the pontificall or golden plate he alludeth as I take it vnto the High-Priest among the Iewes signifiing the chiefe dignity and estimation he had in Asia which was a Martyr a Doctor of the Church who also is fallen a-sleep or died at Ephesus Polycarpus also at Smirna both Bishop and Martyr and likewise Thraseas Bishop at Eumenia but by martyrdome he died at Smirna What shall I name Sagaren beeing no lesse a Prieste and Martyr which resteth in peace at Laodicea More-ouer Papirius and Macarius or rather Papirius the blessed and Melito but an Eunuche for the kingdome of God and filled with the holye Ghoste who heth in the Citie of Sardensias expecting the comming of the Lorde from heauen to rayse againe the dead Al these therfore obserued the Easterday on the 14. day of the Moneth according to the Gospell Dooing nothing at all otherwise without it but by all thinges and in all thinges following the rule of faith Yea and I Polycrates also the leaste amongest you all doe obserue it according to the tradition of my Fathers these onely whome I haue followed euen from the beginning For seuen of my Parentes haue beene Bishoppes by order and I the eight who haue also thus obserued this daie that it mighte agree with that daye wherein the people of the Iewes remooued the leauen Wherefore most deere brethren I am now in the name of the Lorde three-score and fiue yeares olde hauing also most full vnderstanding of manie Bishops through-out the worlde and intentiuely marking the Scriptures I will not be mooued by those thinges which are set out to make men afrayde sithe that mine-elders haue also sayde wee must obey GOD more than men And after a fewe wordes he setteth these vnder it concerning those Bishops that were present with him But I could also make mention of those Bishops that your selues desired I shoulde call foorth as also I haue doone Whose names if I should write it is too great a multitude Who all knowing my businesse haue confirmed those thinges that we write with their consent being perswaded that we haue not carried graye hayres to no purpose but haue beene alwayes conuersant in Christes discipline Thus wrote this reuerende Bishop of Ephesus against saith Ierome the Bishop of Rome about this matter but I followe Eusebius as hée is translated by Ruffinus In the which Epistle we may againe perceaue that the Bishop of Rome had no such superioritie ouer these Bishops as he nowe pretendeth Onely he in the name of his Church or of those Bishops that were likewise at Rome assembled ouer whome Victor was the President had requested this Bishop of Ephesus it being so great and famous a Sea aboue all the Bishoprikes of those partes of Asia the lesse to assemble and call for the Bishops of that prouince to debate and giue their iudgementes on this question And yet this argueth that not onely this Polycrates called such a great multitude from seuerall places oâ such onely as were Bishops in the same but also that as these Bishops were called from their owne Cities for the decision of this controuersie not onely there appeareth a difference betwéene a Bishop and the Priests or Pastorall Elders left at home to minister the worde and Sacraments but also an ordinarie superioritie of this Bishop of Ephesus ouer the other Bishops of that Prouince to call and assemble them togeather to a certaine place and to propounde this petition of the Italian Bishops vnto them or else that he vsurped it and encroched vpon them or else that the Bishop of Rome had some authoritie ouer him and all them to will him so to doe But sithe it is apparant that the Bishop of Romes authoritie was neuer no not when it was greatest there acknowledged it followeth that not onely Bishops were then Superiors vnto the ordinarie sorte of Pastorall Elders but that euen at that time there was an ordinarie superioritie in that and such other principall places ouer the ordinarie sort of Bishops also And no doubt he being the eight Bishop there and by the count of his age hauing liued within 40. yeares after Iohn the Euangelist and in the time of Policarpus whom he also mentioneth and all of them beeing so precise that they would not go one iote neither in adding too nor taking from the scripture no not in so much as the alteration of a day nor would varie in anye thing from their forefathers nor anie of their forefathers from the Scripture howe is it likely but that they tooke this order both for one Pastorall Elder in a Citie to be superior in
speede to come to him And he vsed a certaine religious recourse while now and then he called him thither for the instruction of his Church nowe and then he to aedifie himselfe woulde goe to him and day and night sitte by him while he taught Yea and Alexander also whom we shewed before to gouerne the Church of Ierusalem and Theoctistus which gouerned the Church of Caesarea of Palestine did euen captiuate almost all the time of their life to heare him and yeelded vnto him alone the soueraignty of Maistership or Doctorship in the diuine Scriptures and Ecclesiasticall doctrine Whereby it appeareth that the office of a Priest or Elder being a Minister of the word and Sacramentes howsoeuer the party excelled and were in admiration for his learning yet in dignitie he was distinguished from and was farre inferiour vnto him that was the Bishop of the Church And that as appeareth also in many places of Origens workes bishops Priestes and Deacons were 3. degrées superiour and inferiour one to an other And euen at the same time or before it Zebenus being bishop of Antioche as Ierome noteth Gemnius or as Eusebius calleth him Gemianus a Priest of Antioche flourished Which againe argueth that a bishop and a Priest is not all one Which bishop being dead Babilas saith Eusebius lib. 6. cap. 16 receaued the principall gouernmeÌt of the church These bishops so continuing as the Magdeburgenses note them succeeding one after another from the Apostles vntill Paulus Samosatenus the Heretike was chosen bishop against whome Malchion a Prieste of the same Church of Antioche disputed before all the bishops there assembled so singulerly that the disputation was written and published with great admiration of the same and afterward vnder Cyrillus bishop there the Magdeburgenses reckon Dorotheus a learned Priest of Antioche who after Cyrillus was made bishop So that still Bishop Priest was not all one Before which time vnder Zephirinus next bishop of Rome after Victor Tertullian a Priest or Elder of Rome did flourish Who in his booke de Baptismo saith Superest ad concludendum c. It remayneth to conclude the matter to giue warning of the obseruation both of giuing baptisme of receiuing The right of giuing hath Summus Sacerdos the sacerdotall Priest that is the chief or highest which is the bish and then the Priestes or Elders and the Deacons howbeit not without the authority of the bishop for the honor of the Church Whiche remayning intier the peace is safe For otherwise there is a righte vnto lay men It may be giuen equally except now the bish or the Priests or the Deacons be called saying the word of the Lorde ought not to bee hid from any I defend not Tertullians opinion that laye persons maye baptise but I note that which he setteth downe for the order in his time of the degrées of the Cleargie that the bishop was superiour to the Priestes aswell as to the Deacons which also appeareth in his booke De Monogamia Wherein though he slipt into the error of Montanus yet in this distinction of a Bish. of a Priest and of Deacon he swarued not from the continuall approued custome of the Church And in his booke De fuga in persequutione But when the very authors theÌselues that is the very Deacons and the Priests and the bish do flee how shall the lay people vnderstand in what sense it is said Flee from Citie to Citie By which other places in Tertullian you may sée the difference of these degrées in his time Whiche more manifestlye appeareth in a matter that fell out a little after though before the foresaid condemnation of Samosatenus as appeareth by Eusebius lib. 6. cap 33. At what time Nouatus a Prieste of the Church of Roome puffed vp with a certaine pride vtterly bereft theÌ that fel of al hope of saluation although they worthely repented Wherupon also he became the chiefe of the Nouatians heresie who being seperated from the Church by a proude name called themselues ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is to say puritans For the which matter a most famous sacerdotal Councell was called to the number of threescore B. and as many priests with a great many Deacons Besides this also through euery seuerall prouince with great deliberation had vpon this matter it is by decrees signified what was needefull to be done It is therefore decreed that Nouatus being puffed vp with a proude minde with all those that followed him whosoeuer should fal into that cruel opinion keeping no whitte of brotherly loue should be excommunicated out of the Church But those that in the conflict had falleÌ should be healed with brotherly mercy and be helped with the fomentations of repentaunce Vpon this matter also Cornelius the bishop of Rome writeth to the Church of Antioche declaring to Fabian the B therof what the councell assembled in the city of Rome had decreed What also the Italians the Africans other Western churches thought c. And an other epistle of Cornelius written to FabiaÌ bish of Antioche is extaÌt shewing al things coÌcerning Nouatus who he was of what manner life and conuersation how he fell from the church of God In which epistle he declareth that hee fell into all these things euen for the desire of a bishopr which secretlye he nourished in himself But chiefly he was puffed vp in that that he had takeÌ vnto him certaine excellent men of those that were confessors to be in the beginning his companions among whome was Maximus a certaine priest of the church of Rome Vrbanus which remained among them that were confessors of faith in persecution Yea Sidonius A Celerius which were very famous among those that were holden for confessors because they had ouercome all kinde of torments but these saith he when more diligentlye they had perceaued that he delt al by deceites by lies periuries and that he counterfaited holines to this onely purpose that hee might bleare the ignorant they forsaking him or rather cursing him to the church with great satisfiing returned And confessed to the bishoppes beeing present and also to the laye men first their error and then his fraudes and deceauings Moreouer in this epistle he addeth these thinges that wheras he was alwaies wonte to sweare to his brethren that he desired not at all to bee a bishop vpon a sudden and vnwittingly as though hee had beene a thing newly formed he started forth a bishop Euen he forsooth that challenged the discipline and the decrees Ecclesiasticall hee also tooke before hand a bishoprike vpon him but such as of God hee had not receaued For hauing gotten from an out part of Italy 3. bishops moste simple meÌ altogether ignoraÌt or rather they being deceaued of him with subtile circuÌuention he wringeth froÌ them an imagined rather theÌ lawful imposition of hands vpon him Of whom notwithstanding one forthwith returned to
Elders as were Ministers of the word and Sacramentes whom our brethren cal Pastors was with one consent allowed and practised without any interruption reclayming or misliking of any person either of the Cleargie or of the people by a continuall succession from in the very Apostles dayes To the which purpose I haue not vrged such authors as are suspected to be forged in those holy and auncient Fathers names but such as euen our brethren theirselues do acknowledge to be the true authors of those bookes and stories whence I cite them As for the holy Fathers following Cyprian Athanasius Cyril Basil c. doe not onely all of them agrée héereto and for the most part were such bishops themselues but also vpon anie occasion offered in their times do defende and maintaine by the authoritie of the worde of God this superior dignity and authority that they had and exercised as shall yet furder God willing appeare in that which followeth But héere because our brethren may seeme already to haue aunswered al that can be alleaged out of the ancieÌt fathers I am now to craue licence of the reader to set a-syde for a while our brethrens Learned discourse that we may heare and marke for our furder satisfaction what our other Learned brethren aunswere heereunto And firste they aunswere to all this by distinction of the order of bishoppes in a little booke late come forth called The iudgement of a most reuerend and Learned man from beyonde the Seas concerning a threefold order of bishops c. Which aunswere beeing so briefly and plainely perused as may satisfie and conferred with the resolutions of our other brethren from beyonde the Seas also we shal the readier returne to this Learned discourse of these our brethren at home for the titles and equalitye of the Pastors The Argument of the 4. booke aunswering that parte of a Booke late come foorth called The iudgement of a moste reuerende and Learned man from beyonde the Seas c. that concerneth the superiour Authority of the Bishops THis Booke contayneth a diuision of three kindes of Bishops to wit of God of Man of the Deuill With Danaeus proues of this triple diuision Treating first of the lawfull vse honorablenes of the name B. Of Daneusand the moste reverend mans Definitions and their confuting the definition of the Bishop of man Of the power that the most Reuerend yeeldeth vnto Of the continuing Assemblye at Ierusalem vnder Iames Of their office that are called the Angelles of the Churches in the Reuelation and of the churches Moderators Of the greatnesse of Peter notwithstanding the rendring accoumpt of his doings and of one going before the other Pastors Of the impugnyng and defending the argumentes of Epiphanius against Aerius And of the Fathers report that Timothie was Bishop of Ephesus with the shifte for his beeing an Euangelist and what the word Eldershippe importeth Of the Order and authority of one laying on of handes and of the differences betweene ordayning electing with the prerogatiue of one euen in the elections Of one or moe Bishoppes in one Citie and of the schismes in the auncient Churches where moe haue bene and withall of the lamentable schisme by the Meletians Of Cyprians defence for Bishops to succeed the Apostles and Ieromes defence for the originall of B. superiority in the Apost times and of the Apostles remayning superior although they ioyne other with them in their actions as Paul Softhenes and that one was superiour in excommunicating and that all this superiority of Bishops was no priuy custome but the continuall and vniuersall practise of all Christendome This booke intituled The iudgement of a moste reuerende and learned man from beyonde the Seas c. beginneth vvith this prefixed distinction WE must needs make three kindes of Bish. of God of Man of the Diuell WHO this most reuerend and learned man should be sith his name for what purpose I knowe not is not dicouered by our Brethren I minde not to pull off his visour but with all due reuerence both to his person and learning I may take the aduauntage with lesse enuie in a namelesse person the better to consider the reasons of his iudgement Howbeit bicause the reuerende and learned Danaeus professing openly his name doth vse also this selfesame distinction from whence this namelesse moste reuerende man might séeme to haue barrowed it I would therefore a little higher beginne with him that began before with this distinction and so one aunswere serueth both Danaeus in his Christian introduction 3. parte cap. 8. after he hath brieflie referred vs for the dignity and office of Pastors to Bernards sermons on the Canticles 41. 77 saith on this wise Haec breuissime verum iam latius Episcopi c. These things briefly but now more at large bishops and Pastors are one in the holie Scripture 1. Pet. 2. v. 25.5.2 Wee at this daye name them Ministers of Gods worde because men haue now long since abused both the name and dignity of bishops And at this day the name Episcopatus of a bishoprike or bishops office is esteemed to be the name of honor onely and of gaine but not of burthen and of labour Albeit contrariwise Augustine in the 9. booke of the Citie of God chap. 19. saith The name of bishop is of worke not of honor For of the office of a Bishop or bishoprike which in Paules time was one and Euangelicall was afterwarde made a threefolde bishoprike that is to wit a Bishopricke Euangelicall Humaine and Sathanicall Euangelicall where is greatest equalitie among all the pastors of the Church of God Humaine when vnto some one of the Pastors a power and prelacie or preferment not indeede the greatest howbeit some power is giuen ouer the other men of the same order that is to say ouer other pastors and Elders Sathanicall when vnto one pastor is giuen vppon other Churches an Emperors or Dictators power as in popery are bishops Archbishops the Pope Be it spoken with protestation of all duetifull reuerence I wonder at so renowmed and learned a man How zeale against the corruptions of Popery maketh now and then such a notable man also and yet but a man Homines sumus labi possumus We are all but men and may ouerslippe to confounde and carrie things awaye in presupposals cleane from their right course and places euen where they woulde moste preciselye distinguishe and dispose them Howe bishops and Pastors are all one in the Scripture wee haue séene alreadye at large though not yet out of that place of S. Peter héere quoted which because our brethren Discoursers doo afterwards mention we shall God-willing in order come thereto For the name of Minister of Gods word vnderstood both for Pastor bishop it is a good name and a good reason But that we should so cal B. and Pastors ministers of Gods word that wee shoulde cleane exclude either the dignity or the name of bishop it
the worde of God and that the rule is false which concerning this matter doeth attribute it to the Apostles which may be shewed by the ordeyning of Timothy by the Eldership It séemeth that this Learned man accounteth all the reasons which he hath already alleaged out of Epiphanius to be no reasons Else how saith he here Nowe the reasons of the same Epiphanius are these c. But howe then saide he before that Epiphanius doth bring foorth three reasons two as it were out of Gods worde c. and when he hath alleaged them in the order afore sayde the first place is 1. Tim. 5.1 c. another place is out of the same Epistle c. and traueiled as wee haue heard to confute them then as though all this while he had yet alleaged or confuted no reason he commeth in saying Nowe the reasons of the same Epiphanius are these c. What reason is in this dealing especially of such a most reuerend and learned man But if these following are his onely reasons good reason he should report them right and not make them other than they be Bishops sayth he beget the Fathers of the Church but Elders the sonnes in as much as Bishops and not Elders ordayned Bishops Doth Epiphanius reason thus Or to this purpose His wordes are these To say that a Bishop and a Priest or Elder are equall howe is it possible For the order of Bishops is the begetter of the Fathers for it begetteth the Fathers of the Church But the order of Priestes or Elders is not able to beget the Fathers it begetteth the sonnes of the Church by the regeneration of the washing but not the Fathers or the Doctors And howe was it possible for a Prieste or Elder to obtaine not hauing the laying on of handes to elect Or to say that he is equall with a Bishop The plaine meaning here of Epiphanius is this the Bishops beget that is ordayne Pastors and ministers of the worde and Sacramentes which Pastors or Ministers hee calleth Fathers or Doctors of the Church But these Pastors or Ministers whom he calleth Fathers or Doctors being no Bishops doe not againe beget that is ordaine or make other Fathers or Doctors but doe onely sayth he begette the sonnes of the Church that is the faithfull people by preaching the word and baptizing of them the Bishops therefore hauing a further authoritie to wit of making ministers then haue the ministers whom they make howe iâ the Bishops and the ministers authoritie equall This is indéede the truâ meaning of Epiphanius his reason He that can doe more hath more power than he which onely can doe lesse But the Bishop can do more than the Priest or Elder can doe for the Bishop can make Priests and Elders which the Priestes or Elders can not doe Therefore the bishop hath more power than the Priest oâ Elder that is no Bishop This being in effect the argument of Epiphanius this Learned man tourned all to this that Epiphanius should say Bishops beget the Fathers of the Church but Elders the sonnes in as much as Bishops and not Elders ordayned Bishops As though he spake onely of ordayning Bishops or by Fathers ment onely bishops and by sonnes Priestes or Elders of the Churche Whereas Epiphanius confesseth bishops and Priestes or Elders both of them to be Fathers and Doctors of the Church But in this behalfe of ordayning anie of these Fathers eyther Bishops or Priestes the Bishops had a prerogatiue aboue the Priestes and so their authoritie is notequall This is the verie argument and reason that Epiphanius maketh Nowe what saith our most Reuerende and learned man to this argument But what is this else saith he then to aske to haue that which is in question And why so Epiphanius here asketh nothing The question heere iâ this Whether Bishops and Priestes be in dignitie and authoritie equall and all one Epiphanius proueth they be not by this argument They that be equall and all one in dignitie and authoritie the one can doe in all thinges as much as the other and not one more than the other But the Bishops can make Bishops Priestes which the Priests theÌselues can not doe therefore Bishops Priests are not equall and all one That the B. can or the Priest can not do this which is héere auouched this is not the question but dependes vpon it or else he could make indéede no reason If nowe this assertion be vntrue improue it and neuer say what is this else than to aske to haue that which is in question But go to now What reason hath this Learned man to improue it For it may be and ought to be answered that the Bishops tooke that authoritie vpon them without warrant of the worde of God I thinke it may be indéede thus aunswered of a man that would vnreuerently sclaunder hee cares not whome and aunswere contrarie to all truthe and learning but that it ought to be aunswered so of any man and especially of a most Reuerende and Learned man be it spoken with reuerence I thinke the cleane contrarie Did not this most reuerend and learned man himselfe graunt before but euen on the other side the lease that Timothie had the authoritie of the laying on of hands And what here was that but ordeyning Bishops Pastors Except therefore all those prooues be improoued that inferre Timothie was B. of Ephesus and this of Timothy conferred with Iames and Simeon after him at Ierusalem and Titus in Creta it is apparant that Bishops tooke not that authoritie vpon them without warrant of the worde of God But thiâ that he sayth it may be and ought to be aunswered stayeth not héere for he addeth And that the rule is false which concerning this matter doth attribute it to the Apostles Here is a rule indéede for this matter of ordeyning ministers Did not the Apostles take vpon them the authoritie to ordaine Bishops and Elders Doth not S. Paule confesse that he tooke that authoritie on him The most reuerendes far more vnreuerend deniâng the manifest scripture And is Gods worde it selfe also become a false rule which is the rule of truth that attributeth this matter to the Apostles What could the open aduersaries of the word of God haue spoken worse against the word of God And how now shall this be shewed that the worde of God doth not attribute this to the Apostles Which may be shewed sayth hée by the ordeyning of Timothie by the Eldership And haue we not hearde euen by Caluine the matter clearely and at large shewed that not onely the ordeyning of Timothie was doone by Paule alone but also that it was the common vse to bee doone by Paule alone And that this woorde ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Eldershippe signifieth in that place not the Colledge Consistorie or companie of Elders but the office of the Elders Yea Beza also yéeldeth so
Tit. De gubernatione ecclesiae Sect. 12. Hée descendeth further vnto the particular Titles and degrees which these our brethren especially doe forbidde saying Moreouer sithe that the Kingdome of Christe is gouerned by the worde and spirite of Christe the Monark there are therein two kindes of men that is to witte the setters forth of the worde and the hearers of them who no otherwise than the Fathers and the Sonnes reuerence and worship the one the other And although the spirituall iurisdiction of these setters foorth of the worde of which iurisdiction wee shall speake afterwarde bee all one notwithstandinge the Degrees of dignitie bee not equall and that partly by the Lawe of GOD and partly by the approbation of the Churche For as Christe ascendinge from on high gaue Gyftes to men Apostles Prophetes Euangelistes Doctours and Pastors So gaue hee vnto his Churche power to edification By this power the Church ordeyneth Ministers for her profite that all thinges might bee doone orderly to the encreasing of the bodie of Christ. Hereupon the pure Churche following the times of the Apostles did ordeyne some Patriarches some Bishops some Bishops Coadiutors whoÌ Iustine the Martyr calleth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã whom we call Prepositors some Pastors and Catechisers The reformed Churches after the darkenesse driuen awaie which the Pope brought into the Churche are content with fewer degrees least by little little the matter might passe into a tyrannie They haue Bishops Doctors Pastors and Ministers inferiour vnto Pastors whom by a fonde terme they call Chapleyns Among these he that excelleth in the excellencie of giftes in the greatnesse of labours and in the degree of calling is preferred before other in dignitie Not indeed that he should exercise a dominion vpon other but that he should rule other in wisedome and Counsell so be that he shall shewe the reason of his Counsell drawen out of the word of God and out of the lawfull ordinance of the Churche For when Christe onely in his kingdome is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã free from rendring anie account it is fitte that they which be subiectes to him should render a reckoning of their doings Thus reuerently writeth this Reuerende and learned man Hemingius on these titles and difference of dignities in the offices promotions of the pure and primitiue Church succéeding the time of the Apostles and of the reformed Churches in these dayes Vnto whom also accordeth Herbrandus a famous Protestant writer nowe liuing though differing froÌ vs in the controuersie of the sacrament who in Compendio Theologiae loco de ministerio Vpon this question whether there are or ought to be degrees among the Ministers of the Church Yea sayth he for God himselfe made and ordeined these degrees with different giftes Ephes. 4. Hee gaue some Apostles but some Prophets but some Euangelistes but some Pastors and Doctors to the filling vp of the Sayntes into the woorke of the Ministerie to the building of the body of Christe Also Paule nameth Bishops Priests or Elders and Deacons Moreouer by reason of order for good order or discipline sake and to preserue consent concorde and vnanimitie let some be superiour vnto other Least there should be ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a dissolute state without gouernement in the Church orders were ordeyned among the ministers by a profitable Counsell As among vs meaning the Germaine reformed Churches are Subdeacons Deacons Pastors Super-intendentes speciall ouer whome doe rule Super-intendentes generall as we vse the names of Bishops and Arch-bishops after the olde and vsuall name Vnto these other chiefe and choise men as wel Ecclesiasticall as Polyticall adioyned do make the chiefe Senate of the Church But this primacie is not of power that for his higher degree a greater authoritie licence and power should be graunted to anie man of decreeing anye thing or of commaunding in the Church or of ordeyning at his pleasure or of determining in the controuersies of Religion for heere as much preuayleth and ought to preuaile the sentence of the lowest as of the highest which resteth on better and firmer testimonies of the holie Scripture and of argumentes brought from thence in what place or degree soeuer any man bee placed But it is a Primacie of order in the residue of the gouernement and polycie of the Church Thus sayth Herebrande of the Germaine Churches But if now for admitting a bishop and distinguishing him from Priest or Elder for allowing Sub-deacons which we do not for hauing Super-intendents speciall and generall and for making this distinction for primacie of power and order in this sense that this power of order is of a standing and continuing degree of dignitie superiour to Elder or Pastor if for these pointes Herebrande and all those reformed Churches in this matter be reiected let vs then come euen to Caluine himselfe who doth yet more reuerently write of these titles and dignities of order where they are not reteyned then these our Brethren do among vs be they neuer so godly vsed For Caluine in his Institutions cap. 8. de Fide sect 51. Hetherto sayth he we haue treated of the order of gouerning the Churche as out of the pure woorde of God it is deliuered vnto vs and of the ministeries as they are ordeyned of Christe Nowe to the ende that all thinges may bee made manifest more clearely and more familiarlye and may also be better fixed in our mindes it shall be profitable to recognize the forme of the auncient Churche in those thinges which shall represent vnto vs before our eyes a certaine Image of the equall diuine Institution For although the Bishops of those times haue sette foorth manie Canons wherein they might seeme to expresse more then were expressed in the holie-holie-scriptures they composed notwithstanding all their whole domesticall administration with such heedefulnesse to that onely leuell of the woorde of God that you may easily see they had in this parte almost nothing varying from Gods worde Yea if anie thing might be wished for in their ordinaunces not-with-standing because they endeuoured with a syncere studie to conserue the institution of the Lorde and swarued not much from the same it shall very much auayle here briefely to collecte what manner of obseruation they had According as we haue declared three kindes of Ministers to be commended vnto vs in the scripture so whatsoeuer Ministers the auncient Church of God had she distinguished theÌ into three orders For out of the orders of Priests or Elders partly were chosen Pastors Doctors the other part gouerned the censure or controlement of manners and corrections The care of the poore and dispensation of the Almes was coÌmitted to the Deacons as for the readers and Acolytes were no names of offices that were certaine But those whoÌ they called Clerkes they acquainted theÌ with certaine exercises to serue the Church whereby they might better vnderstande whereunto they were appointed and in time might come the more
readie prepared to their office as I shall anon more at large declare And so Ierome when as he set downe 5. orders he reckoneth vp Bishops Priestes Deacons the faithfull and those that learne the Catechisme to the residue of the Clergie and to the Monkes he attributeth no proper place They therefore called all them Priests or Elders to whoÌ the office of teaching was enioyned They elected one out of the number in euery Citie to whom especially they gaue the title of Bishop least that by reason of equalitie as it is woont to come to passe discorde should spring vp How-beit the Bishop was not so superiour in Honour and dignitie that hee had dominion ouer his Colleagues but what parts the Consull hath in the Senate to propounde the businesses to demaunde the opinions to goe before or gouerne the other in Counseling admonishing exhorting to rule all the whole action by his authoritie and to put in execution that which by the common counsell shall be decreed that office did the Bishop sustaine in the assembly of the Priestes or Elders And that this for the necessitie of the times was with consent of men brought in the auncientes themselues confesse it So Hierome on the Epistle to Titus A Prieste or Elder sayth he was the same that a Bishop before that by the instinction of the Deuell factions beganne to be made in religion and that it was said among the people I hold of Paule I of Cephas the Churches were gouerned by the common Counsell of the Priests or Elders Afterwarde that the seedes of dissention might be pulled vp all the carefulnesse was surrendred vnto one man As therefore the Priestes or Elders knowe that of the custome of the Churche they are subiected to him that ruleth ouer them so let Bishops knowe that rather by custome than by the veritie of the Lordes disposing they are greater than the Priestes or Elders and they ought to rule the Church in common Howbeit he teacheth in another place howe auncient an Institution it was For he sayth at Alexandria from Marke the Euangelist vntill Heraclas and Dionisius Priestes or Elders they alwayes placed in a higher degree one that was chosen from amonge themselues whome they called the Bishop Euerie Citie therefore had their Colledge of Priestes or Elders which were Pastors and Doctors For all of them exercised also among the people the office of teaching exhorting and correcting which Paule enioyneth vnto Bishops and here by the way note that then which was yet in the Apostles times the Doctors as wel as the Pastors had the exercise of exhorting and correcting as well as of teaching And to the end they might leaue seede after them they trauelled in enstructing the younger sorte that had enrolled their names into the sacred soldage Vnto euery Citie was attributed a certaine Region which froÌ thence should take their Priests or Elders And it should be reckoned as it were vnto the bodie of that Ch. Euery one of the Colledges as I haue sayd only for because of policie and of conseruing peace was vnder one bishop Who so excelled the other in dignitie that he was subiected to the assemblie of the brethren But if the field or territorie which was vnder his bishoprike were more than that it might suffice for the bishop euery where to doe his office there were certaine Priests or Elders assigned in certain places through that fielde who in meaner affaires did serue his turnes Those they called Chorepiscopos Bishops deputies or as wee call them bishops suffraganes because they represented the bishop through out that prouince In which wordes Caluine plainely confesseth that although all these degrées of dignitie be not expressed in expresse wordes in the Scripture yet the Fathers had such a care to compose all their forme of gouernement by the onely rule of Gods woorde that almost nothing is different from Gods worde And that bishoppes were but one ordinarily in one Citie who had Regions and Prouinces and manie Priests or Elders yea Colleges of Elders of Priestes vnder them that some of their Prouinces were so large that they had deputies or suffraganes also to supply their tournes Which withall inferreth that this their dignitie ouer these persons could not be onely for the present time of this or that action or assemblie but was still standing and continuall euen as those Regions and Prouinces allotted to them and as were the numbers of Pastors and Colleges of Priestes or Elders in euerie Citie as are our Cathedrall Churches likewise abiding and continuing And this dignitie of one B. aboue the Priestes or Elders arose not of any ambitious aspiring but of verie necessitie to auoide it And that of the equalitie of Priests or Elders dissentions and sectes would spring And that this dignity is so auncient that it was vsed in Alexandria a most famous Church euen from Saint Markes time Who as Eusebius in his Chronicle noteth died foure or fiue yeares before either Peter or Paule and while manie of the Apostles and Disciples were yet liuing For to reiect that which Eusebius speaketh of Peter or rather which is manifestly foysted into his Chronicle that he was Christianorum Pontifex primus the first or chiefe Bishop of the Christians and that when he had founded the Church of Antioch he went to Rome where preaching the Gospell he continued 25. yeares Bishop of that Citie because this agréeth not with the holy Scripture no nor yet with that which Eusebius citeth concerning Peter out of Dionisius Bishop of Corinth Li. 2. Hist. Eccl. cap. 25. as is afore-saide is therefore worthie to be repulsed yet this which Eusebius hath both in his chronicle and in his Eccl. historie of Annianus orââyned the first Bishop of Alexandria after Marke the Euangelist and of Euodius ordeyned the first bishop of Antioche another more famous Church the 45. yeare of the L. that is the 12. yeare after the Lordes ascention and that Iames the brother of the Lorde was ordeined of the Apostles the first Bishop of Ierusalem the most famous Church of all in those dayes and that in the very yeare of Christes ascention how soeuer the Scripture expresse it not or that Ierome say it was done by coÌsent of meÌ or custome of the Church and not of the verity of the Lordes dispensation yet sithe this consent is of so manie and so holy men and this custome so auntient and of these so notable Churches in the Apostles dayes if this order had béene anye breach of the veritie of the Lordes dispensation or of any perpetuall order set downe and commanded by the Apostles or not good and necessarie but daungerous and hurtfull to the Churches of Christe by them both before and after planted or had béene anie direct occasion to the tyrannie of Antichriste no doubt they should haue knowen it and foreknowen the euent and would neuer haue permitted but impugned and expressely written against the
confession was neuer as it was hoped for set foorth in their name for whose cause it was written notwithstanding how this was done and vpon what causes it was done all men do not clearely vnderstande while many men marueile at the dooing but are ignoraunt of the true causes of the matter Heereupon howe diuerse suspitions might haue hapned vnto many howe diuerse iudgementes might haue beene made both of me and of the confession it selfe I will not say of priuate persons but also of the very Churches to conclude howe diuerse and sinister reportes might haue beene scattered among the common people what one is he among men that doth not knowe It behooueth me therefore before I shall die to stoppe the sinister naughtie supitions iudgements reports concerning my doctrine Which thing I iudged could of me be done by no better meane than if I should prouide that both my confession euen as it was of me written should be set foorth seuerally by it selfe and also seuerally by theÌselues my obseruations theron by the which if any things were dark they might be made plaine if any things were doubtful they might bee confirmed and that I should leaue the iudgement of the whole busines vnto the whole true Catholike Church Moreouer I thought that to remoue false suspitions out of mens mindes if any were conceaued I should doe no little good if what iudgementes were made of learned men concerning the coÌfession I should eueÌ by their owne letters make them knowen to all the godly especially sithe that also out of the same euery man might easily vnderstande for what causes the confession was not set foorth in that manner that it was purposed A certaine greate man wrote vnto me of that matter in these words Concerning that which you write of your coÌfession it was read ouer of me and of N. and of others with great pleasure Which both was written most learnedly with a most excellent Methode And if so be you except that which in the end you adde concerning Archb. the Hierarchy it liked me exceedingly well But when we did deliberate with our brethren N.N. the which are heere concerning the way and manner of entring into a concord among al the Churches of our confession they with one consent did iudge that this was both the only the safest the reddiest way that the coÌfessioÌs of faith already receiued set forth by the Churches of euerie Prouince should be composed compacted into one harmony because they are all of them one most like another so farre as appertaineth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to the substance of faith and that their confession was refused of none of the Churches This their counsell when they proued it by many reasons we haue written therof vnto you and to the Reuerende brethren N.N. and to other Churches neighbors to vs who all of them greatly like the selfe same counsell These thinges out of the letters of that great man To the same opinion almost we might produce out of other mens letters also writing of the same matter But sithe it is not necessarie for breuitie sake wee omitte them Zanchius nowe being thus mooued by these considerations to iustifie all these his former Aphorismes in these pointes aforesaid setteth downe among other these obseruations following Vpon the 25. Chap. Aphorism 10. 11. When I wrote this confession of faith I wrote all thinges of a good conscience and as I beleeued so I spake also freely as the holy scripture teacheth vs to doe But my fayth first of all and simplie dothe rely on the woorde of God after which somewhat also on the common consent of the whole auncient Catholike Churche so bee that the same consent striue not with the holy scriptures For I beleeue that those thinges which were of the holy Fathers beeing gathered together in the name of the Lorde determined and receaued with a common consent of them all without any contradiction of the holy scriptures that those thinges albeit they bee not of the same authoritie with the holy Scriptures are also of the holy Ghost Hereupon it commeth to passe that those thinges that are of this sorte neither would I neyther dare I with a good conscience disallowe them But what is more certaine out of the stories out of the Counselles and out of the writinges of all the Fathers than those orders of Ministers of the which we haue spoken to haue beene ordeyned in the Church and receaued by the common consent of the Christian common weale But who am I that I should disalow that which the whole Church hath allowed No neither all the learned men of our time durst disallowe For why they knewe that both these thinges were lawefull vnto the Churche and that all those thinges proceeded and were ordeyned both of godlinesse and to good endes for the edification of the elected And for the cause of confirming this matter I thought good here to inserte suche thinges as Martine Bucer of godly memorie a man moste famous for singuler godlinesse and learning hath left written vpon the Epistle to the Ephesians As for the administration of the woorde when it is doone by the reading and reciting of the deuine scriptures finally by the interpretation and explication of the same and by exhortations taken froÌ thence and also by repetition and by the Catechisme which is perfourmed by mutuall questions and aunsweres of him that is the Catechiser and of the party that is catechised and by holy conferences and debatings of the harder Questions of our religion according to this manifold dispensation of wholesome doctrine the giftes or offices of this function are also multiplied For whatsoeuer belonged to the moste perfect maÌner of teaching that in the administration of the doctrine of saluation is to be applied with most great study because that sith thou art a man the knowledge of seeing God or liuing according vnto God which as of al other it is most diuine so also most difficult ought to be set forth they now that teach artes diligently contayned in some certain books as if a man woulde purpose out of Euclide to teach the Mathematicalles first of all they will reade and recite the booke proposed and streight waies they wil expound the particuler words that are not commonly knowe as euery Art hath his proper wordes and names and then if anye collection or argument be more breefely made they expound it by resoluing the partes thereof and make it cleare by many examples out of the generall preceptes they teache particulers and they do enforme them how farre foorth they stretch This it is properlye to teache But he that is indeede a sure or faithfull Doctor is not contente to teache these thinges although by a faythfull deliuerance of the Doctrine but also hee repeateth it and exacteth the thinges that he taughte and offereth him selfe readye to his schollers that they might demaunde a playn explication of
those matters whereof they doubt Moreouer hee propoundeth the thinges that hee hath taught to bee discussed in publike disputations that there might no doubt at all remayne Besides these thinges he maketh oftentimes exhortations to profit them well in the Doctrine proposed Héere again the Doctor not onely teacheth but also exhorteth And hee addeth dissuasions from those things whereby they might bee hindred and also admonitions and reprehentions and generall rebukinges Last of all such a master marketh diligently what may profite euery one of his schollers And if he shall marke any to be slack in learning he both correcteth him priuily and admonisheth him of his duety If hee perceiue any to goe lustily forward in learning hee often times calleth him commendeth him and enflameth him that hee might followe his studye more and more Christ the Lorde him selfe did also keepe all these seuen manners of teaching In the synagogue at Nazareth hee read the 61. Chapter of Esay and interpeted it Luc. 4. in the mount he expounded the commaundementes of God Math. 5. and taught euery where and exhorted and reprehended and rebuked out of the worde of God He answered also vnto all both good and bad that asked him questions and on the other side he demaunded Questions as Math 22. He often catechized the Disciples he himselfe was also present at the catechising Luke 2. Sith therfore the ministery of teaching requireth a work so manifold there are also many orders of Ministers deputed vnto this Ministery And first of all Readers whose office was in a pulpit a place somewhat higher to recite the diuine scriptures But this recitall of the diuine scriptures was ordeyned to this purpose that both the tongue the manner of speaking of the scripture and the whole scripture it self might be made more knowne and familiar to the people For within a year they recited all the holy bookes vnto the people When as those that opened the scriptures coulde not by expounding finish but some part of the scriptures and that no great part neither in one yeare While in the meane season by the onely reciting of the diuine bookes vnto the people the knowlege of all the pointes of our saluation was meruelously confirmed for they are oftentimes in euery one of the holy bookes repeated and are by diuers and other names expounded so that alwayes the people out of the lesson following shoulde learne manye thinges which they coulde not as yet playnely perceiue by the former lesson and by that worke was the peoples iudgement confirmed concerning all our Religion as also concerning the expositions of the scriptures and concerning all doctrine that was brought foorth before them eyther by the lawfull Curates and Doctors or else by others For these causes this office also of reciting simply the diuine scriptures vnto the people was in the auncient Churches highly esteemed Neyther were any chosen to this ministery but such as were commended for their singuler godlinesse the which both we may vnderstande by other monumentes of the auncientes and also is perceiued cheefely by one Epistle or twayne of Saint Cyprian as out of the fift Epistle in the seconde booke concerning Aurelius that was ordeyned a reader And Epistle 22. in the third booke concerning Saturus And in the fourth booke concerning Celerinus Celestine To these readers were afterward adioyned Psalterists who had the gouerning of the Psalmes and hymmes that were to be sung Concerning the Scriptures to bee reade the Lorde bee thanked it is well ordered in the Englishe Churches so that there might bee fitte readers which shoulde adde thereto a grauitie and religiousnesse worthy of the diuine mysteries that were recited in the holy Lessons Let it therefore bee pondered diligently whose mouth they represent them-selues to bee which in the sacred assembles reade the diuine bookes vnto the people that is to wit they represent the mouth of God almighty then of what moment of what dignity the matters are that are recited which are the wordes and preceptes of life eternall last of all to what manner of men and to what purpose the readers of the holy scriptures ought to serue For they ought to minister vnto the sonnes of God for whose saluation the first begotten sonne of God shedde his owne bloude by the which thinges the same saluation maye more and more bee made open and bee throughly perfourmed vnto them Which thinges if a man with a true fayth consider with him selfe what grauity decency religion can bee yeelded in any action that such a reader shoulde ouerslippe But they which exercise this function ought alwayes to haue that in the sight of their minde that those thinges which are reade before them ought effectually to serue to the edification of fayth in the hearers the which also shall then at the length bee brought to passe when as both those thinges are well vnderstoode and also are receiued as the wordes of God But vnto both of these a moste cleare well spoken religious pronunciation is required Whereupon is gathered that they are not the Ministers of Christe which doe so recite the diuine scriptures as though that were the onely thing which shoulde be required that the shortest leysure that can be may be spent in such kinde of recitall Now there is another office the interpretation of the Doctrine that is to be dispensed that this to wite a more simple explication of words and sentences This ministery did the bishoppes execute and the priests or Elders Notwithstanding sometimes they admitted vnto this function out of the order of Deacons and of Sub-deacons yea and sometime of the layty such as they founde to bee by the holy Ghoste made fitte profitable to exercise the same So Origene beeing also a lay man was called to this office in the Church of Cesarea of Palestine by Alexander byshop of Hilta and by Thertistus bishoppe of the same Church of Cesarea Euelpis also by Neonus bishoppe of the Larandians and Paulinus bishop by Celsus bishop of Iconium and Theodorus by Atticus bishoppe of the Sinadians These thinges are reade in Eusebius in the sixt booke the tenth Chapter of his Ecclesiasticall history And out of the Epistle of those two bishops Alexander of Ierusalem and Theoctistus of Cesarea bishops in Palestine to Demetrius bishop of Alexandria who reprehended the fact of these two bishops concerning Origene as though it were a thing neuer hearde off for a lay-man while bishoppes were present to speake in the Churche vnto the people But these B. manifestly affirme that this was not true but that the holy Bishops were accustomed to exhort them whome among the laytye they knew to be fitte that they would bring foorth some profite vnto the people of interpreting the scripture and in teaching and that they would exercise this ministery euen while they their-selues also were present And the seconde and so the thirde part of the Ministery to wit interpretation and Doctrine the bishops and the
behaue themselues as the lawes of God and the godly ordinaunces of the Church and realme hath in that behalfe prouided And that those which forgetting their calling are puffed vp with anye ambitious desire of exercising Lordshippe shoulde bee repressed and if they haue any suche title or office shoulde exercise their Lordship in humility without ambition or pride But this simply debarreth not the exercise of all kinde of Lordship in any competent dignity reuerent title of honor and superiour authority which is the question but rather confirmeth it so to be exercised with painfull diligence and ready care without slouthfulnesse with hospitalitie loue of the flock without couetousnesse of lucre with modeste humility without ambitious desire of exercising Lordship We allow here this collection out of Peter that he eahorteth them to painfull diligence because âhey were B or Ouerseers to a ready care bicause they were Pastors âherefore should labour for loue of the flocke not for lucre like hyrelings to modest humility because their chiefe dignity in that they were Elders was to excell in godlines that they might bee an example to the flock All this likewise is true their excellencie in godlinesse is aboue al the excellencie in any dignity or Ecclesiastical honor that they can be exalted vnto but that that followeth which can-not be except they submit themselues and their liues to the common rule of other men is somewhat darkely and straungely spoken For if our brethren meane by this submission of themselues and their liues to the common rule of other men that they should haue no superior Ecclesiastical authority ouer other men but that all other men were aequal and alike in all Ecclesiastical gouernment vnto them or rather that the ouerseers of other men shoulde in their rule ouersight be vnder inferior to the rule and that also to the common rule of other men this were a manifest absurdity in al reason and a plaine contradiction to it selfe Neither did Peter or any of the Apostles so submit themselues neither were Timothy or Titus bidden by S. Paul so to submit themselues neither doth Peter here or any where els wil any Bish. Pastors or Elders so to do But for al their humulity of minde and diligânce of body in teaching c. neuerthelesse to ouersee to commaund to rebuke to rule gouerne other men Ministers and all according to their place of calling and authority of God committed vnto them And they that thus do and embrace withall these most excellent vertues they should be sure to bee plentifully rewarded by him who only as here is truely said deserueth to be called the chiefe of all Elders Pastors Bishops Neither is there any at least that I know or I thinke that our Brethren can name except that man of sin the Pope which claimeth any such title to be called the chiefe of al Elders Pastors and Bishops sure I am none deserueth so to bee called As for any of our Arch-bishops whose dignitye as it conteyneth no such absolute either power or title so it stretcheth nothing néere to all or to halfe or to a quarter and but scarse to a handfull in comparison of all Elders Pastors and Bishops and is bownded onelye to this little corner and portion of the Church in the realme of England both they and all we still acknowledging this that our Lorde Iesus Christe only deserueth to be called and onely is indeede the chiefe of all Elders Pastors B. as heere is said And also if these wordes following bee likewise so absolutely generally vnderstood To whome only these honorable names of Archipresbyter Archiepiscopus Archipoimen and such like do properly agree we agree also that they agree only in that proper sense to him As Christ in an absolute vnderstanding of good saith Luc. 18. None is good but onely God And as S Paule saith to the Rom. 16. namely to Timothy 1. Tim â â7 To the King eternall immortall inuisible wise onely be honor glory for euer and euer And 1. Tim. 6 15- 16. speaking of the comming of the comming of our L Iesus Christ whome in his times he that blessed one and only Prince King of kings and Lord of lordâ shall shew who only hath immortality c. And as the same our sauiour Christ willeth vs not to be called father or Maister For we haue one Father and Maister which is in heauen to whome onely these honorable titles do indeede properly agree speaking properlye of proper agreement in the fowrth and highest manner of propriety But if we make al these honorab titles so properly to agree vnto Christ that none of them may be vnderstood included or communicated to any of the Eccl. Politicall nor oeconomicall Ministers of Christe so that none at al may be called either good or King or Prince or Wise or Father or Maister by participation of any portion of the goodnes power wisdom fatherhoode Maistershippe c. of God as offices gifts or graces imparted to vs while we should hypocritically or zealously pretend to honour him and to séeke his only glory we should both vnthankfully indéede not acknowledge his goodnes and gratious giftes whiche recommende to vs the more glory in him and disobedientlie dishonor him in his ordinances and higher powers that he hath placed ouer vs. But where now doth God in this or any other expresse or inclusiue place of all the Scripture challenge to himself all these honorable names to agree onely and properly vnto him The honorable name that Saint Peter onely Heere ascribeth to Christe is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã cheefe or principall pastor Which Title I neuer hearde of any other that it was giuen vnto or taken vpon him As for Archipresbytor a principal priest or elder which tearme it is not in vse with vs nor Arch-priest as our aduersaries cal it bicause in the office of Priesthoode Eldership or Pastorship we acknowledge all to haue one office vnder the high-pastor of our soules and auncient of daies Iesus Christ. Onelie sith that the name Archbishop signifiing a chief or principall ouer-seer is no where in the Scrip. properly nor not properly applyed vnto him shall we dare to say as wee maye of some other peculiar titles and names of God Iehouah Omnipotent c. when as God now then of his goodnes vouchsafeth to coÌmunicat to some his especial Minist so honorab names belonging to himself Adonai Ellohim the name of the Lordes Christ or anoynted c. that these hon names Archipresbyter Archiepis do so only properly agree vnto Iesus Christ that none other in no other conditional sense may be called by them I thinke this can not wel be prooued by scripture nor any reason or argument will inferre it If we think this word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Prince by contraction prefixed and in corporate to the other words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã
the same chap. verse 11. Whether these testimonies of scripture that haue bin alleaged directly condemne the authority one pastor aboue another yea or no I refer it to the better taking heede of al these testimonies on that which hath on either side bin saide thereon Direct condemnation shold haue bin vttered in some expresse words But as yet there hath passed no such direct sentence nor direct implication of any condemnation thereof at al but rathen the clean contrary But our brethren presupposing this condemnation yet again doubting the obiection of another no lesse inconuenience thaÌ the spoyle of all the lawful authority thinking to preuent this also do say Yet neither do they set euery pastor at liberty by himselfe to do what they list without controlment How far off must we imagine wold they be set froÌ such a liberty euery pastor by himselfe to do what they list without controlmeÌt when as no one among theÌ hath any authority ouer another but euery one of theÌ is equal in al respects fellow fellow like vnto another hayl fellow well met without any one among them any whit superior ouer them are they not then the néerer to do euen what they list at least may they not doe so for any one among them that can let them who although hee doe controule them hath hee any authority to controul them And except they haue the greater grace of God so to stay themselues that as it is said 1. Tim. 1. There is no lawe giuen to the righteous they néede no lawe nor gouernour ouer them But if the apostles as we haue heard Caluines confessioÌ were not with out one of their company to be a superior among them may we not wel think that other pastors haue as much and farre more néede to haue one pastor also among them to be their superior Yea and it were but as Beza saith in his confession cap 5. De eccl vpon this article 29. That there ought to bee some order appointed in the college of the Pastors Although saith he the authority of the pastors among themselues be equall as it is one function Notwithstanding it is necessary that al companies should be gouerned in some certain order Therefore wee see that at Hierusalem in the college of the Apostles Peter went before the residue Howbeit it comes not to passe heereupon which some striue for to wit that the apostleship of Pâter is to be distinguished from the office of his colleagues as though he had bin a prince ouer the apostles or as the head of the church For he weÌt before his colleagues only for because of order and that in the common assemblie so often as need required And that it was so it is manifest of that that being before the Church repreheÌded by those that were of the circumcision he yeelds a reason of his legacy that he had trauelled in and is at Antioch openly by Paul reproued Neither shall any no not the lightest testimony in all that whole history be found out of which this primacy may be gathered But on the contrary the whole order of the history conuinceth that the vocation of the Apostles was euen and the function equall Here BâZa maketh among the Apostles all Pastors both an equality an inequality In respect of the function apostleship or pastorship al are euen equal Peters apostleship is not distinguished or different from the apostleship of the residue as thogh he were their prince or head this Primacy or any the lightest testimony thereof is not to be found Yea in this respect he suffers himselfe to be reproued both of his equals and inferiors But in respect of order they are again vnequall the same Peter so much superior that he goeth before theÌ al. And hereupon he setteth down for all pastors a generall rule that although in respect of the function or office of the pastorship al pastors beeuen equal yet in respect of their company of some certain order it is necessary that they shold all of them bee gouerned and so some one or few among them must of very necessity be their superiours But let Bezâ procéede Therefore we acknowledge that it is necessarie that there should be some one among the Breth which shuld assemble together the college which should shew theÌ of the businesses which should send his colleges to gather the voices to conclude which should when need shal be write speak in the colleges name Such an one was he in the ancient church whoÌ Iustine calleth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is the bishop they cal him now in some places the deane of the companie which hath a yearely office to wit where the Chuches are distributed into companies otherwhere they call him a Super-intendent to auoyde I suppose the enuie of the Episcopall tyranny But we are not ignorant howe many thinges were ordeyned by the auncientes concerning the seates of Bishops of Metropolitanes and of Patriarks and that of the best zeale and that with the limites of ech one determined and hauing a certaine authority attributed to them Yet neuerthelesse because that horrible tyrannie which springing from these beginnings as Hierome rightly iudged and is manifest by all the whole hystorie of those times did vndoo or leese the vniuersall Church and almost that alone hindreth at this day the renewing thereof we rest our selues in the order and custome of the Apostles whom it appeareth sufficiently to haue chosen by their common consent in the procuring of their businesses them that they iudged to bee most fitte according as necessitie did require and euen in such sorte that the power of those men should be temporarie or continuing but for a time and should be defined or bounded and that the Churches among themselues should yeelde reuerence one to another of dutie but not of a certaine royall Empire to wit when as they sought this onely thing that they might mutually one helpe an other in the encreasing of the glorie of God So farre is it off that it should be lawefull for anie man to attempt aught of his owne will or that any should saye that he ought to be iudged of no man although hee drewe all men hedlong into hell as that Romane Antichrist not onely sayd but also left it written that a perpetuall monument of the Romaine Apostacie might remaine And that these thinges were thus practised of the Apostles may to euery man be manifest out of the hystorie of Matthias and the Deacons election also out of that that Simon Iohn are sent of the residue of the Apostles vnto Samaria and Barnabas Iudas and Silas vnto Antioche yea and that out of all the Synode holden at Hierusalem and out of those things which in many places are written of Paule If there were no more graunted but this that here Beza yéeldeth vnto it were inough sufficiently and directly to condemne the assertion
Zuinglius that saith a Bishop and a Priest or Elder were once all one yet in his booke de Ratione Officio Concionandi or Ecclesiastes The Preacher he saith Againe Act. 21. Luke writeth thus The next day wee that were with Paule came to Caesarea and entring into the house of Philip the Euangelist which was one of the seuen we aboade with him This man had fowre daughters Virgines prophecying In which place first we haue to note that thing that this Philip of the Church of Caesarea the Euangelist was a Bishop or a Pastor Neither is he of Luke called an Apostle Howbeit he was one of the seuen which were ordeyned Deacons as the same partie shewed before cap. 6. That thing also withall ought to be noted that they layde downe the name of the Apostles so soone as being fixed to any one Church they had the continuall cure thereof that is to wit when as either being hindred by age or else afflicted with diseases with the troubles of peregrinations and with dangers they were not able to suffice any longer For then were they not any longer named Apostles but Bishops But we may bring foorth S. Iames whom for his age we call Iames the lesse an example or rather a witnesse of this thing For Hierome and withall all the auncient Fathers doe name this man Bishop of Ierusalem for no other cause than that hee had placed his seate fixed in that Citie For when as before as also the other Apostles being giuen to peregrinations he had taught the faith ech where all ouer the countryes hee was at the length by the Apostles themseles ordeyned to be the partie that as a certaine diligent watchman shoulde take vpon him the cure of the Churche of Ierusalem The same thing we may say of Iohn the Euangelist and Disciple of Christ. For when as he hauing beene cast forth to diuerse dangers had long time administred the function Apostolicall at length being made the Bishop of the Ephesians he departed out of this life in that âitie in the 68. yeare after the ascention of the Lorde Nowe then some of the Apostles being on this wise Bishops in suche places and so as our Brethren call them Pastors shall wee thinke that the other Pastors in those Cities did not stil acknowledge a Superiour dignitie vnto them and that for a longer time than for the occasion of some present action or assemblie Yea haue all the Pastors alike euen and as full authoritie equall in Geneua it selfe as that most excellent instrument of God Master Caluine or the most woorthie Master Beza yet liuing Indéede I can not precisely tell but I thinke not so nor it séemeth so and in my simple opinion be it spoken with due honour reserued to euery godly and Learned minister there be they neuer so equall and all one in respect of the same function and Ministerie it were not méete it shoulde so bee Or if it be so yet were it not so good no not for them as if that I speake of Beza in Geneua or some other excellent man were appointed to haue a continuing and standing moderate office ouer all the residue of his fellowe brethren there in the ministerie to ouer-see and gouerne them assigned vnto him and to exercise the same with painefull care readie diligence and modest humilitie so long as he is able to discharge the same And so indéede it should drawe néerer to the order and custome of the Apostles And yet if their order and custome had admitted such a temporarie superior among them as had serued only the tournes but of temporarie occasions yet thereby also for that time and occasion one Pastor had had the authoritie ouer another yea ouer all the other in the companie And how then do our Brethren here affirme that these testimonies of scripture directly condemne the authoritie of one Pastor aboue another As for the testimonies that Beza alleageth euen of the very first of them concerning the election of Matthias Act. 1. Caluine vppon these wordes ver 16. The scripture must haue beene fulfilled sayth Because Peter maketh the speeche the Papistes make him the head of the whole Church As though none may speake in the assembly of the godly but forth-with he must be made a Pope We graunt indeede that as it is necessarie some one in euery assembly must holde the Primacie or be the chiefe so the Apostles yeelded this honour vnto Peter But what is this to a Popedome So that here though that horrible tyrannie of the Pope be not inferred which the Papistes on euery inkling gréedily gather yet Caluine not onely confesseth plainely both in Peter a certaine honour of Primacie yeelded vnto him but also confesseth it necessarie for euerie assembly of the faithfull to haue such a Primate The like he sayth of the other example Act. 6. Of the sending of Simon and Iohn vnto Samaria Concerning that Luke sayth he declareth that Peter was sent of the residue hereupon it may be gatherad that he exercised not an Empire ouer his Colleagues but did so excel among them that notwithstanding he was vnder the bodie and obeyed it So that his authoâitie excelled any and euery one of his fellowes in particular but in respect of the whole bodie and corporation of them he was not so much as fellow but inferiour As for the last testimonie cited héere by Beza Act. 15. what Caluine hath sayd alreadie thereon euen for the standing Bishoprike of Iames at Ierusalem and how therein he excelled the residue of the Apostles wée haue at large heard before Now where our Brethren adde that yet they take not away the lawefull authoritie he hath ouer his flocke but that Imperious and Pompeous dominion which is meete for ciuile Magistrates and great Potentates to exercise in worldly affaires euen as Beza said it was not of any kingly Empire or royall commaundement and yet was it a reuerence giuen of dutie and as Caluine saide it was not a Papacie nor Empire ouer his Colleagues and yet he did excell among them and heâd a Primacie ouer them and the other yeelded an honour to him so these our Brethrens sayings may be well allowed And I thinke no Bishoppe or Arch-bishop in Englande doth desire any other then such limited authoritie of their office as may well agrée with these moderations and rather stande with humilitie modestie and diligent ouersight of good order than to aspire to any such royall Empire or to exercise anie Imperious and Pompeous Dominion And saue for the name sake of Lorde that for a litle more reuerence God wotte they are honoured with all if I should not rather say for some others a great deale more enuied for that they haue not our Bishops haue béene méetely well shriuen for such matters This Pompeous Imperious dominion being thus exemted otherwise say our Brethren in respect of their lawefull authoritie they are called by the Apostle
to bee allowed of the apostle but also the allowance of a faithful substitute in the absence of the Bishop and pastor Secondly the office of pastors is not onely to teache the same trueth in their seuerall Flockes but also to applye it to the time and persons of whome they haue charge with exhortation and reprehension with consolation of the afflicted and threatning of the obstinate c. This in fewe wordes is set foorth by saint Paule speaking of the diuerse giftes of God in his Churche hee sayth whether it bee hee that teacheth in his doctrine or hee that exhorteth in his exhortation The Doctor therefore teacheth without exhortation The pastor teacheth and exhorteth withall More at large hee setteth foorth the same office in his exhortation vnto the pastors of Ephesus willing thâm to followe his example who supplied that office vntil they were able to succeede in his place Also very breefely and yet fully hee describeth the same vnto Timothy shewing first that all his foundation must bee out of the scriptures which were sufficient for all partes of his charge and then moste earnestly commaundeth him to practise the same withall diligence his wordes are these Al scripture is inspired of God and prositable for Doctrine for exhortation for reformation and for enstruction which is in righteousnesse that the man of GOD may be prepared to al good workes therefore I charge thee before God and before the Lorde Iesus Christe which shal iudge the quicke and the deade at his appearing and in his kingdome preache the worde bee instant in season and out of season improoue rebuke exhort withal long suffering and doctrine Nothing of all this is in controuersie vnderstanding teaching according to the measure of euery pastors gift saue this sentence that the Doctour teacheth without exhortation which wée haue before at large confuted The first part therefore and the cheefest of a pastors office or duetye is to feede with wholesome Doctrine the flocke that is committed to his charge and therefore saint Paule describing what manner of men are meete for that charge vnto Timothie requireth that a Bishoppe or Pastor bee apt or able able to teache For if a man haue neuer so much knowledge and bee not apt or able to teache hee ought by no meanes to be admitted vnto this vocation And vnto Titus writing Chapter 1. the firste verse 9. he requireth that hee bee suche a one as holdeth faste the faythfull woorde accordinge to doctrine that hee also may bee able to exhorte with wholesome doctrine and improoue them that saye againste it Weereupon it followeth necessarily that whosoeuer is him felfe ignorant in the knowledge of Gods woorde therefore vnable eyther to exhorte with wholesome doctrine or to confute them that gaine-say it is altogether vnmeete for the office of a pastor or Bishop Albeit we might héere inquyre how it was said before First he maye no more lawfully haue charge of 2. or three Churches c. and then Secondlie the office of pastors is not onely to teach c. And nowe to conclude vpon this second saying The first part therefore and the chiefest of a pastors office is to feede with wholesome doctrine Notwithstanding not to stande on such reckonings though we with they had reckoned more orderly for our Brethrens sake professing ouer the head of euery page A Learned Disc. as also for the vnlearneds better perceauing their lear discourse thereon to come to the materiall point here required that the Bishop or the Pastor should be apt and able to teach to exhort and to confute c. This we yéeld vnto considering withall the diuersities of mens giftes euen in the Ministerie how some haue ten talents committed vnto them some fiue some two and some but one so that all emploie them after their abilitie to the Lords aduantage we hope the Lord wil not condemne but commend the poore trauaile of that seruant so that hee haue not hid his one talent in the napkin And admitting also that which Saint Paule saith 1. Cor. 12. ver 7. c. so often by our brethren otherwise remembred The manifestation of the spirit is giuen to euery one to profit to this man is giuen by the spirit the word of wisedoÌme to another is giuen the word of knowledge according to the same spirit to another faith in the same spirit to another the gift of healing in the same spirit to another faculties of powers to another prophesies to another discerning of spirits to another the kinds of tongues to another the interpretation of tongues and all these things worketh euen the selfe same spirite distributing to euerie man seuerallie euen as he will and ver 28. c. And God hath ordained some in the Church as first Apostles secondlie Prophets thirdlie teachers then them that do myracles after that the giftes of healing helpers gouernors diuersities of tongues Are all Apostles are all Prophets are all teachers are all workers of myracles haue all the giftes of healing doe all speake with tongues doe all interpret Neither also forgetting that place Rom 12. that our brethren themselues entering into this matter on the other side of the leafe put vs in minde of Seeing then we haue giftes that are diuerse according to the grace that is giuen vnto vs whether wee haue prophesie let vs prophesie according to the proportion of faith or an office on the office or he that teacheth in teaching or he that exhorteth in exhortation he that distributeth with simplicitie he that ruleth with diligence he that sheweth mercie with cheerefulnesse All which places dulie considered and conferred that though these offices be not so distinguished but that one may haue mo of them as we haue alreadie proued against our brethrens too precise seuering of them before which now in the Pastor they woulde ioyne together for many of them and that of necessitie yet heereby we may plainlie see there is no such necessitie of the coniunction of these seuerall giftes in all Pastors but although some haue them all some are not so furnished but that notwithstanding they want some of these giftes by our brethren here so necessarilie required yet are they not to bee cleane excluded out of the Ministerie And how do our brethren here then saie If a man haue neuer so much knowledge be not apt or able to teach meaning by teaching not onelie such teaching as they ascribe onelie to Doctors but also publike preaching which conteineth both teaching and exhortation as they sayd eueÌ in their last Section the Pastor teacheth and exhorteth with all except he can teache thus he ought by no meanes to be admitted into this vocation And yet if he could do this and were not able to confute them that gainsay the wholesome doctrine he is altogether vnmeete for the office of a pastor or Bishop This were very harde to be vrged with such a peremptory necessity
other debility doth so weaken him that he cannot so lowde so cleane reddily reade as a childe or a woman may do But the holy auncient Fathers did not therfore contemne the office of Readers No they considered the person whome for their calling and office they represented and permitted neither childe woman nor any man neuer so prompt a Reader in such publike and autentike manner to reade these thinges but onely those men that were lawfullye called and authorized thereunto and did greatly reuerence and estéeme this office of Readers although they were not yet made Pastors but were Readers only And shall we now contemne them condemne them when these Readers are Pastors also and say that such a Pastor reading doeth the thinges which a childe of ten yeeres olde may do as well as he And yet it followes not if there were some such Pastors whome a childe didde excell that if any such vpoÌ some especiall consideration were born withall we shall neuer lacke vnlearned Pastors ignorant and vngodly people simonicall and sacrilegious Patrones c. Whereas mée thinkes and I speake it bonafide and I hope bona cum venia that rather of the twaine if these our brethrens deuises should take place we should haue more coÌteÌpt of learning and greater number of vnlearned Pastors and so more ignorant and vngodly and contentious people more simonicall and sacrilegious patrones if any patrones at all should be allowed more slow forwardnesse of the building of Gods church beside other many moe new superstitious fantasies which for shortnes we omit to speake of than eyther now there is or euer was or euer would be by any direct occasion of reading a prescript number of psalmes and chapters of the Scriptures with other appointed formes of prayer as now we haue But our brethren supposing they haue héere so full confuted this publike reading of prescribed formes of prayer psalmes and chapters that wee our selues would séeke to haue it yet for a while at least to be tollerated they would cut of this also and say What though some say formall reading might be borne withall for â time vntill the Church might be prouided of sufficient pastors which yet is not graunted shall it therfore continue alwayes to the perpetuall decay of knowledge and hurte of the Church of God Who are those some that so say that formall reading might bee borne withal for a time vntil c And what is héere meant by formal reading If it be a comelie and reuerent forme of reading a prescript number of Psalmes Chapters of the Scriptures with other appointed formes of prayer before mentioned Why shoulde anie saie it might bee borne withall for a time vntill the Church might be prouided of sufficient pastors as though the reading of these thinges should no longer be suffered but that afterward those that shoulde be thought to be sufficient pastors should haue no appointed formes of Prayer at all nor any number at all of Psalmes or chapters of the scriptures prescribed vnto them but that euery sufficient pastor might be free to vary in his formes of prayer and number of Psalmes and chapters of the scripture at his pleasure What sufficiency shall be appointed for such Pastors is not here set downe For my part I thinke there is no sufficiency in a Pastor to be counted a sufficient priuiledge so clearely to acquite him but that although he may now and then leaue out or adde or alter some part of the prescribed and appointed forme vpon occasion at his discretion yet were it not conuenient were he neuer so sufficient learned that there shoulde be no forme at all appointed For wee must not onely consider the sufficiency of the Pastor but withall the sufficiency or insufficiency of the people and the order and comlinesse of the Church Which is best obserued especially in these licentious and perillous times full of errors and corruptions not when wee are moste at libertye but when Orders appointed doe restraiue vs. But these our Brethren the Learned discoursers reiecte all suche formes of prayer and say What though some saye formall reading might be borne withall for a time vntill the Church might be prouided of sufficient Pastors which is not yet granted No is who are they that haue of late set forth this Pamphlet intituled A booke of the forme of common prayer and ministration of the sacramentes c. agreable to Gods word and the vse of the reformed Churches Is not formal reading and numbers of Psalmes and chapters of the scripture héere prescribed And if this booke of the forme of common prayer be agreable to Gods word and the vse of the reformed Churches howe is this our brethrens Learned Discourse which they call a breefe and playne declaration concerning the desires of all those faithful ministers that haue and doe seeke for the reformation of the Church of Englande agreeable to Gods word and to the vse of the reformed Churches and how do these our Brethren heere affirme that if this formall reading shoulde continue alwayes it shoulde redounde to the perpetuall decay of knowledge and hurt of the Church of God which as Bucer sayth is to the great encrease of knowledge and manifolde benefite of the Churche of God God What greater discouragement is there vnto Studentes then to see the rewardes of learning bestowed as commonly vpon the ignoraunt as vpon the Learned What encouragement is it to idlenesse and slouthfulnesse in them that be already in that vocation to beâold them that take no paine to liue in wealth and ease without punishment of their negligence And with what necessary consequence doth this hang vpon the continuance of an appointed forme of prayer Psalmes and Chapters May not the rewardes of learning be bestowed vpon Studentes and yet formall reading of these thinges still continue yea may not Students imploy their time more continually in their studies and haue the more leasure to study better about the expositioÌ of the Scriptures when the publike forme of prayer is already appointed and prescribed vnto them True it is that this is a great discouragement vnto Studentes to see the rewardes of Learning as commonlye bestowed vpon the ignoraunt as vpon the learned But woulde not euill Patrones doe so more then they doe except the superior authority of the Bishoppes did not restraine them and if it were so that all were equall and the bestowing of the rewardes of Learning lay in the election of the vnlearned and vulgar people woulde not the same discouragement as commonlye or more commonly fall out then And is this the waye to encourage Studentes vnder pretence that the rewardes of learning are not so well bestowed to spoyle and pull downe Bishoprikes Colleages Cathedrall Churches Glebes and Tythes c. And to take all this cleane away both from the vnlearned and learned too And are these men nowe so carefull of the greate discouragement of
when he saith that by the commandement of God hee tooke the vessel or instrument of a folish pastor or shepherd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifieth vnto the Hebrues anie instrument we expound it a broken bagge But that is to much wrested I doubt not therefore but that by the instrument of the pastor Zacharie vnderstandeth the Ensignes or notable markes out of the which it might be gathered there was yet some pastor but in the meane season he calleth him a foolish pastor that we may knowe he was but a voide or a deceitfull visard The name therefore of pastor is heere placed by granting to it as the Scripture often speaketh and at this day we also grant now and then to the Papists the name of the Church and also we graunt to their horned or mitred Bishops the name of Pastors Thus doth Caluine apply this saying to the Papistes as the most part both of olde and newe interpreters apply the Pastor heere mentioned to Antichrist and the instrument of this foolish shepheard to the title of the Church But none that I read of to the prescript forme of godly praiers or to the reading of godly and learned homilies If our Brethren say that these thinges are not of themselues called the instrumentes of foolish Pastors but when they are alleaged to maintaine the ignorance of vnskilfull Pastors although this be not true altogether neyther yet were it true when these thinges are so alleaged as the scripture in some sense when it is wrested and alleaged to maintayne that which it is not spoken of nor appliable vnto is called a dead letter or rather not the Scripture at all and so may be called in suche a wrested and false sense the instrument of an Hereticall Pastor and of the Diuell himselfe or by any worse name and yet vsed and applyed in his true sense in which onely it is indéede the Scripture it is the holie woorde of God as also wee may saye the like of the sacrifices and other ceremonies of Gods lawe amonge the Iewes when they were vsed in their kindes and referred as types and figures to Iesus Christe they were the holy ordinaunces of the Lorde but being drawen from Christe whome they prefigured to maintayne the errour of opââ operatum as though they had vertue and grace in themselues to forgiue the sinnes of those that made the sacrifices or of those to whome they applyed them they are then called beggerly elementes and as it were the offering vp of dogges which God detesteth so if we shoulde commende the reading of prescript forme of holie and deuout prayers or of godlie and learned homilies to maintaine the ignorance of vnskilfull Pastors then indeede it might well be sayde that the holinesse and deuotion of those prayers turneth to sinne and superstition the godlinesse and learnednesse of those homilies might well be sayde by the iudgement of GOD to be no better than instrumentes of foolish Pastors though in these places cited God call them not so But since we alleage not nor vse any prescript reading or forme of prayer and homelies to maintayne the ignoraunce of vnskilfull Pastors but contrariwise to instruct both them and all others that here the same and so to bring them out of ignorance to godly and learned knowledge these odious and contemptuous termes can by no right bee iustlie applyed vnto them And as for the suffering of anye blinde guydes to leade the blinde If they be suche blinde ones indéede as Christe speaketh of it were not conuenient they should be suffered And if our Brethren would leaue these vnnecessarie striuings with suche guydes as be not blind but sée as well or better than theirselues those blinde guydes where any be might be better and more orderly remooued and other faithfull ouerseers placed in their steede The ministers of the Church are the salte of the earth If the salte be vnsauorie wherewith shall it be seasoned It is good for nothing but to be cast out and trooden downe of mens feete Let vs not therefore seeke politike shiftes to maintayne the vnsauorie salte which our Sauiour Christ pronounceth to be good for nothing but to be cast out By these and many other testimonies of the scripture it is as cleare as the sonne at noone dayes that it is the office and duetie of a Pastor both to be able and willing to teach his flocke and that no ignorant vnlerned person is to be admitted to that charge or reteyned if hee be crept in no more than a blind man is to be suffred in an office which must be executed only with the sight or a dumbe dogge to giue warning which can not barke or an Idol to haue the place of a man or a foole of a wise man or a wolfe of a shepheard or darkenesse in steede of light or salte that is vnsauorie to season withall We graunt no politike shifts should be fought nor vsed neyther hope we any are sought or vsed at least our Brethren haue not yet prooued any to be sought or vsed by the state of the Ecclesiasticall gouernement to maintayn such Ministers as may rightly be coÌpared vnto these termes Neither are godly and learned Homilies nor the prescribed forme of godly prayers any politike shiftes to maintaine them If they were our Brethren theirselues might be burdened to seeke also such politike shifts that doe likewise prescribe a forme of publike prayer Such Ministers as are here described blinde fooles Idiots Idols dumbe dogges wolues darkenesse salte vnsauorie ignorant and vnlearned persons where any vpon iust tryall are founde and conuicted so to be and of whom is no hope that they may become able and willing to teach their flocke it had béene better we confesse they had not béene admitted to that charge or beeing crept in are not to be reteyned Notwithstanding all such may orderly be remooued and yet the prescript forme of common prayer of godly learned homilies the superior authoritie of Bishops Archb. with the other discipline and gouernement of the Church of England already established may continue well inough in force without these byous odious and impertinent quarels of mainteyning any such vnlerned ministers But while we intreate of teaching to be the dutie of a Pastor we do not only mean publike preaching when the congregation is assembled but also priuate exhortation reprehension consolation of euery particuler person within his charge so often as neede shall require And that this is also the dutie of a faithfull Bishop S. Paule testifieth setting before the Elders of the Churche of Ephesus the example of his diligence which he would haue them to follow You know sayth he from the first day that I came into Asia after what manner I haue beene with you at all seasons Seruing the Lorde with all modestie c. And how I kept backe nothing that was profitable but haue shewed you and taught you
residue of the Scripture both of the old and new testament as in the chap before ver 16. Paul charged theÌ Let the word of Christe dwell in you plentâously in al wisdome teaching and admonishing one another in Psalmes and himnes and spiritual songs singing wiih grace in your harts to the lord and likewise Eph. 5.19 Speaking vnto your selues in psalmes himmes spirituall songs singing making melody to the lord in your hearts sith therefore they vsed to speak to sing these prayers praises of God in their publike not only banquets as some expound it but also assemblies of their diuine seruice as appeareth plain by S. Paules teaching the Corinthians the vse of these psalms prayers 1. Cor. 14.26 What is to be done then brethren when ye come together according as euery one of you hath a Psalm or hath doctrine or hath a tong or hath reuelation or hath interpretation let al things be done vnto edifying It followeth heereupon that howsoeuer the Corinthians abused this order of their publike praiers and psalmes euery man to sing or say his owne psalme or prayer in straunge languages bréeding confusion and no edifying yet that in the godly vse thereof they vsed some prescribed forme as of the Scriptures which they red or interprepated so of the psalmes hymnes or prayers that they saide or sung besides the Lords prayer and were not the makers conceiuers of all the publike prayers that they vttered Plinius secundus hauing examined certaine of the reuolted Christians that were brought before him what the maner of the Christians was in their assemblies because they were accused of high crimes and such numbers murdred writeth to the emperor Traiane that their maner was this that on a day appointed they vsed to come together beefore the day light Carmenque Christo quasi deo dicere secum inuicem and to say among themselues a verse or a prescript prayer vnto Christ as vnto God and to bind themselues with a sacrament or othe not vnto any mischieuous deed but that they should neither commit theft nor robbery nor adultery that they should not break their faith that being called vpon they should not deny the pledge committed vnto them which things beeing done it was their maner to depart Wherebye it plainly appeareth that both their custome was not alwayes to haue a sermon at the receiuing of the sacrament which it shold séeme Pliny aimeth at yet that in their publike praiers they vsed some ordinarie prescribed form among them Tertullian in the end of his booke De velandis virginib hath these words How great chasticement shal those virgins deserue which among the Psalmes or in any mention of God continue vncouered do they not worthily yea that in the prayer lay gently a welt a hair or any thred vpon their brain imagin they are couered By which saying though in mocking of those women again it appeareth that not only the men but women and maideÌs all did say or sing psalms were present at some form order of publike prayers Which though he set not down the form yet the chéefe points he reckoneth vp in his apologie against the Gentiles ca. 39. wher defending the assemblies of the Christians against the slanders of the heathen he saith I wil now my self set foorth the businesses of the Christian factioÌ that as I haue refuted the ill thinges to wit the thinges that the heathen slaundred them withall I may shewe the good thinges Wee are a bodie of the conscience of religion and of the trueth of discipline and of the couenaunt of hope Wee come together into an assembly or congregation that praying vnto God we might by praiers make sute for deeds or good workes This violence is acceptable to God Wee pray also for the Emperours for their Ministers and powers for the state of the Worlde for the quiet of the affaires for the prolonging of their ende Wee are gathered together to the commemoration or rehearsing of the diuine scriptures If that the quality of the present âimes doe enforce as either to giue forewarning or to reacknowledge them Verilie with holy voices or sayings wee feede our faith wee erect our hope wee fixe our trust Notwithstanding wee thicken or close fast with inculcations or often repeating the Discipline of our teachers There also are exhortations chastisements and the diuine censure she meaneth Excommunication And before cap. 30. The Christians looking thither to wit vp to God in heaueÌ with their hands cast abroad because they are vnhurtful with their head bare because we blush not to conclude without an admonisher because we pray from the heart we are all alwayes praying for al the Emperours that they may haue a long life a safe Empire a sound house strong armies a faithful senate a godly people a quiet worlde and what soeuer are the desires of man and of Caesar. c. Whereby we may well perceiue that they had both in behauiour and in matter some certaine vsuall formes of publique prayers Especially by that hee sayth they needed no admonitor of them Which seemeth to cut of this that all their prayers depended on the pastors conceiuing Which also we may well gather of that we heard before out of Iustine howe they brought him that was baptized vnto the Brethren where the assemblies were That we might pray say they as well for our selues as for those that are newely illumined whereby wee might bee founde through true Doctrine and good workes worthy obseruers and keepers of the commaundements that wee may obteine eternall saluation Such were the ordinary formes of publique prayers in the most ancient Churches Bullinger vpon 1 Tim. 2.1 Concerning the auncient form of publike prayer writeth on this wise And leaste in this matter I shoulde dissemble any thing the Ecclesiasticall assemblies before a 1000 yeares agoe were on this manner The people flocked together into the holy house to the entent to worship God But while they were entring into the Churche certaine psalmes in some Churches were sung of those that were already come in other they were onely recited vntil the whole assembly was fully come together And this beginning of the Diuine seruice they called the Introit of entring Nowe when the Church waâ come together all of theÌ cried with one consent Kâriele-eison Lord haue mercy To the which was added of some the hymne which is called the Angelles whose beginning Glory bee to God on high This hymne perteyneth to gratulation or to deprecation This being ended some minister of the Church recited the Collect the same was a kinde of prayer wherein the desires of the whole Church and their necessities collected together were recited vnto God Then was there red before-hand of the more learned Deacons some place either of the propheticall bookes or of the apostolicall Epistles chosen out according to the consideration of the time of the place or of
obteyning of a childe as a priuate man For the Priest hauing put on a publike person as one forgetfull of him selfe ought to conceaue prayers for the common health of the Church If we shall say there is no absurditie therein because Zacharie hauing accomplished the chiefe part of his praying did in the seconde place thinke of himselfe priuately it shall not bee an vnfitte solution And this aunswereth Caluines other answere that he might haue so done at other times For I like as well of his former solution both beeing not vnfit and seruing directly to this purpose and namely Marlorate confirming the same out of the scripture and Bucers testimony saying For the high Priest when he entred into the holy of holyes is sayde Leuit. 16. d. 17. to haue prayed for him selfe and for his owne house and for the vniuersall assembly of Israell The wordes of Moses in Leuiticus are these And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an attonement in the holie place vntill he come out and haue made an attonement for himselfe and for his housholde and for all the congregation of Israell And whatsoeuer we shall account of Simeons hymne in the Temple what shall we say to that which is saide of Anna the Prophetesse Luke 2. ver 37. And she was a widdowe about 84. yeares and went not out of the temple but serued God with fastings and praiers night and daie What were those Praiers that she continuallie did there make Were they publike praiers or were they seuerall Or were there no publike assemblies in the temple all that while If wee desire Christes confirmation of all this first what shall we thinke of that parable that he setteth foorth Luke 18. ver 10. c. Two men went vp into the Temple to praie the one a Pharisee and the other a Publican The Pharisee stoode and prayed thus with himselfe O God I thanke thee that I am not as other men extortioners vniust adulterers or euen as this Publicane I fast twice in the weeke I giue tithe of all that euer I possesse What and shall we alleage this to proue seuerall prayer to bee allowed of Christ in publike assemblies Yea verely why not Doth Christ condemne him because in that place of the publike assembly he made his priuate and seuerall prayer No. For then he had condemned the publicane too For it followeth but the Publicane standing a farre off and would not so much as lift vp his eies to heauen but smote his breast and sayde O God be mercifull vnto me a sinner Was not here also another seuerall prayer and that in the publike assemblie as much as the other And yet sayth Christ setting downe his resolution of them both I tell you this man to wit the Publicane departed to his house iustified rather than the other And what is Christes reason For euery man that exalteth himselfe shal be brought low and he that humbleth himselfe shal be exalted So that although Christ in the 6. of Matthewe ver 5. 6. doe forbid vs to doe as the Pharisees did and when thou prayest be not as the Hypocrites for they loue to stande and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streetes because they would be seene of men verily I say vnto you they haue thâir rewarde But when thou prayest enter into thy chamber and when thou hast shut thy doore pray vnto thy father âhich is in secrete and thy father which seeth in secrete shall rewarde thee openly yet doth not Christ here either condemne publike praiers or any priuate and seuerall prayers in publike assemblies but condemneth the pride vaine glorie that the Pharisees and such hypocrites had Otherwise both this parable yea and this place doth manifestly confirme and approue such seuerall and priuate prayers as are not onely made in priuate and seuerall places but in publike assemblies Caluine vpon these wordes of Christe sayth we are bidden in manie places to pray or giue thankes to God in the solemne assembly confluence of men and before all the people and that both because of testifying our faith or thankefulnes and also to incite other by our example to doe the same Neither doth Christe withdrawe vs from that studie but onely warneth to haue God before our eyes so often as wee prepare our selues to prayer And therefore these woordes enter into thy chamber are not to be vrged as though hee bad to flee from men and that he denied we should pray rightly except witnesses were remoued for he speaketh comparatiuely signifying that wee must rather seeke a secrete place then couet that the multitude of men shoulde beholde vs praying For God would haue those that are his by all meanes to flee ostentation If thou shalt from thy heart shunne this and that in praying it shall suffice thee onely to please God thou hast rightly prayed in thy chamber although thou shalt haue prayed in the greatest assemblie of men Musculus vpon the same precept of Christ sayth on this wise First in that they prayed in the synagogues it had not by and by the note of hypocrisie For the Apostles also the other faithful prayed in their assemblies the Temple of HierusaleÌ was erected principally to this purpose that it should be the house of prayer Therefore he sayth not simply for they pray in the synagoges but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they loue to pray in the synagoges For in secrete they wil not pray For we must not thinke that they prayed so in the synagogues as for the most part the godly doe to wit simply silently without ostentation but this they regarded that they might pray more manifestly and with a cleare voice in opener places In this maner then doth Christe approoue secrete seuerall prayer although it be made in publike assemblies Yea Christ himselfe gaue often example hereof I speake not of many persons that in publike assemblies he suffered and âllowed that for many seueuerall occasions made their seuerall prayers to him in publike assemblies but of his owne seuerall prayers not onely in places seuered from all company but in most publike assemblies as Matt. 11.25 At the same time Iesus aunswerâd and sayde I giue thee thankes O Father Lorde of heauen and earth because thou hast hid these âhinges from the wiâe and from men of vnderstanding and hast opened them vnto babes It is so O Father because thy goâd pleasure was such Likewise when he fedde that great and publike assemblie with fiue loaues and two fishes Matt. 14.19 when he looked vppe to heauen and blessed or gaue thankes was not this done with some seuerall prayer which is not expressed When Christe raysed Lazarus in a publike assemblie Saint Iohn cap. 11. ver 41. c. sayth And Iesus lifted vp his eyes and sayde Father I thanke thee because thou hast heard me I knowe that thou hearest me
forth laborers into his haruest And is not publike praier as effectuall hereunto where 2. or 3. yea the whole congregation is gathered together in the name of Christe to beg this amoÌg other things of our heauenly father by their publike and formal praier as wel as priuate But say our brethren preaching is neglected Not by publike formal prayers say wee but by some other meanes But if we contniue say they to vpholde it that preaching bee neglected it will come to passe that neither shal be regarded Indéede if we should continue or vphold it to that purpose then it might so come to passe that neither of them shold be regarded And may we not say as much on the other side that if we shold continue to vpholde preaching that publike formal praier be neglected theÌ it might also come to passe that neither praier nor preaching shall bee regarded And our Brethren are more earnest heere to haue the publike and formall praiers neglected than are wee to haue preaching neglected So that their selues go nerer then wee doe to haue neither of them both regarded As for vs wee hope that either of these both the publike preaching and the publike praiers which they in scorne call formall prayers may be stil coÌtinued vpholden regarded established without any neglect or preiudice yea rather with mutuall help and establishment the one of the other And I like better of that our brethr said before that as we are taught by the worde of God the right vse of publike prayer so by publike praier when wee are taught it the establishment of the worde of God which is taught is the better continued vpholden And if praier discontinue bee neglected the neglect of preaching will followe of like necessitie As when Moses heauy hands fell down the Amalekites preuailed against the Israelites And therfore we may rather conclude that if we continue to vphold publike formal praier that publike preaching shall more formally proceede and be the lesse neglected both praier preaching be more and better regarded But our brethren wil confute our forme of publike praier by this instance For what did thrust out preaching from the Romish Churche but long prescript formes of reading of singing of praying so that their ordinarie was ynough and too much to occupy the whole day though there were no sermon VVhereas contrariwise there woulde be no ordinarie publike praier without preaching This instaunce non facit ad idem it serueth to prooue a cleane contrarie matter Haue our Brethren in such contempt and despight our ordinarie and prescript forme of publike praier that they can alleadge against it no âitter example than the long prescript formes of reading of singing of praying in the Romish Churche True it is in-déede they did thrust out preaching beeing such an euill reading singing and praying as besides the length thereof their forme was so fraught poysoned with false doctrin errors lies Idolatries superstitions blasphemies c. that for very shame they durst not shewe their faces but were masked in a language vnknowen to the vulgare people although euen that also the stuffe being no better might be some benefite with the moâe danger For as their trecheries might be the harder espied so the lesse be learned Which corruptioÌs ignorance so traÌsformed their reading their singing their praying that as they had béen far better not read nor song so deserued they not the name of anie true priuate or publike prayer at all but were farre worse then the Pharisees vaine lippe labour So that these readings singings and prayings beeing cleane contrary to the worde of God no meruell though they thrust out preaching For what fellowship is there of light with darkenesse 2. Cor 6.14 And shall now those formall prayers that were indeede no true forme of prayers at all but had a forme and name of that they were not bee brought for an instance against our formall publike prayers that in all pointes are agreeable to the proportion of faith to the rule of life to the acceptable will of God and to the greate edifying of all the Congregation and cleane voyde of all false doctrine errours lies Idolatries blasphemies and superstitions either of the papists or of any others Is this a charitable or a true exemplification If our Brethren say they doe not resemble our Publike prayers to theirs for any of these pointes but onely for the long prescript formes of reading of singing and of praying So that their ordinary was ynough and too much to occupy the whole day And is the onely length then the onely cause wherefore the prescript formes of reading of singing of praying in the Romish Church should be compared vnto ours or ours to theirs but this length as they haue oftentimes before complained on it so haue we sufficiently answered that as ours are most free from all their other dangerous corruptions so are they nothing like in length to theirs as all the world may soone see by conference of them If their ordinarie was inough and too much to occupy the whole day Who séeth not that neither the reading of the Lessons and other exhortations and sentences nowe prescribed nor the saying or singing of the hymnes or Psalms nor the praying and making any supplications or thanksgiuings in our ordinarie publike prayers wil hold vs passing two or thrée houres of the whole day at the moste accounting both the morning and the euening prayer But so often as they complaine vpon the long prescript formes of reading of singing and of praying and therein compare our Churches to the Romish Church May wee remember our Brethren of their owne long prescript formes of readinâ of singing and of praying are not the confessions that they reade in their prescribed forme of prayer a greate deale longer then ours are Their first confession to be ãâã being aboue thirteene-score lines besides their Chapters Our Ordinarie hauing but two where as they say in their booke of Common prayer Page 22. vpon the dayes appointed for the preaching of the worde when a conuenient number of the Congregation are come together that they may make fruit of their presence till the assemblie bee full one appointed by the Elderishppe shall reade some chapters of the Cannonicall bookes of Scripture singing Psalmes betwene at his discretion And this reading to bee in order as the bookes and chapters followe that from time to time the holie scriptures may be read through In these words they prescribe so indefinite a number of chapters to be read and of psalmes to be sung that we may easily coniecture they doe or may doe at their liking occupy more time than all our prescribed reading or singing néede to doe And as for their Prayers as wee haue shewed already and they are easily to sée some one or two of them beeing as much as 20. of ours besides the prayers that they leaue vnto
because it doth not sharply reproue them of their sinnes what sharpnes héerein our eager mooded brethren can best away withall or how they expound sharpnesse I am neither so sharpe set to examine nor so sharp witted for to finde Let themselues declare it But this I am sure and it is open to all that our ordinary seruice doth reproue mens sinnes in such sort of sharpenesse as the Scripture doth when it layeth before them euen the very words them-selues of the Scripture besides the admonitions ther in contayned that are plentifully and directly gathered out of the scripture And in this wise as Gods word doth it doth disclose the secretes of their hearts and lay them open both to God and to their own consciences If any contemne it or marke it not or are not mooued by it or continue still in their wickednesse the fault is their owne not to be imputed to our ordinary seruice of God but to their ordinary seruice of the Diuell And so the wicked meaning the reprobate will continue still in their voluptuousnes and all other kinde of wickednesse notwithstanding al the preaching in the world But how may our brethren rightly verifie this that a great number can so well away with our ordinary seruice c. that they may continue still in all kynde of voluptuousnesse and all other kind of wickednesse As though our booke of common prayer and ordinary seruice of the lord did teach them and foster them vp in all mischief The heathen raysed such foule slaunders on the diuine seruice of the christians in the primitiue Ch. and will our own Brethr. now breake forth into such reuiling of our their brethrens diuine seruice What could the papists our professed aduersaries haue said worse yea the most obstinate recusant of them all howe mightily do our brethren confirme them in their disloyalty But neither the Papists on the one side nor these our malcontented brethren on the other side are able or euer by Gods grace shal be to proue any one spark of anye kind of voluptuousnes or any inkling of any other kinde of wickednes to be mainteined either because or by meanes meaning directly for indirectly what may they not also accuse of our ordinary seruice prescribed forme of publike prayer But that on the cleane contrary it is an vtter enemy tendeth to the abolishment of al voluptuousnes wickednes if it be duly vsed as it should Now when our brethr haue thus bitterly defaced our ordinary seruice of the L. they return to the commeÌdatioÌ of preaching Whereas by preaching their conscience is gawled their wickednes hypocrisie discouered their damnation threatned they are called to repeÌtaÌce forsaking of their pleasant sins to holines innoceÌcy of life And may not all this and more too be likewise said to be effected of good euen by the ministery of our ordinary seruice of the Lord if it be set foorth as it ought to be and men would heare it as they ought to doo May it not gaule a sinners conscience that hath so gauled alreadye the recusant aduersaries that they cannot in any wise abide to heare it any more yea much worse than all the preaching in the world as most contrary of al other things to all their popish blinde erroneous superstitious and Idolatrous seruice And whosoeuer shall marke the same with reuerence attention as in dutie he is bound to do shall finde our ordinary seruice of the Lorde not onely full of sound doctrine for faith godly precepts for life and excéeding swéete consolation of the spirit but he shall well féele haue he any feeling of his sin that his conscience also shall be gawled to vse our brethrens tearme to consider how godly and religious a forme of Diuine seruice it is and how vnreligiously it is neglected And withall it layeth open vnto the markers of it their sinnes before them and toucheth them with remorse thereof So that both thereby as our brethren héere speake of preaching we may likewise saye their wickednesse and hipocrysie is discouered their damnation threatned and they are called to repentaunce and forsaking of their pleasant sinnes and to holinesse and innocency of life so our ordinary seruice of the Lord besides our publike prayers which also are very effectual to mooue vs heereunto is so little to be opposed vnto preaching that it may better bee called a fruitefull kynde of preaching Not that we deny but that preaching vnderstood in his proper kynde and being well vsed worketh these effects also but we affirme this and the experience is appparant that these effects may be and oftentimes are brought to passe among vs euen by the reuerent ministerye and deuoute hearing and communicating with the Minister in the publike confessions in the publike prayers in the publike admonitions and exhortations in the publike setting forth of the appointed parts of Scripture in the publike administration and participation of the Sacraments al which are conteyned in our ordinary seruice of the Lord. I graunt wee cannot auowe all this to be done in all them that hearâ the ordinarie seruice no more can our Brethren aâowe all this to bée done in all those that heare the preaching But say our Brethren So that if there be any sparke of the feare of God in them hearing preaching so often as they vse to heare seruice they will fal downe on their faces worship God acknowledging the great power of God in his Ministers 1. Cor. 14.15 This exception so that was well added and with the like exception we dare say as much of our ordinary seruice For Prayers haue as effectuall promises in their kindes to those that feare God and honour him and call vpon him as preaching hath So that if there bee anye sparke of the feare of God in them meaning true sparkes as Christ speaketh for faith As much as is a graine of of mustard seed Mat. 17.20 hearing our ordinarye seruice of the Lord especially hearing the seruice so often as we do although they heare not preaching so often because they cannot conueniently so often haue it as they conueniently may the ordinary seruice yet will they as much if not more than any euen of our brethren themselues vse to do at any preaching fall downe on their faces that is prostrat and bow down both their soules and also their bodies by inward deiection of their mindes before the Lord and by lowly bowing of their knées vnto the Lorde before his congregation as a reuerent token of their vnfained humility and so worship God as do the other faithfull Christians assembled in his name to call vpon him and to glorifie him acknowledging the great power of God in his Ministers 1. Cor. 14.25 and no small power of God in his Minist is declared to the penitent euen in the very fronte of all our ordinarye diuine seruice of the Lorde where the Minister
women gouerned Gods people Whereby hee séemeth to clayme this to bee the prerogatiue of Fraunce that whether it bée right or whether it bee wrong they will not suffer womens gouernmtnt Neyther is Cenalis thus content to haue thus once or twise heerein abused the Scripture but he goeth on moste blasphemousely to God and iniuriously against all Christendome and sayth in which thing that most noble Realme of the Nation of the French Gaulles hath whereupon to congratulate vnto it selfe that by the singular benefite of God it may woorthily be called before other kingdomes a sacerdotall or Priestly kingdome For it hath this thing common with Priest-hoode that euen as the Priest-hoode can not passe ouer vnto a woman so no more can the Monarchiall Empire of the Salike Monarchie What therefore remayneth but that being mindefull of the grace receaued of God they breake foorth into these wordes Apocal 5. Thou art worthy O Lorde to take the booke and to open the seales therof because thou wast slaine hast redeemed vs in thy bloud out of euery tribe language people and Nation to wit whome thou hast vouchsafed to illustrat with the title of the most ChristaÌ kingdom And moreouer hast made vs kinges and Priestes and we shall raigne vpon the earth to wit being enriched with this sacerdotall dowrie Nothing therefore letteth whereby that Nation should not be called a holy Nation a royall Priest-hoode or if ye had rather a priestly or sacerdotall kingdom a people of purchase For the religion which afterward once it got neuer intermitted but happely prosperously euer encreased Gallia or the couÌtrie of the Gaules sayth Ierom alone hath wanted monsters with the which almost the residue of Nations haue abounded more than inough Thus monstrously writeth Caenalis against womens regiment Howbeit I hope Caluin tooke not this terme of monster for womens regimeÌt from this monstrous Popish Bishop As for that which Ierome wrote was not against the regiment of women in Gallia neither was Gallia in his time called Francia nor Pharamundus borne and so no such Salike lawe as yet inuented And therefore this must needes be wrested hereunto Besides this intollerable arrogancie in the French to claime that spirituall priuilege of Royall Priest-hoode that is both common to all true Christian nations and to all true Christian people not onely men but to women also and to children And therefore this is both iniurious vnto theÌ to take this title from them and a grosse errour in a Bishop not vnderstanding what these termes doe meane For although he deâarre his Popish sacrificing Priest-hood from a woman leâ him laye that hardely to Pope Iohanes charge yet in this spirituall and mysticall kingdome and Priest-hoode that either S. Peter or S. Iohn speaketh of euery good Christian woman neuer so priuate or poore person and all the electe children of God haue as good title right and interest as not onely the French king but as any or all the Emperours Kinges Queenes and Princes in the worlde Now after Caenalis hath thus craked of the French prerogatiue in this Salike lawe so much pretended and so greatly vrged when he commeth to the reason of the same and of this worde Salica he sheweth what diuersities of opinions are thereon Munster thinkes it is deriued of the worde Sala a riuer at a village of the same name Other that the lawes Salike are deriued of the woorde Sala or vne salle in Frenche signifying in Latine Aulam a Courte or Hall as who say the Courtly or Palatine law Some thought the deriuation of the lawe Salike came of certaine lawes of the French Emperours beginning Si aliquis or Si aliqua and so by contraction striking of a letter or two in the ende per syncopen it was vulgarly termed the lawe Salike Some sayth he arise higher more commodiously who fetch the Etimologie of the lawe Salike not so much out of the marrowe or pythe of the worde as out of the barke or rynde of the worde A Sale from salte as by a certayne allusion that they would haue the Salike law to be spoken hereupon as though it were perpetually constant inuiolable and incorruptible for all times to endure For salte in the holy scriptures is a token of incorruption and perpetuall enduring and moreouer both of Wisdome and discretion As is expressed in plaine wordes Numb 18. and Leuit. 2. In the booke of Numbers All the first frutes of the sanctuarie which the children of Israell âffer to God I haue giuen to thee and to thy sons by a perpetuall right it is an euerlasting couenant of salte vnto thee and to thy sonnes before the Lorde And in Leuiticus Whatsoeuer sacrifice thou shalt offer thou shalt season with salte nor shalt take awaye the salte of the couenant of thy God from thy sacrifice In euery oblation thou shalt offer salte And againe 2. Paral. 13. Yee are not ignoraunt that the Lorde GOD of Israell hath giuen the kingdome vnto Dauid ouer Israell for euer to him and to his sonnes for a couenaunt of salte By this it manifestly appeareth that salt hath the tooken of incorruption And as for the token of discretion Let your speech sayth Paule be seasoned with salte And in Marke Bâârie offering shall bee salted with salte Salâ is good but if so be it be vnsauorie in what will yee season it That so yee may vnderstande the lawe Salike being sprinkled with the salte of discretion and with the sauce of muche reason perpetually to remaine in his vigor Thus doth Caenalis séeke all the shiftes he can to enforce this lawe not sparing thus more and more to hale and drawe these places of scripture to the same But sence he alleageth so manye originalles thereof and dare not resolue himselfe vppon any one of them but sayth Let euerie mans iudgement remayne to himselfe for I will not vppon this thing contende with any man what certaintye therefore can this lawe haue The very title whereof when it is tossed and tombled withall these diuersities of opinions and wrestlinges of the scripture is so vncertaine But if this were suche a wise and incorruptible lawe that it had his name of seasoning with salte to resemble those auntient offringes couenantes and spéeches in the olde and newe Testament then it maketh more for women than against them For although that saying 2. Paral 13. mention onely Dauid and his sonnes yet did Caenalis himselfe confesse before that the Nation of the Iewes did admitte the gouernement of a woman And the place mentioned Numbers 18. conteyneth not only sonnes as Caenalis citeth it but the verie wordes are to thee and to thy sonnes and to thy daughters So that the offering that is the salte of couenant or incorruptible couenant if the Frenche can drawe it to holde still incorruptiblie with them or the resemblance of their Princes estate thereunto giueth the same not onely to the man
returne to the question propounded Albeit that we read Isai. 3. verse 11. that it is set for a great signe of the curse of God that children and women shoulde obtaine the gouernement in any Nation Notwithstanding that thing is not perpetuall I graunt that God héere threatneth a great curse and a miserable state that hee woulde bring vpon the wicked Iewes in taking away all their natoble men and giuing them weake and wicked rulers As he saith vers 1. c. For Lo the Lord of hostes will take away from Ierusalem and from Iuda the stay and the strength euen all the stay of bread and all the stay of Water the strong man and the man of Warre the iudge and the prophet the prudent and the aged the Captaine of fifty and the honorable and the Counseller and the cunning artificer and the eloquent Man And I will appoint Children to be their Princes and Babes shall rule ouer them And againe after he had threatned them vers 6. c. That euery one shall take holde of his brother of the house of his Father and say thou hast clothing thou shalt bee our Prince and let this fall be vnder thy hande in that day shall hee sweare saying I cannot be an helper for there is no breade in my house nor clothing therefore make mee no Prince of the people Doubtlesse Hierusalem is falne and Iuda is falne downe because their tongues and workes are against the Lorde to prouoke the eys of his glory c. Then commeth in this curse Children are extortioners of my people and women rule ouer them O my people they that leade thee cause thee to cry and destroy the way of thy pathes By which it appeareth that he speaketh here of such a miserable state that they shoulde be driuen to séeke for their Princes offer the cheefe gouernment to any had he right or had hee not right that wold helpe them and they shoulde finde none but onely such as heere by these spéeches he describeth And therefore this being a token or rather the stroke it selfe of Gods curse for their wickednesse is very odiously and wrongfully alleaged cleane besides Gods and the Prophets meaning in this purposed question of womens supreme gouernment or of childrens supreme gouernmeÌt ouer Gods people Diuers writers therefore that expound this Prophecy considering the states wherein both women children haue beene giuen of God to be supreme gouernors not as any token at all of his curse but of his great fauour and blessing dare not so literally vnderstand these wordes but according to the manner of the Scripture metaphorically For where he saith in the words here by Danaeus cited vers 11. the exactors of my people are a childe or as the Geneua translates it Children are extortioners of my people and sayth they lead the people and cause them to cry and that they destroy the way of Gods pathes sith exaction and extortion importeth violence and oppression and sith infants cannot lead but are ledde nor cause the people to cry nor destroy Gods paths Howe can we vnderstande this of a naturall child or not rather of a man that vseth force yet because he guids not by ancient counsel true wisdom is for his lack of discretion called a child Or because he is a wanton effeminate man called a woman Paruulos scientia vocat saith Vatablus he calleth them children in knowledge Not those that be childreÌ in age sayth Luther but children in mind And here he taketh Women sayth Musc. for those that are tender effeminate so doth the Geneua note well interpret it That because the wicked people were more addict to their Princes than to the coÌmandemeÌts of God he sheweth that he wold giue them such princes by whome they should haue no helpe but that shoulde be manifest tokens of his wrath because they should bee fooles and effeminate Children saith Cal. vnderstaÌd it not only in age but in wit manners such as are tender and effeminat men which excel in no vertue nor can gouern the sword committed to them He opposed not euery singuler member the one against the other for it sufficed to define the manner whereby the common weale easily runs to ruin to wit if fooles and vnskilfull men do rule as thogh they were children in whoÌ is no grauity nor prudence c. Furthermore whomsoeuer the Lord gouerneth not nothing remaineth vnto them but that they be like to children to wit destitute of all both counsel and prudence Moreouer God exerciseth his punishment two waies because oftentimes while we seem to ourselues to haue graue men and skilfull in things when it comes to the matter they blunder like blind men they haue no more prudence then haue childreÌ For God depriueth them of that notable vertue that before he had endued them with all and doth so sot them euen as if had striken them with some thunder Now and then God proceedeth more slowly and by little litle taketh away the men of heroical wits which were apt for the administration and transferreth the gouernmentes of matters to them that can not indeede gouern one childe or one family When these things happen it is most certain that destruction is not farre Moreouer saith Musculus He calleth exactors not them that exacted those things that were due vnto the Magistrate but such as wroong froÌ the people at their pleasure whatsoeuer they liked and so pilled them with wicked exactions Sith therefore Children coulde not be such exactors as we caÌnot so wel vnderstand these words of those that are in yeres children so neither of those that are in sexe women But now be it spoken in the natural sense of very children and of very women those lawful princes doth not this prooue so much the more that albeit it were also a curs alwaies of God to haue such Princes as we shal sée anone euen by Danaeus own reuocation that it is not yet that the principality euen of them is a lawful state and that although in nature it were the better of twayne if men coulde alwayes haue their wishe to haue their Prince rather to bée a Man than a Woman and to bée a Man of ripe and perfect age than to be an Infant or a childe yet notwithstanding sithe neither infirmitie of sexe nor of age debarreth the Lawefulnesse of the estate when GOD sendeth bee it also but for a punishment such a Prince yea although hee gaue not withall to the weaker sex of the Woman any other heroicall and supernaturall giftes nor to the tender age of the childe any other industrious and Godly tutors yet for al that the people of God ought not resist âhis ordinance of God in these their Magistrates but obey the same for Conscience sake Which saying of the Apostle to obey higher powers as the ordinaunce of God for conscience sake if it tooke place when such hypocrites and
tyrants such wilfull and vnskilful rulers such childish and effeminate persons of all theÌ infidels heauy plagues curses and scourges both to Gods people and to all the romaine Monarchie were the supreme gouernors why shoulde it not take place when the supreme gouernors are not Women or children in such vitious senses but onely in nature without all these vices and all other infirmities sufficiently prouided for and supplied but if these wordes of God by the Prophet Esay are to be vnderstood literally then did God performe the same vnto them literally And then it followeth of necessity that the people of God had not onely men but children nor children onely but Women also to be their lawful princes which is the thing that Danaeus before denied If nowe againe this that was threatned héere as a token of a curse do not debarre the right and lawfulnesse of their estate what shall we say then to those where God of his surpassing might and goodnesse so prouideth for these infirmities of nature that he turneth all this dreadfull token of a curse into the comfortable féeling of a blessing for dare Danaeus make a perpetual rule of this sentence that it shall alwayes stande for a token of Gods curse vnto the people where children or Women are their Princes No he dare not But streight way correctes his former saying and sayth Howbeit that same is not perpetuall for oftentimes Kinges beeing children also as for example Solomon and Josias haue moste holily and moste happily reigned and the empire of them was enriched of God withall kinde of good thinges The same may be sayde of certain Women and of their Empire whome the Lord hath in maruellous manner blessed as appeareth out of diuerse histories Ha goe too then this is another manner of matter For recompence of our former tokens of cursing and misery heere are better effectes of happinesse and blessing in the gouernment both of Children and of women neither as a rare but as an often experience put in practise and that among the Lords people But what is this to the lawfulnesse of these parties gouernment No is In-déede as Christe saith Math. 5.45 God maketh his Sunne to arise on the euill on the good sendeth reignÄ on the iust vniust the wicked many times prosper reigne in that which the worlde estéemeth happines But when as Danaeus so placeth it héeré that holines goeth before happinesse commeth after when their Empire is enriched of God with al kind of good things with the spiritual riches of Gods kingdome if al this may truly be said of childrens gouerment and the same may be sayde also of womens gouernement doth not this importe that their gouernment must néedes be lawfull And as for childrens gouernement these two here by Danaeus alleaged are notable examples For God himselfe giuing him his name appointed Salomon both before his brethren that were his elders who otherwise by nature should haue had the kingdome before him but that God beyonde all their expectations and aspiring aduaunced him vnto it when he was but about 17. yeares of age and did God all this and was it not lawefull And as for Iosias he was but 8. yeares old when he began to reign And yet was his raigne in that age so acceptable to God that he was prophecied vpon by name almost 200. yeare before he was borne 1. Reg. 13. ver 2. And Ioas was yet younger thaÌ was Iosias who was worst in his old yeares wheÌ he ought to haue béene best and best when hee was young and is therefore commended to do that which was good in the sight of the Lorde all his time while Ioiada the priest did teach him 2. Reg. 12. ver 2. Azaria began his raigne at 16. yeares of age 2. Reg. 15. ver 2. and is also commended to haue done vprightly in the sight of the Lord. Which is vnderstood only of his younger yeares Manasses was 12. yeares old when he began to raigne 2. Reg. 21. ver 1. who though he did euill in the sight of the Lord yet was his raigne as lawefull as the others Now as Danaeus confesseth that the same may be sayde of some women and of their gouernement which is inough to conclude all the matter for we desire no more to be graunted but euen thus much and what more can be sayde of the gouernement of men For who can iustifie all mens gouernement either that they holde the same by right or rightly administer that they came rightly by Yea least we should take this that he sayth of some women to be of some such for whom he might pretend exception of example as that they had some speciall calling as Debora although we haue heard of other also in the scripture and that in commendation of whom we can alleage no such speciall calling but that might well be drawen to an example of our owne times and state and so do his wordes also importe that this some may bee sayde as spoken of some women of this age when not only he sayth as appeareth by diuerse histories as we shall after warde God willing sée how the state of Christendome is not vnfurnished of manie examples neuerthelesse for the more manifest profe hereof he beginneth with our state in Englande as an honorable and present testimonie of the same saying Verily of thâ most renowmed Queene of England Elizabeth which now most happily reygneth it may be sayde that the whole compasse of the worlde hath seene nothing at any âime more happie or more to be wished for than is her reigne The more we consider this testimonie of Danaeus of the which both our selues especially and other forrain regions not a little finde the profe and féele the coÌfort the more are we all bounde to glorifie almightie God and to thinke speak well of her Ma. gouernmeÌt not only to be lawful but also most necessarie expedient for Gods Church And to pray to God to blesse her Maiesty more more and to defend her and vs by her to whom he hath giuen in these troublesome and daungerous dayes so happie a reigne ouer his people a gouernmeÌt so much to be wished after And the more are we also bound both to loue honour her and to obey her gouernment in her lawes And this beeing true which Danaeus here confesseth then how vnthankfully yea how vntruly doe our Brethren report to the world that the state of the Church of England is a disordred deformed corrupt estate As we haue heard their hard spéeches besides other that write a great deale harder Howe doe these here agrée with Danaeus If her Maiestie reigneth most happily and that in all these foresayd happie thinges how reigneth she not lawfully And how vnlawfully then yea how vnhappily doe our Brethren oppose themselues against her so happie reigne I graunt they doe it not
Churches nor yet with Caluine in Geneua Melancthon in Analis Locorum com saith Confirmation among the auncients was a triall of doctrine in which they that were to be coÌfirmed did recite the sum of the Christian doctrine Whereunto was added publike praier for them But of the Apostles was added also imposition of hands which the manifest giftes of the holy ghost followed As for that popish confirmation is altogether a voide and idle ceremony Neuertheles in the meane time it should bee profitable for the triall of doctrine to be made with the publike prayer for them Which certeinly should not be in vaine Herbandus in compendio theologia following Melancthon and writing of confirmation sayth What doost thou think of Confirmation properly it is not a sacrament But in the ancient time it was a triall of the Doctrine made in the Institution of Christian religion as the Catechisme is among vs in the which they that were Catechised did render a reason of their faith and did testify that they embraced this onely religion and to dissent from Ethniks and from heretikes Which being publikely done of the B. the prayers of the Church were added with the imposition of hands At which imposition in the time of the Apostles they were manifestly endued with the holy ghost As it is manifest in the Acts the 19. chap. Afterward by successe of time when myracles ceased in the Church the ceremony of the Imposition of handes was neuerthelesse reteined Whereby those that were baptised were prepared to the Christian conflict by the prayers of the Church and solemn blessing were confirmed But the age that came after thrust vnto the Church a certaine feigned confirmation for a sacrament c. Thus writeth also Herbandus of this matter He husius in examine theologico loco 18. de sacram What thinkest thou of Confirmation the answere Confirmation is not a Sacrament For it is not an externall action peculiarly commaunded of God neither is it a seale of the promise of grace The auncients searched the profiting of Children in the doctrine of the Catechisme and those that were rightly instituted they admitted to the holy Communion This is a laudable discipline in the Church if superstition be absent Kemnitius after he hath confuted the Papists errors of Confirmation These thinges saith he being thus vnfolded the examination of the canons of confirmation shall bee easy and playne For whereas that the first cannon condemneth such a confirmation as consisteth in a Catechisme and childrens profession of the faith it hath this meaning and reason Our men haue often shewed that the rite of confirmation the traditions vnprofitable superstitions repugnaÌt to the scripture being remoued both it may be vsed godly and to the churches edification according to the consent of the scripture after this maner to wit that they which are baptised in their infancy for such is nowe the state of the church when they came to the yeares of discretion shoulde be diligently instructed in a certaine simple catechism of the churches doctrine and when they seemed to hane meetely well perceiued the beginnings they shoulde afterwarde be presented to the Bishop and to the church And there heare the child that was baptised in his infancie which shold first with a short a simple warning bee admonished of his baptisme to witte that he was baptized howe and why into what hee was baptized what the whole trinity gaue sealed vp vnto him in that baptisme the contract of peace the couenant of grace how the renouncing Satan the professioÌ of faith the promise of obedieÌce was there made Secondly the childe him-selfe shoulde before the Church declare his owne and the publike profession of this doctrine and faith Thirdly she shoulde be asked of the principal points of the Christian religion he shold answere to euery one of them if he did not so wel vnderstand them he should be better instructed Fourthly he should be admonished and this he shold declare in his profession that he dissenteth froÌ all heatheÌ hereticall phanaticall and prophane opinions Fiftly a graue and serious exhortation out of the worde of God should be added that hee should perseuer in the couenant of baptisme and in that doctrine faith and with often profiting be confirmed Sixtly a publike prayer shold be made for those children that God with his holy spirite woulde vouchsafe to gouerne keepe and confirme them in this profession To the which prayer the laying on of handes may bee adhibited without superstition Neither shoulde that prayer be vaine for it relieth on the promises of the gift of perseuerance and on the grace of confirmation Such a rite of confirmation shal bring with it very much profit to the edification of youth of the whole Church For it were agreeable both to the Scripture and to the more pure antiquitie For in the Apostles laying on of their hands that there was a triall of doctrine profession of faith the history Acts. 19. manifestly doth witnesse Of the exhortation also vnto perseuerance of the confirming them by the worde in the doctrin faith which once they had receiued the examples of the apostolicall Church are extant Actes 14.15 18. And that publike prayer was adhibited the history witnesseth A 8. Thus speaketh the 7. Canon of the Council of Laodicea the 8. of the Council of Aries concerning the triall and profession of doctrine faith in confirmation as we haue before noted And therfore the Canon of the Council of Orleaunce requireth a perfect age in confirming Neither agreeth this euill hereunto that Dionisius in the end of his ecclesiasticall Hierarchie writeth of thâ Master of the catechisinges when the children baptized in their infancy were deliuered to be instructed that they might with doctrine and exhortations betrayned vp to perfourme keepe the profession of the faith the renouncing of Sathan and the promise of the obedience of God made in their baptism These thinges were proposed in the conference at Ratispone in the yeare 1541. And so hee telleth howe Eccius in the name of the papists did vtterly proudly reiect all these thinges affirming that in confirmation the vse of reason must not be tarried for Thus notably and at large doth Kemnitius also declare and approoue this good order and rite of confirming children and howe contumâliously the Papistes doe reiect it This therefore sauoreth nothing of popery nor of any other error or superstition but is Godly reuerend and very beneficiall to youths and to the whole Churches edification And what doth Caluine in his Institutions differ from these concerning the auncient custome of Confirmation In the ancient time saith he this was the manner that the children of the Christians after they were growne vp were presented before the Bishop to fulfill that office or duty which was exacted of them that being of ripe yeares offered themselues to baptisme For these sat among them that were catechized vntill such
scriptures which are able to make thee skilfull concerning the saluation by the fayth which is in Christe Iesu. The whole scripture inspired from God is profitable to Doctrine to reprehension to correction to institution which is in righteousnesse that the man of God may bee perfect being perfectly enstructed to euery good worke 2. Tim. 3. And this wee confesse against the aduersaries of the scripture and with our Brethren that the diuine and Canonicall scripture as the onely rule that conteineth all thinges perfectly concerning fayth and the saluation which is in Iesus Christ to make the man of God perfect vnto all good workes but that the holy scripture is the onely rule whereby the Churche of God ought to bee gouerned vnderstanding by these wordes that the scripture hath set downe a perpetuall and generall rule of all the onely order of the Churches forme of externall gouernment as well as it hath of faith and of the morall part of mans actions and conuersation if we search the scrpture neuer so much neitheir we nor our brethreÌ shal euer find it For the church of God may safely admit according to the diuersities of the states thereof diuers formes and orders whereby it may be gouerned So that nothing be withall admitted preiudiciall to the Law to the Gospel that is to say neither against faith nor good manners as S. Austen termeth it Neither is all the Gouernment of the Church in the gouernment or authority of the pastor Bishop or Elder For the Christian Prince and ciuill Magistrate hath a gouernment of the Churche of God also and there be diuers approoued formes whereby princes and Magistrates gouerne the Church of God in the diuers parts and states thereof besides the ecclesiasticall gouernment of pastors And as for that heere our Brethren say the pastor Bishop or Elder hath no authority by himself separated from other These spéeches are spoken ambiguously It is true in one sense that neither pastor nor yet Bishop for I distinguish these tearmes that here are confusedly clapped together hath any authority by him selfe separated from other in the regiment of the Church but that he hath the same in common with all other in the church that bée of his calling and not like a pope as an A-per-se as though none other shoulde haue it but hee onely and all other from him Neither hath any pastor or Bishop or Elder any such authority by himselfe that can properly be sayd to be seperated from other For if it be seperated from other theÌ it hath no gouernment of theÌ nor dealing with theÌ Yea we graunt that whatsoeuer authority and Pastor or B. or elder hath it is the Churches authority because it is giuen vnto them that are the partes and members of the whole Church and to the Churches vse and profite As S. Paule sheweth Ephes. 4.11 c. Hee therefore gaue some to be Apostles other prophets other Euangelistes other pastors and Doctors to the growing together of the saints to the worke of the Ministery to the edification of the body of Christe And the Apostle 1. Cor. 12. after he hath shewed how the spirite of God giueth seperately his spirituall giftes saying vers 11. But all these worketh one and the self same spirite distributing priuately euen as hee will he addeth for as the body is one and hath many members but all the members of one body wheÌ as they are many are one body so also Christe For by one spirite we are al baptised into one body whether Iewes or Grecians whether seruants or free and all haue drunke one drinke into one spirite For the body is not one member but many If the foote say I am not the hande I am not of the body is it therefore not of the body and if the eare saie I am not the eye I am not of the body is it therfore not of the body If the whole body were an eye where were the hearing If the whole were hearing where were the smelling But nowe hath God placed the members euery one separately in the body euen as he would But if all were one member where were the body but nowe there are many members and yet but one body Thus doth S. Paule reason from the resemblance and proportion of the naturall body and the regiment thereof to the misticall So that although what gift facultie power or gouernment soeuer they haue it is not so seperated from other by themselues that it hath no Community with the other nor is pertaining to them For it pertaineth to the whole in common as we say also in the schooles of the soule or life of man anima est tota in toto in qualibet parte The soule or life is whole in the whole body and in euery part But yet euery faculty and power of the soule and life is not in the whole body nor in euery part therof but in the member onely that is the proper organe to the same And so hath euery Bishop or pastorall Elder some authority by him-selfe in the regiment gouernment of the Church so separated from other that other which haue not the same office haue not the same authority So that the community in respect of the benefite barres not the separation in respect of the exercise of the authority and therefore faith S. Paule 1. Cor. 12.27 You are all of the body of Christe and members in part And some hath God ordeined in the Church first Apostles theÌ Prophetes thirdly Doctors then powers then the giftes of healing helpings gouernmentes kindes of tongues Are all Apostles are all prophets are all Doctors are all powers haue all the giftes of healing Doe all speake with tongs doe all interpret So that as in the first and second degrées heere mencioned the Apostles and Prophets had some power and authoritie in the regiment and gouernance of the Church by themselues separated from other so may we safelie conclude of the Doctors heere mencioned also by which name our Brethren doe here comprehend both Bishops and Pastors that they had some power and authoritie of regiment and gouernaunce in the Church by themselues separated from other in lyke manner And this manifestlie appeareth in their practise The Apostle Saint Paule by his Apostolicall authoritie in the Ecclesiasticall regiment and gouernance of the Church setteth downe in diuerse places diuerse rules some temporarie some perpetuall concerning orders rites and ceremonies of the Churches without anie ioynture of those Churches authorities to whom he inioyned them Yea without so much as asking anie counsel of them or deliberating with them And 1. Cor. 11.34 he saith in generall other things well I set in order when I come Hee saith not you and I together in ioynt authoritie and yet no doubt he had the ioynt consent compromitted to him before and declared after of all good men in al those ordinances that he had made or should make amongest
but horrible confusion And yet can they giue their consent to choose suche persons without horrible or any confusion And how is it sayd to be their authoritie in such matters wherof they theÌselues cannot performe the hearing determining without horrible confusion And is the authoritie then not the Gouernors but the peoples authoritie And the Gouernors do but represent the people whom they gouerne And are chosen onely as the peoples or the whole congregations debities or executioners to do that for them that they can not performe theÌselues without horrible confusion And is this the peoples only remedy to repose such confidence in other that they coÌmit all their authoritie vnto the authoritie of these Gouernours And may not these committies themselues vpon such confidence committed vnto them committe as horrible confusions and bréede as foule dissensious and disorders as may the people themselues Are not all these pointes besides a number mo and perhaps more horrible that experience would teach vs confused and intricate And hereto also say our Breth may be referred that which is said of election of Pastors that the Apostles Paule and Barnabas did ordeine by election of the congregatioÌ Elders vnto many Churches Act. 14.23 because the name of Elders is coÌmon both to Pastors Gouernors and is vsed in the scripture to coÌprehend both at once as it appeareth manifestly by S. Paule 1. Tim. 5.17 Those Elders that gouerne well are woorthie of double honour especially those that labour in the worde and doctrine Of which testimonie we learne these three thinges first that there be Elders in the Church which meddle not with teaching but are occupied altogether in gouerning Secondly that the Elders which labour in teaching otherwise called Pastors are ioyned also in gouernment with them which teach not And thirdly that the name of Elder comprehendeth both sortes of Elders And especially in the place before alleaged for election there is great reason to lead vs to thinke that the Elders for gouernment are as well vnderstoode as the other for doctrine because it is written in the same place that after they had ordeyned them Elders in euerie congregation by election as hauing set the Churches in perfect order which could not be except they had established discipline as well as doctrine they committed them to the Lorde in whom they beleeued To confirme that which our Brethren haue so boldly affirmed that there ought to be in euerie Churche a Consistorie or Segnorie of Elders or Gouernors which ought to haue the hearing examination and determining of all matters pertayning to discipline and gouernement of that congregation they alleage here againe the example of the scripture Act. 14.23 which they haue before twise or thrise alleaged and is sufficiently aunswered vnto But their proofe for the election of these Consistorie gouernours standeth vpon no certaine grounde by our Brethrens own confession For they say not hereto also must be referred that which is saide of election of Pastors c. but hereto also may be referred c. So that this example relying at the most but on coniecture of probabilitie can make no sounde plea of argument that so it must be alleaged Neuerthelesse vpon good hope to proue it our Brethren will assay to bestow an argument on it And if they reason at all thus they reason The name of Elders is common to both to Pastors and Gouernors and is vsed to comprehende both at once But Paule and Barnabas did ordaine by election of the congregation Elders vnto many Churches Therefore by these Elders that Paule and Barnabas did ordaine vnto many Churches is comprehended Pastors and Gouernours both at once This conclusion in sensu coniuncto may be graunted For what doth this conclusion let but that these Elders were Pastors and Gouernors too both at once being Gouernors in that they were Pastors If they mean it of distinct persons and offices then if the maior of this argument meane that the name of Elders is so common to both that is to say to Pastors and gouernors as distinct persons that it is vsed alwaies to comprehend both at once I denie the Maior The scripture is most manifest to the contrarie and their selues also Otherwise graunting the Maior that it is so vsed nowe and then to shewe that it is so vsed in this place heere cited by our Brethren in their Minor howe will they prooue it Which if they doe not where is the argument But what néede we séeke further confutation of their Minor than their owne Learned discourse heereon Haue not their selues alleaged this example for Pastors Page 33. treating there onely of the Pastors proper dutie and ioyning this place Act. 14.23 vnto the conciliation of these 1. Pet. 5. and Tit. 1.5 Yea what other are their owne wordes here present Do they not say And hereto also may be referred that which is sayde of election of Pastors And whereas the text sayth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they restrayne here the woorde Presbyters Priestes or Elders vnto the Pastors So that by their owne exposition they doe but hale and draw this place to proue such gouernors as are not Pastors I speak not this that I vtterly denie there were any such Elders in the Apostles times as were chiefly gouernours little dealing with the publike ministerie of the worde in such places as they wanted Magistrates that were Christians but that these Gouernours as wee haue séene at large out of Gualter vpon 1. Cor. 12. and out of Gellius Snecanus on 1. Cor. 6. were rather as Magistrats among theÌ in those times which persons hauing receaued of the spirite of God the gifte of gouernement the name of Elders I graunt accordeth also well vnto them And so both in the olde Testament and in the newe the Ciuill gouernors are called Elders But these were not Eccl. Elders And that this place Act. 14.23 is to be referred to no other Elders then Pastors the testimonie also of Caluine euen where he acknowledgeth that there were such Elders as medled not with the ministerie of the worde doth manifestly herein coÌfute our Breth When they had created Elders Hereupon sayth Caluine it appeareth that it sufficeth not for men to haue been once indued with the doctrin of godlines to hold a summe of the faith except they make continuall encreasementes Therefore Christ not only sent the Apostles that should spread abroad the Gospel but also he commanded that Pastors should be ordeyned that the preaching of the Gospel should be perpetuall and in daily vse This order set of Christ do Paule and Barnabas obserue when they assigne Pastors to euery Church least that after their departure the doctrine should cease and become silent Whereupon this place teacheth that the Churche can not want the ordinarie ministerie neither can they bee accounted Christians before God saue those that willingly are disciples all the race of their life I
expounde it that Elders are heere called those vnto whome the office of teaching was enioyned For that there were certaine which were onely censors or controllers of manners appeareth out of Paule 1. Tim. 5.17 So that euen here where Caluine alleageth the other testimonie that our Brethren also doe yet he clearely cutteth off this Testimonie Act. 14. 23. to inferre any profe at all of these Consistorie gouernors and Elders that are not teachers Neither do our Brethren here thus violently draw in their Gouernors vnder the name of Elders where it is apparant that Pastors are ment onely but also the word which should yet better proue that it is ment of Pastors that is to wite ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the ordeyning of them by handes to carrie the better shewe that it was not of Pastors onely but of Gouernours they translate it thus They did ordeyne Elders by election of the congregation Where the worde neither speaketh of nor necessarily inferreth any election at all and much lesse of the congregation but onely of ordeyning or creating with handes signifying the consecration of them by laying on of handes vppon them Which ceremonie was not vsed in those that were Gouernours onely as were these controllers of manners For although there might be suche at that time ciuill Elders the people being in such case elected among them yet can it not be shewed that they had also the imposition of hands Although peraduenture that prophane or ciuill order of holding vppe their handes among the Grecians for which Beza citeth Cicero might be well vsed in the election of them And albeit Caluine also interprete ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quum creassent suffragiis when they had by suffrages or voyces created Elders and mention also as we haue séene before the heathen manner of holding vp of the handes yet as noting this to bee too prophane he sayth notwithstanding the Ecclesiasticall writers vse the name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of ordeyning by handes in an other sense to wite for the solemne custome of ordeyning that in the Scriptures is called the laying on of handes And therefore where he applyeth this to election and that also to the peoples election although he giue the moderation of the election not to the people but to the Apostles yet if the worde ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã be vnderstoode Ecclesiastically as the Ecclesiasticall writers vse the name for the solemne custome of ordeyning that in the scriptures is called laying on of handes then cannot this woorde betokening ordeyning be drawen to election and much lesse to the election of the people that had no authoritie of the laying on of hands neither in ordeyning nor in electing This therefore may suffice hetherto to aunswere the minor of our Brethrens argument But they as though all were safe and sure if they only strengthen their Maior goe about to confirme it by an other place saying Because the name of Elders is common to both to Pastors and Gouernors and is vsed in the scripture to comprehende both at once as it appeareth manifestly by S. Paule 1. Tim. 5.17 those Elders that gouerne well are woorthie of double honour especially those that labour in the word and doctrine This confirmation of the maior is here néedles to proue that the name of Elders is common to both that is to wite Pastors and Gouernors and to comprehende them both at once For as we haue sayde euen so it doth in euery place where the pastors are called Elders Because that in the nature of their Pastorship an Eccl. gouernement is comprehended Especially Hebr. 13. ver 7. and 17. Where the pastorall Elders are called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gouernors So that pastors and Gouernors may both of them at once be very well comprehended in the name of Elders But our Brethren meane it here not onely so but that the name also comprehendeth sometime as well Elders that were Gouernours and not Pastors as Pastors and Gouernours For I thinke they will not say Pastors are not also Gouernors though no such Gouernours as they meane Neither doe we denie that the name of Elders comprehendeth Gouernours that are no Pastors For as we haue sayde before the name of Elders was an ordinarie and generall name for the iudges the head officers and Magistrates of the people But that either this place 1. Tim. 5.17 confirmeth that place Act. 14. 23. to be vnderstoode of both sortes of Elders especially of Elders that were Gouernors and not Pastors as it is of Pastors that were Gouernors that will be too harde I thinke for our Brethren to proue Yea to let alone the confirming of that place Act. 14. I doubt it will bee somewhat harde also except they will presse me with the authoritie of our Brethren onely themselues that so thinke to proue any necessitie of vnderstanding this place 1. Tim. 5. vnderstanding Ecclesiastical officers for such a double kind of Elders some medling with teaching and some not medling with teaching as they gather thereupon and inferre saying Of which testimonie wae learne these three thinges first that there be Elders in the Church which meddle not with teaching but are occupied altogether in gouerning Secondly that the Elders which labour in teaching otherwise called Pastors are ioyned also in gouernment with them which teach not And thirdly that the name of Elders comprehendeth both sortes of Elders Oportet discentem credere The learner must beleeue And we are bound and that of necessitie to learne and to beléeue all that the holie Scripture teacheth vs but not all that men shall gather thereon except they proue vnto vs with all that their teaching followeth in necessitie of consequence thereupon This place neither in expresse wordes teacheth these three thinges nor they teache nor can teache that these three thinges which here they sette downe followe by any necessitie of consequence on this testimonie And howe then doe wee learne thereon these three thinges For my part I will offer my selfe to become their scholler to learne them gladly if they substantially as Learned discoursers should can teach them And thus forewarde as one readie to learne I will shew my selfe before hande concerning the first and chiefest point that here in this inuersed order of these three thinges is proposed that I denie not but fréely graunt Saint Paules woordes may indéede bee well inough vnderstoode of suche Elders in the Churche as meddled not with ordinarie and publike administration of teaching the woorde but onely with gouernement beeing chosen among them-selues in those dayes as their ciuill Christian rulers or petite Magistrates to compose and take vppe their controuersies that they should not striue and goe to lawe before the heathen superiour and publike Magistrates to the obloquie of the Gospell And that they were not onely as Caluine calleth them controullers of manners onely but meddling also in the ouersight of Ecclesiasticall causes as the ciuill Christian Magistrates doe
nowe God be praysed more openly and with more authoritie than at that time because the chiefe ciuill Magistrates were not then Christians and yet the generall direction and ouersight for manners pertayned in dutie vnto them But what necessitie inferreth this that because there were such Gouernours then therefore nowe also wee learne that there bee Elders in the Churche which meddle not with teachinge but are occupied altogether in gouerning For although this be graunted that there be Elders in the Churche which meddle not with teaching but with gouerning meaning the Ciuill Christian Magistrates for they both bee and be in the Churche and that lawefully yet what are our Brethren the néerer for the proofe of such Elders as they here contende for except they will make them the ciuill Christian Magistrates But vnderstanding by this worde Elder such Ecclesiasticall Elders as they suppose although againe I graunt them where they say there be Elders in the Churche c. If in this worde bee they signifie the time present that indéede there bee such Elders in the Church as they would haue that is to say there be such in those Churches of our Brethren in some other Countries or the French or Dutch in vsuall notwithstanding I learne it not by this place 1. Tim. 5.17 that there be any but rather that there were some though not suche in all pointes as they imagine they were And doth this followe that because wee learne likewise and more clearely and with more apparant warrant and nature of the offices that there were Apostles Euangelistes and Prophetes in the Churche therefore we learne there be Apostles Euangelistes and Prophetes in the Churche still among vs But if our Brethren meane by these wordes wee learne that there bee Elders in the Churche c. That is to saye there ought to be and that perpetually and that in euerie Church and congregation such gouerning Elders as they pretende which meddle not with teaching that we learne not here nor they proue nor I thinke shall euer be able to prooue that S. Paule heere or hée or any other in anye other place of all the Scripture doth teache or touch it If our Brethren say that the wordes of S. Paule inferre a perpetuall necessitie that there shoulde bee Elders gouerning the Churche which should be labourers in the worde and doctrine admitting therfore that he speaketh here of 2. distinct sorts of Eccl. Elders in the Church the one medling with teaching the other not if the one inferre a perpetuall necessitie of the office so doth the other I graunt againe that both there and in other places S. Paules wordes inferre and so do others also in the scripture a perpetuall necessitie that there should be Elders gouerning in the Church which should be laborers in the worde and doctrine Albeit he speaketh there either of those that were then or should be at any time in the Church what honour they should haue which was the Apostles purpose in these wordes The Elders that gouerne well are woorthie of double honour especially such as labour in the worde and doctrine And I pray you was not S. Paule and the other Apostles Euangelistes and Prophetes Elders also and worthie of as much honour as were those Elders who and whatsoeuer And yet are nowe and long since these functions ceased for any necessitie or ordinarie néede or exercise of them in the Church Though more or lesse there haue still béene in all ages at least-wise there ought alwayes to haue beene in all ages labourers in the worde and doctrine And therefore admitting there were then together in the Church such distinct offices the dutie to haue them honoured accordingly inferreth no suche necessitie of perpetuitie that if the one continue in the Church the other also must continue For then we should still haue Apostles except our Brethren can teach it and we shall learne it better than that this place will inferre any necessitie or continuance of it Now as we sée here that we can not learne this by any necessity of the Apostles wordes that there bee that is to say there ought to be in the Church that is to say in euery congregation Elders that is to say a Consistorie or Seignorie not medling with teaching that is to say not medling in the publike administration of the worde sacraments but are occupied altogether in gouerning that is to saye which ought to haue the hearing examination determining of all matters pertayning to discipline and gouernmeÌt of that congregation for this is their own exposition of their words admitting still that the Apostle speaketh heere of two diuers sorts of Elders that ought in good order of teaching these 3. things to haue béen the first point which our breth shuld haue taught vs we to haue learned they haue here placed it last so let vs now sée what necessitie driueth vs first or last to learne on these words of the Apostle 1. Tim. 5.17 that there were such Elders then in the Churche that Paule there meaneth of such Elders as medled not with teaching but were occupied altogether in gouerning For first S. Paul sayth not this in plain wordes It is our Brethrens collection Colligere hinc licet sayth Caluine hereupon it is lawefull to gather that there were then two kindes of Elders because all were not ordeyned to teach For the words do openly sound that some gouerned well honestly to whom notwithstanding the partes of teaching were not coÌmitted And indeede out of the people were chosen graue and tryed men which together with the Pastors in common counsell authoritie of the Church administred the discipline and were as it were the Censors or controllers in correcting manners Caluine sayth here it may be gathered and so alreadie to search out the matter better we haue admitted it that such there were and yet not such neither as our Brethren prescribe nor Caluine agréeth fully to him selfe of their authoritie For where he sayth here that together with the Pastors in common counsell and authoritie of the Church they administred the discipline and were as it were controllers in correcting manners on the former place Act. 14.23 he sayth fuiâse enim quosdam duntaxat morum Censores apparet 1. Tim. 5.17 that there were certaine Elders the controllers of manners onely for we can not so expounde it that they were the onely controllers of maners syth the Pastors were controllers of manners also it appeareth out of Paule 1. Tim. 5.17 And here when he commeth to the place that he referreth vs vnto he leaueth cleane out this duntaxat onely and giueth them together with the Pastors in common counsell and authoritie of the Church the administration of discipline Thus doth Caluine with this contradiction or wauering in his spéeches heereon infringe the authoritie of his owne collection But what maketh him or any other of our Brethren to thinke this so plaine
the most cleare light of his confession and aduanced with the honour both of vertue and faith who by his exhortation hath sent before him a plentifull number of Martyrs with stones fire Which ioyfully behâlde his wife that cleued to his side wheÌ as together with other she was burned He himselfe being halfe burned and ouerwhelmed with stones lefte for dead While that afterwardes his daughter with a carefull seruice of godlines seeketh the corps of her father where he being founde almost dead refreshed and drawen out from his companions whom he had sent before him remained against his will But this as wee see was the cause of his remayning that the Lorde would ioyne him vnto our Clergie and woulde adorne gloriosis Sacerdotibus with his glorious Sacred Priests the abundance of our Elders being desolate And verily he shall be promoted as time shall permitte vnto a more worshipfull place of his religion when through the Lordes protection we shall come in presence In the meane season let this be done that is declared that we may receiue this gift of God with thankes giuing hoping that by the mercie of the Lord such ornaments shall be also furnished that renuing the strength of his Church he wil make our so meeke and humble consistories to flourish in honour Whereby we plainlie see not onely the Bishoppes authoritie ouer the consistorie of the Elders in making this Elder Numidicus an Elder in the cleargie and consistorie of Carthage but also that he was a Preacher exhorter of the people And that Cyprian vseth the name of Presbyter and Sacerdos indifferently as betokning one and the same office for the which we in English wanting a proper name for Sacerdos vse the contraction of the other better and lesse offensiue terme Presbyter calling them Priestes signifying héere Elders ministring the woorde and Sacramentes And of other sortes whom Cyprian calleth Presbyteros Priestes or Elders assistent to the Bishop in the gouernement of the Eccles. discipline I finde no mention nor inkling of them in all the Epistles of Saint Cyprian Neither cite I him in those editions that the Papistes haue of late corrupted him And therefore I maruell not a little that such an excellent man as Beza is God be praysed for his gifts in him was so ouershot to cite these Epistles of Cyprian for a Consistory or Colledge of such Elders gouerned by a Bishop which together with him should haue the spirituall iurisdiction and the gouernment of Eccl. discipline that were not ministers of the worde and Sacraments As for that which Gellius Snecanus citeth also out of Cyprians Epistles Epist. 2. lib. 1. there is no mention there at all of any other of the Clergie then onely of Bishops or of such Priestes as hee calleth Sacerdotes Pastores Which Epistle being written to Cornelius Bishop of Rome by Cyprian and a great number of other Bishops of Aphrica ioyned in counsell with him he vseth there this terme Colleagues meaning other Bishops that were of his owne function But if sayth he there shall bee any of the Colleagues which when persecution vrgeth them thinketh the peace should not be giuen to our brothers and sisters let him in the day of iudgement render a reason to the Lorde eyther of his importune censure or of his inhumaine roughnes Is this any thing to any gouerning Elder in the Church that is not a minister of the worde and Sacramentes As for any other Colleagues eyther of those that hee wrote of or wrote vnto or that wrote with him in this or anie other Epistle I finde none Nor our Brethren can shew any such Elders as they vrge vnto vs in all these Epistles or any other worke of Cyprian But because Gellius Snecanus adioyneth also the testimonie of Tertullian in his Apologie against the Gentiles cap. 39. which wee haue likewise alreadie séene for the manner and forme of the primitiue Churche in their publike prayers neuerthelesse to the fuller serch of these Elders which our Brethren would haue let vs againe consider what Tertullian sayth especially he going not onely immediately before Cyprian about the yeare of our Lorde 200. but being in such estimation with Cyprian that he alwayes called him his Maister I will nowe my selfe sayth Tertullian set foorth the affayres of the Christian faction that I which haue refuted the euill thinges may shewe the good We are a bodie of the conscience of religion and of the truth of discipline and of the couenant of hope We come together into an assembly and congregation that praying vnto God as though by prayers wee strined for workes this force is acceptable vnto God We pray also for the Emperours for their ministers and powers for the state of the worlde for the quietnes of their affayres and for the prolonging of their ende We are gathered together to the reciting of the diuine scriptures if so be that the qualitie of the present time doe compell vs to giue fore-warning or to reknowledge it Certainely we feede our faith with the holy speeches we erecte our hope we fixe our confidence Neuerthelesse we thicken or encrease the discipline of the maisters or of the praecepts by prouocations or inculcations At the same place are also exhortations chasticements the diuine correction for the iudgement is giuen with great waight as among them that are sure that God beholdes them And it is the chiefest foreiudgeing of the iudgement to come if any man do so trespasse that he be banished from the communicating of prayer and of the assemblie and of all the holy partaking The Praesidents or Gouernours are all of them approoued Seniors hauing obteyned this honour not with price but with testimonie What is there here in any of these wordes to prooue that these Elders which as hee termeth it praesidebant did gouerne the congregations medlâd not with teaching Or rather doth he not ascribe teaching to theÌ When ãâã saith Wee are a corps of the conscience of religion of truth of discipline and of the couenant of hope When he saith their comming together was for praiers and for recording the Scriptures When hauing added how they fed their faith with the word of God erecting their hope and fixing their confidence they ioyne this withall that neuerthelesse they do increase the discipline of the maisters by their inculcations or often calling vpon them Or if we should conster these wordes Disciplinam praeceptorum for the discipline not of the maisters but of the precepts so that we take it not that they did increase the discipline of mens commandements And doth he not also ioyne exhortations together with castigations of the diuine censure By all which and much more we may well gather out of this place that these Praesidents or gouernours of these congregations were not such as medled not with teaching For if the Elders not teaching were gouerned as Beza said in their Colleges and corporaâions
It behoueth therefore to keepe their precepts euen as the burning fire And let them be such but as for you reuerence ye them as the Lord Iesus Christ because they are the kepers of his place as the bishop is the forme of the Father of al but the Elders of the consistorie of God and ioyning together of the Apostles of Christ for without them it is not the elected church nor the collection of the Saints nor the holie Congregation And again What is the Eldership but a holie institution of a counsellour or confessour of a Bishop What also are the Deacons but followers of Christ ministering to the Bishop as Christ to the Father and working vnto him a cleane vnspottrd work euen as Saint Stephen vnto the most blessed Iames and Timothie Linus vnto Paul and Anacletus and Clement vnto Peter And in the 4. Epipistle to the Philippians Yet I saie to the Bishop and to the Elders in the Lord that who soeuer shall keepe the Passeouer with the Iews or take vp the solemnitie of their feast daies shall be compartner with them that haue killed the Lorde and his Apostles These and such other spéeches of the Presbyteral Elders do declare that whosoeuer in Ignatius name wrote theÌ for I dare not so boldly as our Br. doe affirme them to bee his yet in writing thus of the Consistorie of the Elders yea of the Deacons vnder them hee thought them both to meddle with teaching and with the administration of the Sacraments As for the Epistle that is adioyned in the name of Polycarpus the Elders with him it is most manifest howe they ioyned teaching to their gouerning Let the Elders bee simple in all things mercifull conuerting all from errour visiting all the sicke not neglecting the widowes the fatherlesse and the poore but alwaies prouiding good things before the Lorde and before meÌ As for anie other that is more suspected stuffe I cite not But be they suspected or be they not as I graunt they are verie auncient so we can finde in none of them such Elders mencioned as our Br. threape vpon vs that there were neither yet in anie ancient autentike Ecclesiasticall historie For as for that Danaeus writing of the office of Elders in Christ. Isagog part 2. cap. 10. citeth saying Lites âutem dirimere c. But to decide debates and as out of Socrates lib. 7. cap. 37. may be gathered to behaue themselues as Iudges and arbiters I neuer read that it was the function of Elders or parte of their office This proueth nothing at all that the Cleargie of whome Socrates there speaketh were not Ministers of the worde and Sacraments but rather séemeth to inferre that theâ were and that the Bishop of whome Socrates speaketh woulde not hauâ them drawe too much awaie from their function to the hearing and determining of such controuersies Albeit Socrates telleth that Siluanus the Bishop did it when as hee sawe the Clarkes to make a gaine by the controuersies of the striuers that from thence forth hee permitted none of the Cleargie to be a Iudge but taking the bils of those that made supplications he preferred one faithfull laie man whom he knewe to fauour that which was âight and good to haue the hearing of those matters and so he set free the striuers from contention and controuersie Here the Cleargie that had the dealing in those matters the Bishop by his superior authoritie tooke it froÌ theÌ appointed it not to the consistorie of Elders but to one laiâ man But to shew more fullie and plainlie that Socrates alwaies vnderstands by the tearme of Elders onely such as we call Priestes to wit Ministers of the worde and Sacraments Let vs also sée some testimonies out of Socrates because Danaeus citeth him for these Elders And I would gladly search all the testimonies examples generallie if that Caluine Beza Danaeus or anie other author haue ought for the proofe or but probabilitiâ of these Elders In the 3. Chap. of his first booke he saith And on a certaine time the Presbyters Priests or Elders being present which were vnder him he speaketh of Alexander Bishoppe of Alexandria and the residue of the Cleargie hee treated somewhat more curiouslie and subtillie of the Trinitie and philosophicallie proued that in the Godhead there is the vnitie in the Trinitie But Arius beeing one of the number of the Elders which in that degree were placed vnder Alexander a man not ignorant of the quirkes of Logicke because he suspected that he would afresh bring into the Church the errour of the Affricane Sabellius being kindled with the desire of contention declined to an opinion cleane contrarie to the opinion of that Affricane and affirmed that if the Father begat the sonne he that was begotten had a beginning of his being And that thervpon it is cleere that there was a time when the sonne was not that necessarily it followed that he had his being of nothing When he had concluded with this new kinde of reason and neuer before heard of he stirred vp many of them to seeke after those matters and of a little sparke was kindled a great great flame c. Wherevpon Alexander calling a councell of many Bishops he deposed saith Socrates Arius and the fautors of his opinion from the degree of the Eldership By which it plainly appeareth that these elders were ministers and teachers of the worde And to this not onelie accordeth Ruffinus lib. 10. Eccl. hist. cap. 1. saiâng A certaine Elder at Alexandria named Arius a man more religious in shew and forme than vertue began to set forth certaine wicked points concerning the faith of Christ c. And Theodoretus lib. 1. cap. 2. yet more plainlie In these times saith he Arius which was in the companie and order of the Elders and had the authority of interpreting the diuine Scriptures When he saw the gouernment of the Sacerdotall Priesthood or Bishopricke to be committed to Alexander being impatient of enuie wherewith he was chafed he began to seek occasions of prouokements of discords and striuings And albeit the dignity of the man and his laudable administration brake off the web of all slaunders yet coulde not enuie let him rest The enimie therefore of truth hauing gotten this fellow he moued and stirred vp the waues of the Church and so prouoked him that he durst openly gainsay the Apostolical doctrine of Alexander As for Alexander he auouched the speeches of the diuine Scripture that the sonne is of the same dignitie with the Father and hath the same essence with his begetter But Arius fighting against the truth called him a creation and a worke made Adding those wordes that there was some time when he was not Which things may better be knowen out of the Scriptures themselues These things did he not only in the Churches continually but also in other outward assemblies and meetinges and treating vpon them house by
than these alleaged Which if they shall finde and can clearely euict thereby that there were any such for my part I shall be moste ready to acknowledge it Howbeit when they shall haue prooued that such at any time in the Church of Christe there were yet woulde not that example inferre a necessity that there ought to bee such alwayes and euery where because there was such sometimes perhappes and in some places But sence as yet we neither heare of rule nor example of them we may I hope with safe conscience dissent from them Sith therefore it can not hetherto be prooued by any of these Fathers Let vs nowe sée these excellent learned mens allegations and examples for these Elders out of the holy Sciptures if yet in them we may finde better and inuincible proofe that at least in the Apostles times there were such Elders for then there is no remedy but wee must needes yeelde that such there were Sith we also as is our bounden duety do admit and reuerence the holy Scriptures with the same honor that our Brethren doe Albeit neither we nor they can make any perpetuall rule of euery particuler example in the scripture But let the rule thereof fall out as it shall let vs yet sée what examples in the scripture our Brethren auouche In the seuenth Chapter aforesayde 2. Parte Christ. Isag. Danaeus after his citations of Basil and Dionysius alleageth saint Paule as yee haue heard saying Therefore they may thus better be distinguished that of the perpetuall orders in the Church other shoulde bee occupied in the treatie of the Worde of God which Paule generally calleth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Prophecy Rom. 12. verse 6. Or else in the procuring of other thinges the which seemeth by a Generall name to bee of other called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gouernaunce but of Paule it is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Rom. 12. This Testimony is also alleaged of Beza in his Christian Confession Chapter 5. Artic 32. with the 1 Corinth 12. verse 28. prefixed thereunto The same Testimony likewise citeth Caluine in his Institutions Cap. 8. Sec. 42. saying But as for that that I called bishops elders and pastors Ministers indifferently those that gouerne the Church I did it out of the vse of the scripture which confundeth these tearmes For whosoeuer enioy the ministery of the worde it giueth to them the title of Bishops So with Paule where Titus was commaunded towne by towne to ordeine Elders streight-wayes is set vnder it for a Bishop must bee blamelesse c. So in an other place hee saluteth moe Bishops in one City And in the Acts is rehearsed that hee called the Ephesine Elders together whom hee his-selfe in his oration nameth Bishops Heere nowe wee must obserue that hetherto wee haue reckoned none but those offices that consist in the ministery of the Worde neyther of other doth Paule make remembraunce in that fourth Chapter to the Ephesians which we haue cited Howbeit in the Epistle to the Romaynes and in the former to the Corinthians he reckoneth vp other as powers the giftes of healing interpretation Gouernment tendance on the poore of the which I omit those that were temporary because it is no importance to stande long about them But there are two which abide perpetually gouernmânt and the carâ of the poore Gouernours I thinke were seniors chosen from among the common peoplâ which shoulde together with the bishops rule the Censure or controlement of manners and the discipline that shoulde bee exercised For yee can-not otherwise interpret that which hee sayth hee that ruleâh let him do it in carefulnesse Therfore euery Church from the beginning had her senate enrolled of Godly graue and holy men Moreouer that that kinde of order was not of that onely age the experience it selfe doth declare Therefore this gift also of Gouernment is necessary for all ages Thus doe Caluine Beza and Danaeus for in these thrée as principall I comprehende any other of our Brethren that followe them gather this Senate of Gouerning and not teaching Elders on these two testimonies Romaynes 12. and 1 Corinthians 12. As for that which Caluine heere speaketh of the scriptures indifferent vse of the names of bishops and Elders We haue already séene sufficiently howe it was vsed and howe it was altered euen in the Apostles times And haue séene withall sufficient proofe of the superiority of one among the Elders yea among the Apostles themselues which was more peculiarly called bishop and that by Caluines and Bezaes owne confessions But for these two places in the Scripture héere cited Romans 12. 1. Corinthians 12. that al the gifts or offices there mencioned are either temporary or perpetuall the Apostle expresseth not the euent onely sheweth that point Not but that Gouernment shoulde be alwayes in the Church and care of the poore also As our Sauiour sayth Iohn 12. The poore yee shall haue alwayes with you and then charity inferreth a good consequence that wee shoulde alwayes haue a care of the poore and the Scripture is plentifull in that behalfe And so likewise for Gouernors and care of Gouernment But whether the like forme of Gouernment and of care for the poore and the like or rother the same kinde of officers for these thinges shoulde bée alwayes in the Church and perdetually abiding that is not héere declared Neither yet that the giftes or offices of Gouernment mentioned in these places were of any such officers and Elders Gouerning and not teaching as our Brethren do pretende they were Onely Caluine sayth Existimo c. I suppose or thinke that the Gouernors were Seniors chosen out of the common people which together with the Bishop shold rule the censure or controulement of manners and the Discipline that shoulde be exercised This is but Caluines thinking Who though hee were a most excellent man yet his supposing and thinking though it may mooue many to thinke as he did yet it bindeth none but that another man may thinke otherwise as Beza also in many thinges thinketh otherwise than Caluine doth But when Caluine addeth on his thinking that these wordes Hee that ruleth let him doe it in carefulnesse cannot be interpreted otherwise This is some-what further then needeth Can none that ruleth be carefull in his ruling but he must be a ruler chosen from among the common people that hee must be a controller of manners and of the Discipline that shoulde be exercised and that in this Gouernment he must ioyne together with the Bishop and that hée must not meddle with teaching what necessity is there in these Testimonies to interprete these Gouernours to bee such Gouernours and that it can-not bee interpreted otherwise is there any other heere alleaged than Caluines bare thinking and wee haue herad already howe excellent men haue thought and interpreted these words otherwise and alleaged their reasons for the same And I sée no reason to the contrary why they may not
and the Elders that are Doctors and Pastors medling only with such matters as are these not with the affaires and authoritie of Princes and we can be content to affoord the people no lesse being such modest and godlie people as these were But our question is now what were these Elders For here are but thrée sorts reckoned vp the Apostles the Elders and the whole Church or the brethren Forsooth still saith Caluine the Doctors and the Pastors And for other kind of Elders gouerning and not teaching among them we heare as yet of none But Danaeus citeth another testimonie out of the Scripture for proofe of these Elders saying For they ought to haue that admonition of Paule alwaies before their cies that if there be anie thing honest right and holie before GOD they should inculcate or often vrge the same vnto the faithfull Phi. 4. verse 8. and it ought to take place in Gods Church This testimonie is so little seruing for these gouerning and not teaching Elders that except they would haue vs thinke the Epistle was onelie or especiallie written vnto such Elders I cannot sée how it is more appliable vnto them than vnto anie others or howe it can bee proued heerevppon that there were anie such Elders in that Church First the Epistle it selfe is written to none such as appeareth by the first verse Paule and Timothie the seruants of Iesus Christe vnto all the Saintes in Christe Iesu which are at Philippus with the Bishoppos and the Deacons Héere is none of these Elders not medling with teaching named For although Beza and the Geneua Bible woulde include them in the name of Bishoppes which is verie harde notwithstanding sith wée haue heard howe Caluine euen where hée taketh all these names confusedlie doth saie in his Institutions Cap. 8. Sec. 42. But as concerning Bishoppes and Elders and Pastors and Ministers in that I haue called them without difference I did it by the vse of the Scripture which confoundeth these tearmes For whosoeuer inioy the ministerie of the worde vnto them it attributeth the title of Bishoppes And heereto he addeth this testimonie for proofe Phil. 1. a. 1. therefore howsoeuer they woulde include Elders heere in the name of Bishoppes yet can they vnderstand no such Elders as Danaeus and our Brethren pleade for but such onelie as inioye the ministerie of the worde But what is there in this testimonie Phil. 4.8 that shoulde bee properlie pertaining to an Elders office That which remaineth Brethren whatsoeuer things are true whatsoeuer are waightie whatsoeuer are righteous whatsoeuer are pure whatsoeuer are honest if there bee anie vertue if there bee anie praise thinke of these things which yee haue learned and haue receiued and haue heard and haue seene in mee Doo these things and the God of peace shall be with you Can anie thing bée gathered out of these wordes that is peculiar to an Ecclesiasticall Elders office Caluine sayth Generall exhortations followe which are stretched to the whole life And yet if they were peculiar to Elders and that they shoulde doe all that which they learned and receiued and heard and sawe in Saint Paule When Caluine sayth By this repetition of wordes he signifieth that hee was continuall in preaching these thinges as though hee shoulde saie this was my doctrine this was my tradition this was my speech among you And on these wordes Yee haue seene in mee but this is the first thing in a preacher that hee shoulde not onelie speake with his mouth but with his life and with his goodnesse of his life get credite to his doctrine Paule therefore worthilie getteth authoritie to his exhortation therevpon that hee was a guide and maister of vertues with his life no lesse than with his mouth And therefore if this bée spoken to Ecclesiasticall Elders and if they should doe the lyke action howe should they not be such Elders as taught not onelie with their liues but with their mouths also exhorting and preaching the doctrine But what neede better testimonie than Danaeus against himselfe When hee sayth These Elders should inculcate this saying of Saint Paule vnto the faithfull For what else is this inculcation but their often teaching of the people the things contained in that sentence But Danaeus belike not perceiuing how he confutes himselfe procéedeth saying But these Elders ought to watch both priâatlie by euerie house and publikelie in the assemblie of the Church Act. 20. verse 20. Augustine there fore in his fiftie Homilies Homilie the 5. anc 7. teacheth that that saying of Esaie Crie cease not pertaineth not onelie to the Bishoppes but also to the Elders For when many mischeifes may be done at home and they that corrupt the faithfull are wont also to enter into houses as Paul saith 2. Tim. 3. ve 6. It is the office of them that watch to looke also house by house least either the good doctrine or the holie manners bee corrupted But of those things that may be done amisse in houses there is example 1. Pet. 3. verse 3. But of those that edifie euill publiklie there is example 1. Cor. 14 verse 34. and 35. Not one of these places mencioneth anie such Elders as are Ecclesiasticall gouernours and not teachers neither can they bée haled but with violence to them The 20. of the Acts we haue seene and séene againe to the full how it is all of such Elders as were teachers of the worde The place in Augustine wée haue likewise séene And that of Esaie is so apparaunt for teachers and preachers of the word that I aâ euen ashamed that so learned a man should of all places alleage that for not teaching Elders which speaketh of such crying out exalting the voice like a trumpet and telling the people of their sinnes As for this 2. Tim. 3. verse 6. wherein Saint Paule hauing described the wicked hypocrites of these later dayes that shoulde trouble the Church of God hée sayth For of these there are that craftilie enter into houses and leade women captiue loden with sinnes the which are lead with diuerse lusts alwayes learning c. Wherevpon saith Caluine You woulde saie that Paule heere of purpose painted out a liuelie pourtraiture of Monkerie But to omitte the name of Monkes the notes themselues with the which Paule setteth out the false and counterfaite Doctors or teachers are open inough Their insinuation or creepings into householdes theyr baites in taking women theyr vnhonest flatterie their leading them about by diuerse superstitions It behoueth vs to marke diligentlie these notes if we desire to discerne betweene the vnprofitable drones and the good ministers of Christ. Héere Caluine woulde haue vs diligentlie to marke the difference betwéene these false and counterfait teachers and the good Ministers of Christ not betwéene them and these Elders that woulde haue Ecclesiasticall gouernment and not meddle with teaching For mée thinkes they rather séeme to resemble those Monkes than anie Elders that
this place Is there anie sicke among you let him call for the Elders of the Church The third place sayth hee is of the care of those that are sicke in the assemblie or companie of the faithful But hee teacheth that the manner of healing and comforting the sicke ought to be made for the health of the sicke with the fruite also of them that stande about him Concerning the sicke partie hee ought to call for the Elders of the Church that is of his companie or assemblie at this daie wee shoulde cal it Viciniae Seniores aliquâs some Seniories or Elders of the neighbourhoode or of the streete or village neere adioyning with some Minister of the Church among whome some Phisition may haue a roome For neither do I here take the Seniors or Elders to be those anoynted onelie and shauen which are sacrificers and Monkes neither also an Ecclesiasticall Senate quem ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quadam whome of a certaine ill zeale some goe about to represent But I take the Seniors of the church to bee graue and godlie men in the whole assemblie Whose godlinesse I knowe or like of whether they be laie men or they bee in the Ministerie or also they bee Phisitions yea or else otherwise To conclude I call the godlie and sound hearted the auncient men For in these is greater experience of thinges greater force of comforting greater affection also of hauing compassion and more sounde counsailes than in young men Thus plainlie and simplie sayth Aretius of these Elders that S. Iames woulde haue the sicke partie to send for his elderlie neighbours friends men of grauitie and experience that can giue the sicke good counsaile As for gouernours of discipline or controllers of manners or an Ecclesiasticall Senate to be sent for and to come to euerie mans house when he lieth sicke and in daunger of death what vse is there of them Whereas of his acquaintance and good neighbours there may bee great vse especiallie of the Pastorall Elders And therefore Hemingius sayth well Accerset Praesbyteros tanquam animae medicos Let him send for the Elders as for the Phisitions of the soule to giue him some spiritual consolation out of the word of God of the which then hee shal haue most néede and to strengthen and confirme his faith and hope in Christ to moue him to repentance to patience and to cal vpon God for the forgiuenesse of sinnes in his life passed to persuade him to a readynesse to forsake the world and this transitorie life and to desire according to Gods will to be dissolued and to be with Christ to cal vpon him while his strength and vnderstanding and memorie serueth him to dispose of his worldlie goods and make his wil and with the assemblie to make the publike praiers to God for him who fitter to doe all these things than the Elders that are Ministers of the word Besides that Caluine maketh this anointing of him with oyle in the name of the Lord to haue béene a temporarie Sacrament saying Verilie I graunt that it was vsed for a Sacrament of the Disciples of Christe for I assent not vnto them that thinke it was a medicine but euen as the veritie of this signe indured not but for a time I saie the signe was likewise temporarie If then this were a Sacrament seruing for that time it séemeth so much the more that those Elders then were teachers since the action of making the praiers ouer him and of the anointing of him with oyle is attributed to those Elders For the publike or solemne praiers especially the ministration of the Sacraments in the Church of Christ doth principallie and as our Brethren themselues saie dooth onelie belong to him that is a teacher and Minister of the worde And that it can bee no better than sacrilege to separate the ministration of preaching of the word froÌ the Sacraments c. and that a word or writing may be auaileable without a seale but neuer a seale without a writing page 61. And that where is no Preacher of the word there ought to be no Minister of the Sacraments Furthermore it appertaineth to the dutie to make praiers c. page 6â Sith therefore these things are here ascribed to the doings of these Elders of the Church that the sicke partie is willed to send for is it not yet more likelie than anie of al these opinions that by these Elders are meant pastoral Elders Otherwise how would not our Br. owne wordes in this learned Discourse beate downe Danaeus saying Therfore in this behalfe we haue had a great default so long time to coÌmit the administration of the Sacraments to those men who not onelie haue bene knowen to be vnable but also haue ben forbidden to preach the word page 61. And what other were these Elders by their discription of them but such as medled not with preaching the word nor it pertained at all vnto their office but onely gouernment of discipline controlment of maners And yet sée now when they can finde them no where rather than they should not bee found they will call them to the making of the praiers ouer the sicke and to the ministration of that temporarie Sacrament Yea our Bre. these Learned Discoursers their selues in plaine wordes page 22. ascribe this saying of Iames to the action and office of the Pastors Since therfore what kind of Elders these were mencioned Iam. 5.14 the text expreslie other than by these coniectures nameth not nor it is agréed vppon among these learned men What firme argumeÌt can be gathered hereon for the proofe of these gouerning not teaching elders If not rather as we haue séen far more probabilitie euerie way to the clean contrarie that they wer teaching Elders And now séeing that as neither before in the authoritie proofe or place in anie of the acts or exaÌples of the Apostles we find anie euident exaÌple or plaine precept or institutioÌ in the church of Christ set forth in the holy Scriptures of these Ecclesiasticall Elders gouerning the discipline controlling the manners of the Church but not medling with teaching nor preaching of the word and doctrine nor ministering of the Sacraments Let vs now returne from them to our Br. learned discourse if they perhaps haue yet anie better proofe after al these for the authorizing and setting vp amongst vs the CoÌsistories Segnories of these gouerning not teaching Elders We haue heard how our Br. haue alleaged the 14. of the Acts. ver 23. vpon the which we haue séene Caluines iudgement to the contrarie that the Elders there mencioned were only pastoral Elders We haue heard also their allegation 1. Tim. 5.17 and of the three ââings that they saie wee may learne thereon that the same testimonie inferreth none of all those three things And hereupon because Caluine on the same testimonie citeth Ambrose which is cited also of Beza I haue both examined the place in
sâripture may not be thus eluded But why should we not thinke that S Paule did it by his owne authority For as for these captions wordes The captions term of priuate authority his priuate priuate authority I reckon not on them for he did it in the person of God and by his apostolicall and Ministeriall authority which was publike and not priuate notwithstanding proper to him selfe and to such as were of the Apostleship and ministers of the worde as hee was Doth S. Paule make mention any where else of the Churches consent in these mens Excommunication taking consent of the Church How the Churches might consent in the Excommunicâtion of Hymenaeus Alâxandâr âhileâus as our Brethren herein doe that he could not doe it at all except they had consented and giuen their suffrages before hande that he shoulde do it for otherwise wee deny not but that they consented Howbeit their consent came after the thing was done or at the moste it was not the authorising of his dooing but an allowing of it because it was their duty so to do séeing that hee abused not his authority nor erred in the exercise of the same Which if he had done Singular authority then might they iustlie haue disobeyed his doing As they migââ also refuse the doctrine of him that preached any other Gospell And yet it followeth not therupon that in preaching the pure and sincere gospel the Church had ioint authority with the Preacher to preach the same But why would our Brethren haue vs thus to thinke If so high an Apostle could not by his priuate authority excommunicate that Corinthian We must not think that by his priuate authority but by consent of the Church of Ephesus hee Excommunicated Hymenaeus and Alexander although he doe not make expresse mention of the consent of the Church in that place This conclusion runneth vpon their former assumptions Our Br. conclusions on their owne assumptioÌs that S. Paul coulde not by him selfe Excommunicate that Corinthian Whereas that place mencioneth not at all what he coulde or he could not do in that matter but onelie what he did and would haue them to do And if the other place 1. Tim. 2.20 concerning the Excommunication of Hymenaeus and Alexander be to be measured by this place 1. Cor. 4. Then as we haue seene howe both he him selfe coulde and did Excommunicate that Corinthian both in their Churches absence they beeing not made priuie of his doing Our Br. referring the other Excommunication to this 1 Cor. 5 do yetmore confute themselues till he had done it and written to them therof willing them to solemnize and denounce the publike execution of the same which if they woulde not haue done had no whit impayred the bertue of his censure but aggrauated an other offcence in them And therfore in measuring the Excommunication at Ephesus by that at Corinthus our expresse instaunce of S. Paules Excommunicating by him-selfe in the absence of the congregation and the congregations dutie of obedience afterwarde in approouing obeying and consenting to the same is a good instance that neither the whole Congregation nor any Seniory among them had any necessary ioint authority with S. Paule in the inflicting of this censure So likewise where hee speaketh to Timothie in the singular number The learned disc pag. 98. 1. Tim. 2.20 concerning the hearing and determining of matters pertaining to Discipline we ought to acknowledge that hee teacheth in Timothies person the duty of Elders and neuer ment to giue to Timothie an absolute or singular authority to bee Iudge in those matters without consent of the Eldership whereof hee maketh mention but a little before To conclude therefore the Pastor with the aduice and consent of the Elders hath authoritie to heare and examine matters perteining to Ecclesiasticall Discipline and as the case requireth to Excommunicate offenders and vppon their repentaunce and amendment to receyue them agayne into the bosome of the Church approoued by the word of God Those testimonieâ likewise where Saint Paule speaketh to Timothie in the singular number giue vnto Timothie though no absolute yet a singular authoritie Bridges not singular I graunt as though hee shoulde single out him-selfe to doe all thinges alone but singular in préeminence aboue all What single authoritie S. Paul giueth to Timothie which preeminence was allonely in Ephesus singular and proper vnto Timothie And this hath Beza himselfe euen where he speaketh against the vsurpation of the Popish Bishops Pastors confessed saying aâââe haue also heard before on these wordes of the Apostle against an Elder receiue no accusation c. Moreouer we must note out of this placc Bezaes confession of the singular authority of one Timothie in the Ephesine eldership to haue then beene the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is the Bishop as Iustine calleth it not that hee did all thinges as he list but which according to his godlinesse and prudence moderated all thinges that all thinges might be well done and in order in the assemblie Neither is this any hindrance hereunto that S. Paule teacheth in Timothies person the duetie of Elders but rather confuteth our Brethrens shift in saying that Timothie had a prerogatiue as an Euangelist and prooueth that such Elders as Timothie was that is to say with Beza and Iustine such Bishops notwithstanding his prerogatiue of Euangelist haue a like singular authoritie as Timothie had concerning the hearing and determining of matters pertaining to Discipline And if as heere they say Saint Paule in Timothies person taught the duety of Elders then shoulde these Elders whose duetie is heere taught in the person of Timothie bee suche as shoulde bee aunswerable to the person of Timothie and not such Gouerning Elders as are no Teachers And so saith Caluine on these wordes 1. Timoth. 5. verse 21. I testify before the Lorde c. This protestation was interposed of Paule not onely as in a matter moste waightie but also for the greate difficultie thereof For there is nothing more harde than to exercise Iudgementes with such equity that neyther thou art moued at any time with fauour nor giuest entry vnto suspition nor art mooued with tales Timothy in his Ecclesiasticâl iudgements represented onely the person of Pastorall Elders nor yet art ouerstraight in rigour nor lookest on anie other thing in all causes than the cause it selfe For from thence shall spring an equall right when the eies are shut vnto the persons But we must remember that vnder the person of Timothie all Pastors are admonished So that this admonition comprehending the dignity and the duety of an ecclesiasticall Iudge the same is here made vnto Timothy and in his person only vnto such gouerning Elders as are Pastorall elders In whome their teaching though it be done publikely All iurisdiction of one is not Antichristian is notwithstanding their singular authority as Saint Paule also gaue vnto Timothy singuler precepts therâof and
Ministerie especialy as they were theÌ in practise may be imploied otherwise both for the attendance on the Pastors in the Ministerie of the word and Sacraments and also to prepare themselues to become fit Pastors afterwards whereupon now and then as necessitie or occasion hath serued and they found to be méete thereto the Ministerie also of the word and Sacraments hath béene permitted vnto them in the auncient yea in the Primitiue Church and at the very time of their institution or immediatly after as appéereth both by Stephen and Philip by whome we may iudge the like of all the residue for Stephen so soone as euer he was chosen Deacon was set vpon with diuers aduersaries in matter of doctrine who disputed with Stephen but they were not able to resist the wisedome and the spirite by the which he spake Actes 6.10 Whereupon saith Gualter Et quamuis de publicis concionibus c. And although nothing be spoken of his publike Sermons notwithstanding it is euident by the context of the hystorie that he had these both often and effectuall and very serious Wherefore by the way and as it were by digression we may heere see that the Deacons of the Primitiue Church were not altogether estraunged from the ministerie of the word but although they were chiefelie occupied about the dispensation of the Churches goodes neuerthelesse they imployed their labour also so farre as they might in the other ministeries of the Church that by this meanes according to the sentence of S. Paule they might get vnto themselues a good degree 1. Tim. 3. what a notable Sermon he made and what a rare and singular gift of the spirit of God in his preaching he had the 7. Chapter at large witnesseth Aretius vpon the 3. verse of the properties that Peter required in these Deacons saith Fourthly he returneth againe to the vertues to wit such as are meete for them to haue Full of the holy Ghost That they should haue certayne most sure notes of the holy Ghost such as at that time were to speake with tongs that they had not learned to worke miracles in the name of Christ to teach boldly in this teaching to ouercome the enemies and such like Also Full of wisedome that is that they be prouident and warie least they cast pearles to any dogs or swine but teach them that are to be taught but chiefely prudence was necessary for the Ecclesiasticall dispensation whereunto they are to be called And on the 5. verse of Stephens disputation with his aduersaries which saith he was of the Christian doctrine he saith Stephen no doubt did execute faithfully and constantly the office of a Deacon no lesse then Lawrence did afterward vnder Sextus and Vincentius vnder Valerius who bestowed the treasures of the Church vpon the poore But vnto these do come new vertues first he is full of faith that is of feruencie in teaching that faith c. The like we reade in the eight Chapter following of Philip one of the same companie of Deacons whome Aretius calleth the Doctor of the Samaritanes secondly sayth he heereunto perteineth a singuler example of Philip who happily instructed the Samaritanes First heere may be considered who that Philip was for there haue beene that haue thought him to be the Apostle but two strong arguments are against them in the context first that the Apostles were not dispearsed but aboade at Ierusalem but Philip was among those that were dispearsed therefore it was not Philip the Apostle Moreouer the Apostles onely could giue the holy Ghost but Philip could not do it And heereupon Iohn Peter are sent to the Samaritanes wherefore it can not be Philip the Apostle it is therefore the Deacon of whome we spake before Chap. 6. And Gualter affirming also the same addeth further First he teacheth whose ministery God vsed in conuerting Samaria it was that Philip not he that was the Apostle but he that before was reckoned vp among the Deacons as the auncient writers of the Church do testify with one consent chiefely Epiphanius writing of Simon and of the Simoniacks for although the parts of the Deacons were to beare the care of the common goodes of the Church and of the poore notwithstanding it was withall permitted vnto them to take on them the preaching of the Gospell if at any time necessity so required the which we haue hitherto seene in Stephens example And perhaps there was not so great vse of Deacons at Ierusalem when the Church was dispersed with the tempest of persecution and therefore they which before dispensed the publike goods of the Church gaue themselues wholy to the ministery of the word Yea and Paule admonished afterward that the Deacons by ministring well should get vnto themselues a degree vnto a greater function 1. Tim. 3. And as the ministration of the Sacraments followeth the preaching of the word so Philip baptized those whome he had by his preaching conuerted Neither is it noted that they did these things by reason of any other office annexed vnto them but as Gualter noteth verie well that in generally as they had gifts competent and occasion conuenient it was not impertinent to their office of Deaconship so to imploy themselues Whereupon also the Magdeburgenses note Centuria 1. lib. 2. cap. 7. pag. 508. saying Other were Deacons The office of these was to minister to the Table at Ierusalem so long as the community of goods was there Acts. 6. but neuerthelesse that they also taught and shewed foorth signes appeareth out of Stephen Actes 6. and Philip Actes 8.21 and euery where in other Churches it was the office of the Deacons to teach and to minister And the same Magdeburgenses in the title Deratione acforma gubernationis pag. 510. do say These were the works in common of the Apostles and Prophetes Pastors Doctors Priestes Deacons They taught the Church purely and sincerely concerning euery of the head points of the christian doctrine c. and that Deacons also taught appeareth out of the 6. and 8. of the Actes they interpreted the holy Scriptures c. they deliuered the Catechisme c. they did cut the word of truth rightly into the Law and the Gospell c. they vsed the forme of sound words in teaching c. they vsed also in teaching a simple kind of speech c. they studied to keepe the puritie of doctrine c. they opposed themselues sharply against false teachers and Hereticks and confuted their false opinions For Stephen Act. 6. confuted them that were in the synagog of the Libertines c. they preached repentance that is they reproued and blamed sinners for the Apostles Act. 2.3 and 4. did openly obiect vnto the Iewes this sinne and for the same reproue them that they had killed Iesus of Nazareth the iust and holy one the sonne of God and the Messias and Stephen Actes 7. calleth them murtherers and betrayers of
law they are brought into order and set to labor And is it not as much maruell that they should thinke to bring them into order by a newe deuise without all Politike Ecclesiasticall Law Yea it is as much maruell that neither by Politike nor by Ecclesiasticall Lawe these learned Discoursers neither bring themselues nor are brought into order to refraine these their most dangerous practises against the State and against all Politike and Ecclesiasticall lawe and order Verelie as Saint Paule prescribeth that those loyterers should not eate vntill they be willing to labor 2. Thess. 3. So should not these Discoursers for all their vaunt of learning be suffered to write and speake in this vnorderlie order what they list to prescribe vntill they could bring better proues for their deuises or be brought to liue in better order vnder the politike and eccl lawes according as the lawe of God prescribeth But nowe to returne to the election of Deacons Concerning the forme of choosing of Deacons we may read at large Act. 6. That they were chosen by consent of the whole Church and had the approbation of the Apostles And because we may not thinke there was anie coÌfusion in that blessed companie we must needes confesse that which hath bene heeretofore declared that there were euen in that Assembly and first Church at Ierusalem certeine Elders appoynted which in the name and by the consent of the rest had the disposition of such matters as appeareth by manie places of the Actes of the Apostles where the Elders are named with the Apostles as Actes 15.4.12 c. But especiallie concerning this matter of the distribution vnto the poore we read that when the Church of Antiochia was so well disposed as to make a Collection to bee sent vnto the poore Brethren that dwelt in Iurie they sent vnto the Elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saule Act. 11.30 By which it appeareth that the Elders had the dispotion and appoynting of such as should distribute it vnto the Congregation which were the Deacons For it is agreeable to reason that he that should doo anie seruice in the name of all shoulde bee chosen and approoued by the consent of all For the regiment of the Church as it ought to be farthest off from all tyrannie so ought it to bee as farre from confusion and disorder Tyrannie is auoyded when no one man contrarie to the ordinance of Christe shall presume to doo anie thing in the Church without the aduise and consent of others that be godlie and wise and authorized by the consent of the Church confusion is preuented by the graue counsell and orderlie assemblie of Elders vnto whom the Church hath committed her authoritie Concerning the forme of choosing Deacons we finde no rule and but this one example at the first institution of them Act. 6. I grant that those 7. first Deacons on the occasion cited in the text were chosen not onely by the motion of the Apostles but by the looking out and choosing not by the consent onelie of the whole multitude Howbeit that none should afterward be chosen except in that forme to wit for the Bishops or pastorall Elders succéeding the Apostles to propound the matter to the whole multitude and then the whole multitude to looke out among themselues sit persons and so to choose them to be Deacons neither the text hath any such prescription of that forme nor it séemeth that our Brethren would haue them to be so chosen but onelie by the Pastors Consistore of their gouerning Elders And what reason mooueth them héerevntoo Forsooth because we may not thinke there was anie confusion in that blessed companie Is not this rather a reason to the contrarie that because the companie was so blessed and that there was no confusion among them therefore that companie euen of the whole multitude as the text plainlie saith might the better looke about them and so choose them So that there is no necessitie that we must needs confesse that which héere they say hath bene before declared but hath neuer yet by them bene prooued that there were euen in that assemblie and first Church at Ierusalem certeine Elders appoynted which in the name and by the coÌsent of the rest had the disposition of such matters Although we deny not but that there were euen in that assemblie certeine Elders among them Yet for this matter the text is so plaine that they also must needs confesse except néedlesse they will writhe the text that the whole multitude themselues not certaine Elders in the name and by the consent of the rest did choose those 7. first Deacons Sith therefore this election of Deacons to be made by such Seniors as our Brethren vrge is not according to this first example and they alledge none other for this matter we are so much the easilier acquittted that if it be lawfull for them to varie from this onelie example of the whole multitudes election then may we also varie from the election of such gouerning and not teaching Elders of which we haue no example at all in the Scripture for Deacons elections As for the example that here they alledge Act. 15. besides that we haue prooued out of Caluine that it is all for Elders medling with the worde it is nothing for the election of Deacons Neither yet that example of the collection for the poore at Ierusalem made in Antiochia and sent vnto the Elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saule Act. 11. ver 20. Both Barnabas and Saule were Elders of the Word and as we haue shewed out of Caluine so were the Elders at Ierusalem also Those saith hee are called Elders in whose hands the gouernment of the Church was among whome the Apostles were chiefe Which Elders that they delt with the controuersies of doctrine therein were examples vnto all good Pastors we haue séene at large on this verie example that our Brethren héere alledge Act. 15. And this collection for the poore Act. 11. is so litle tied to the Deacons necessarie distribution euen where these 7 Deacons were first appoynted that the Elders also might distribute it to whome it was sent For it appeareth not héereby of anie necessitie that the Elders were to rede liuer it to the Deacons to be distributed vnto the Congregation Yea it appeareth so litle that Beza is faine héere to driue the name of Elders to Deacons So that if héere the Elders and the Deacons are all one then doe not our Brethren trulie say that the Elders had the disposition and appointing of such as should distribute it vnto the Congregation which were the Deacons As concerning the reason that they alledge For it is agreeable to reason that he that should doo anie seruice in the name of all shoulde be chosen and approoued by the consent of all I holde well with it that it is agreeable to reason but not alwayes and in
sayth the Church doth reade for example of life and instruction of maners but yet doth it not applye them to establish any doctrine Such are these following The 3. booke of Esdras The 4. booke of Esdras The booke of Tobias The booke of Iudith The rest of the booke of Hester The booke of Wisdome Iesus the sonne of Syrach Baruch the Prophet The song of the 3. children The storie of Susanna Of Bell and the Dragon The prayer of Manasses The 1. booke of Machab. The 2. booke of Machab. All the bookes of the newe Testament as they are commonly receiued we doe receiue and account them for canonicall This is the whole article especially for the distinction of Canonicall and Apocryphall bookes And is there any grosse and palpable errour or any errour at all in this distinction that any godly and learned Preacher should haue offred to speake agaynst in the Conuocation Well if he could not be suffered to speake then let him do it yet doing it in seemely order Yea if it be a grosse and palpable errour that all we grossely maynteine in this distinction he is bound to shewe it orderly comiter monstrarier viam erranti if he will be a faithfull Minister And if wee cannot bee able to defend this distinction we will then by Gods grace yéeld it to be an error and forsake it But I meruell if it be so grosse and palpable that we cannot yet feele nor vnderstande it which were indeede a great grosnesse in vs all But because I confesse my selfe to be but grosse that cannot so quickly find out this palpable error neuerthelesse since that it is palpable or may be groped and yet out learned Bretheren will not vouchsafe to set it downe I will therefore grossely grope after it if perhaps I may finde it and giue others warning of it For by the grace of God wee shall not be so grosse as defend any error if we may finde it and perceiue that it is indeede an error that is to say a wrong and false opinion Is this grosse error in these wordes holie Scripture conteyneth all things necessarie to saluation so that whatsoeuer is not read therein nor may bee proued thereby is not to bee required of any man that it should be beleeued as an article of faith or be thought requisite or necessarie to saluation I trust they will acquit this parte of the article from all error Neither is it properly of the distinction of Canonicall and Apocryphall bookes which are to bee accounted of the one sorte or of the other but of eithers validitie or inualiditie in the articles of faith and matters requisite or necessarie to saluation What then Is this grosse and palpable error for the distinction of Canonicall and Apocryphall bookes in the wordes of the article following In the name of holy Scripture we doe vnderstand those Canonicall bookes of the olde and newe Testament of whose authoritie was neuer any doubt in the Church What grosse and palpable error or any error at all is in these words that wee doe vnderstand those bookes in the name of holy Scripture of whose authoritie there was neuer any doubt in the Church Is there any reason to the contrary why wee should not vnderstand these bookes for holy Scripture If they replye that is true indeede for those bookes but not for those bookes onely then are these wordes also of the article acquit by their owne mouthes As for the so vnderstanding of them onely to be accounted in the name of holy Scripture of whose authoritie was neuer any doubt in the Church this article hath no such worde as this word onely nor any such meaning Yea least their meaning or wordes might be misconstrued they goe also particularly to worke and booke by booke till which is to be vnderstoode for the holie or canonicall Scripture and which not in the olde Testament And in the newe Testament they haue reckoned all for Canonicall If they yet replye that diuers bookes of those which the articles name and vnderstand for the holie and canonicall Scripture haue bin doubted of I graunt it and the articles doe confesse as much in these playne wordes All the bookes of the newe Testament as they are commonly receiued we doe receiue and account them for canonicall Do they not here plainly enough inferre that there hath bene some doubt and not receiuing of some of them when they say as they are commonly receiued so doe wee receiue them though some doe not so receiue them And will our learned Bretheren bee so ââremptorie that if they had not so fully or cléerely expressed their meaning in the former wordes they will not giue them leaue to bee their owne expositors but bee so cutted and short with them that they may not tell out their owne tale but a worde and a blowe or euer they haue tolde halfe their tale to crye out by and by errour errour yea grosse errour and palpable errour Ha bretheren ye are a little to hastie to bée Parrish Priestes yée giue too short and too sharpe a iudgement in this matter Take the whole article together to conferre the later woordes with the former and if a worde escape incommodiously What my Maisters will yée take vauntage of euery sillable or if ye will néedes prie so narrowly goe to it then hardlye and spare not I mislike not your industrye therein spye a Gods blessing èuery mote in your bretherens eyes and note euery tittle in their writinges and weigh their woordes euen in the Goldesmithes balance Yet when yée haue all done ye confesse your selues it is but a scape whereas indéede weighe it well and trulye it is not so much But admitte it were a scape will ye make a mountayne of a mole hill that it is a grosse and palpable errour Verely whether we shall weigh the woordes with graue and indifferent iudgement as we ought to doe or but euen grossely or sleightly consider of them except our opinion be too grossely forestalled against them wée coulde neuer giue so grosse a iudgement of them as for a grosse and palpable errour to condemne them for in very déede there is no errour at all in them But it maye be such is my grosse pate that yet wee haue not light vpon this grosse and palpable errour indéede there are other woordes also especiallye these after the cataloge of the Canonicall bookes in the olde Testament And the other bookes as Hierome sayth the Church doth reade for example of the life and instruction of manners but yet it doth not apply them to establish any doctrine Is there any thing heere that our Bretheren can challenge of errour Is the sence of Hierome cyted amisse Or is Hieromes sentence it selfe Erroneous The words of Hierome in his praeface on the bookes of Salomon are these as therefore the Churche readeth indeede the bookes of Iudeth Tobie and the Machabies but receaueth them not among the canonicall
Scriptures so also it maye reade these two volumes hee speaketh of Iesus the sonne of Syrach and the booke of wisdome to the aedification of the people not to confirme the authoritye of Ecclesiastical opinions or decrees Or are they offended that yet thus much should be giuen to the apocryphall Scriptures that they should bee read at all in the Churche for a dification in example of life and instruction of manners but to be vtterlye neglected or defaced as some haue not spared to bestowe very grosse speeches on all the apocriphall Scripture but bicause this againe is not so much for the distinction of Canonicall and Apocriphall bookes as for the estimation of them I thinke they meane not of anye grosse or palpable error in these words If they doe by the grace of god wee shall the eaââier cleare them by the testimonie of manye whome our brethren I hope wil not burden with so grosse speeches Especially when the whole Frenche Churche in their confession goeth as far foorth héerein as we doe where hauing reckoned vp the whole Canonicall Scripture of the olde Testament and the newe agreeing in all the particuler bookes with vs in the fourth article they saye These bookes wee acknowledge to bee canonicall that is wee haue them as the squire and rule of our Fayth and that not onely by the common consent of the church but also much more by the testimonye and inwarde perswasions of the the holye ghoste by whose suggestion we are taught to discerne them from other Ecclesiasticall bookes which as they may be profitable neuerthelesse they are not of that sort that any article of the faith may be established out of them To whome accordeth the confession of the churches of Bâlgia or the lowe Countries Who after their lyke enumeratioÌ of the canonicall bookes in the fiue and sixe articles saye on this wise These onelye bookes wee receaue as holy and canonicall vppon which our fayth may staye bee confirmed and established c. Moreouer wee make a difference betweene these holy bookes and those which they call appocrypha that it to wit because the appocryphall may indeede be read inthe church and it is laweful also so farre foorth to take instructions out of them as far as they agree with the canonicall bookes Howbeit they haue not that authoritye and force that any opinion of the fayth and christian Religion can bee certainelye builded on their testimonye So farre is it off that they can infringe or diminishe the authoritye of others And if after these I maye alleage any priuate mans confession I commend the Reuerende Zanchius Who in his confession chap. 1. Aphorisme 4. after the like particular rehersall that our Articles make of the bookes canonicall and not Canonicall in the olde Testament he sayth Thus much of the olde But out of the newe Testament wee except none For although there bee some of them of which it was doubted in the olde tyme notwithstanding euen they also were afterwarde no whit lesse acknowledged than were the other to bee the writinges of the apostles vnto whose iudgement we also subscribe Of the former sorte are the Gospels after Matthew Marke Luke Iohn the actes of the apostles the Epistles of Paule the former of Peter the former of Iohn Of the later sorte are the Epistle to the Hebrues the Epistle of Iames the later of Peter the seconde and thirde of Iohn the Epistle of Iude the Apocalypse For although they maye seeme after a kinde of sorte to bee of a certayne greater authoritye of the which it was neuer doubted than those of which sometymes it was doubted notwithstanding wee beleue as well the one as the other euen as the certaine word of God As for the Apocryphall bookes that are conteyned in the Bybles volume wee giue them the firste place after the Canonicall And therefore wee vse onelye the Canonicall bookes to prooue the opinions or decrees of Fayth and with the Fathers wee teache that they are to bee vsed as for the other wee thinke that they haue no small authoritye to confirme afterwarde those thinges that already are prooued Thus writeth Zanchius agreeing with our articles And heereto also he quoteth Hierome in Praef. in Salo. Cyp. in Symb. pag. 377. conc Load cap. 59. But what neede I labour thus to cléere our Article herevpon when the Geneua Bible it selfe hath as much as this comes too saying the bookes that followe in order after the Prophetes vnto the newe Testament are called Apocrypha that is bookes which were not receaued by a common consent to be read and expounded publikelye in the Churche neyther yet serued to prooue any poynte of Christian Religion saue in as much as they had the consent of other scriptures called canonicall to confirme the same or rather whereon they were grounded but as bookes proceeding from godlye men were receaued to be read for the aduauncement and furtherance of the knowledge of the historie and for the instruction of Godly maners Is not this as muche héere as is in anye thing conteyned in these wordes of our bookes article for the vse and credite of the Apocriphall bookes and wherein then for these wordes doeth lye suche grosse and palpable errour as they burthen this article withall for nothing remayneth nowe therein not examined but the enumeration of the bookes themselues which are counted of vs for Canonicall which for Apocryphall And doe not these Articles keepe the same accompte both for the number and for the Bookes of both sortes that all these aforesayde and the verye Geneua translation doth except they will take aduauntaâe heerein that where the Geneua calleth Ezra and Nehemiah as Zanchius calleth them the two former of Esdras our article reteyneth still the vsuall calling of them the firste booke of Esdras the seconde booke of Esdras because it treateth also muche of Esdras But I trust that our Bretheren will not in anye wise accounte of that for a grosse and palpable or anye Errour at all considering howe ordinarilye it hath gone by these names and in Ieromes preface hee saythe Neyther let it mooue anye bodye that one booke is of vs set foorth nor let him bee delighted in the dreames of the third and fourth booke Bicause also among the Hebrues the speeches of Esdras and Nehemiah are straightened into one Volume c. As the bookes matter we keepe iust reckoning if their offence be bicause wee counte none Appocryphall in the newe Testament what do wee otherwise than Zanchius doth Than the Geneua Testament doth yea than the Frenche the Heluetian and the Dutch reformed Churches doe and therefore where these grosse errours and palpable shoulde bee in this article they are so grosse and palpable that we can yet neyther see nor feele them When our bretheren can shewe and prooue them I for my parte will by Gods assistance wilfullye defende no knowne errour Now since we cannot find this let vs come to their
seconde instance which is as they say For explication of the clause in the article of predestination where it is sayde that the elect may fall from grace and such like matters Whether it bee negligence or willfull peruerting that I knowe not but I conster it rather to the gentler faulte notwithstanding for those that professe themselues to be faythfull Ministers and to sette foorth a learned discourse and thus grosselye to burthen the articles yea one of the chiefest articles in doctrine agreed vppon by all the learned Clergye of the Realme and aprooued by all the authoritye and states of the realme with grosse and palpable errour and to charge the Article with an euident vntruth if this discourse maye vaunt of learning yet I woulde with that the learned discoursers were a little more faythfull Ministers leaste this parte thereof might of any be termed not a learned but a lewde and vndiscreete discoursing Where it is sayde in the article of predestination which is the seuenteenth article that the elect may fall from grace or any such lyke matter in that article the wordes of the article are these Predestination to lyfe is the euerlasting purpose of GOD whereby before the foundations of the worlde were layde hee hath constantlye decreede by his Counsaile secrete to vs to deliuer from cursse and damnation those whome hee hath chosen in Christe of mankinde and to bring them by Christ to euerlasting saluation as vessels made to honour Wherefore they which bee endewed with so excellent a benefite of God be called according to Gods purpose by his spirite woorking in due season they through grace obeye the calling they bee iustified freely they bee made sonnes of GOD by adoption they bee made like the Image of his onelye begotten sonne Iesus Christe the walke religiouslye in good woorkes and at length by Gods mercie they atteyne to euerlasting felicitye As the Godlye consideration of predestination and our election in Christ is full of sweete pleasanâ and vnspeakeable comforte to godlye persons and such as feele in themselues the woorking of the spirite of Christ mortifying the workes of the fleshe their earthly members drawing vp their minde to high and heauenly thinges aswell because it doth greately establish and confirme their fayth of eternall saluation to bee enioyed through Christ as because it doth feruently kindle their loue towardes God so for curious and carnall Pastors lacking the spirite of Christ to haue continually before their eies the sentence of gods predestination is a most daungerous downefall wherby the diuell doth thrust them eyther into desperation or into rechlesnes of most vncleane liuing no lesse perilous than desperation Furthermore we must receaue gods promises in such wise as they be generally set foorth to vs in holy scripture and in our doinges that will of God is to be followed which we haue expressly declared vnto vs in the word of God This againe is the whole article of predestination and election worde by word set downe as it is in the booke And now what one sentence or but one worde is here that our brethren can prooue to bee erroneous not grosse and palpable as they say but to haue any spice neuer so couertly conueyed of any the least errour in the worlde if our bretheren be of sounde iudgement in this article as I hope they be Or what doubtfull spéeches are there in this article that néede explication for feare they might be vnderstoode erroneously But where are heere these words that our brethereÌ haue by name burdened this article of predestination withall saying for explication of the clause in the article of predestination where it is sayde that the elect may fall from grace and such like matters May not our bretheren be ashamed so grossely and palpablie to fall from this grace of telling the truth so oftentimes before but specially heere in so great a matter challenging one of the principall articles of our religion for grosse and palpable errours or vntruths and their selues to fall intoso open so vntrue and foule a sclaunder But to helpe our brethren as much as we may with the true cleering of our selues from so great and dangerous a sclaunder for our brethren harpe here about some thing they meane be like in the 16 article which is not as they saye of predestination but of sin after baptisme where it is sayde thus Not euery deadly sin willingly committed after baptisme is sin against the holy ghost and vnpardonable Wherefore the graunt of repentance is not to bee denyed to such as fall into sin after baptisme After wee haue receaued the holy ghoste we maye departe from grace giuen and fall into sin and by the grace of God we may arise againe and amende our liues and therefore they are to bee condemned which say they can no more sinne as long as they liue heere or denye the place of forgiuenesse to such as truely repent Héere indéede this article sayth that after we haue receaued the holy ghoste wee maye departe from grace giuen and fall into sinne and by the grace of God wee maye arise agayne and amende our liues And is there any errour or anye darkenesse or doubtfulnesse or suspicion or inclination to errour in these woordes for although they speake here generally and mention not the elect of whome they speake in the article following which wée haue alreadye perused yet neyther speake they of falling from grace which woorde falling might perhaps bée construed of them in the harder sence as though they were destitute of all grace and cleane voyde of the spirite of God neyther the woordes nor the sence tendeth to any suche matter but are onely these that after weehaue receaued the holy ghost we may depart from grace giueÌ fal into sin c. Nowe whether this bee vnderstoode of the Elect or not maye not such as are not of the number of the Elected bée truely sayde also to haue receaued the holye Ghoste in the giftes of some graces of the holye Ghoste giuen vnto them The Apostle saythe 1. Cor. 12. No man can say Iesus is the Lorde but by the holye Ghoste And yet sayth Christ. Matthew 7.21 c. Not euerye one that sayth vnto mee lord Lorde shall enter into the kingdome of Heauen but hee that doth the will of my Father that is in Heauen and manye will saye to me in that day Lorde Lord haue wee not by thy name prophecied and by thy name caste out Deuilles and by thy name done manye greate woorkes And then I will professe to them I neuer knewe you departe from mee yee that woorke iniquitye And yet those that receaued these giftes of working miracles c. They were graces giuen theÌ of the holy Ghoste And Sainct Paule calleth them Charismata and spirituall giftes the administration operation and manifestation of the spyrite the diuersities of whose giftes he reckoneth vp as wée haue seene 1. Cor. 12. And did
giltlesse And of these I trust we haue sufficiently acquit our selues as for other we are to aunswere in our defence when we shall haue heard their accusation But and they be such as these bicause they tel vs before hand such like I hope in God we shall do well enough and had those matters that they suppresse bin worse than these I suppose they would not haue opened these and folded vp those on this fashion But if they be foorth comming wée neede not long to héere of them we shall haue them I warrant you with a recumbentibus all in tyme in the meane time welcome be the grace of God But let vs now sée how our brethren conclude and rattle vp our Bishops for these articles and for all the other matters that they haue charged them with If this say thây be not to practise Lordship ouer Faith to set downe decrees of religion which must be accepted of all men without eyther reason or testimonie of the scripture to prooue them and no man permitted to shewe any reason or scripture that enforceth his conscience to the contrarie but onely to hang vpon the authority of bishops let some other declare what Paule meaneth 2. cor 4. where he denieth that he woulde exercise anye Lordship ouer the Fayth of the Corinthians Our bretheren shewe heere a manifest proofe howe true that Article is which they saye was set dowâe by the Bishops and the conuocation that the elect maye departe from grace For I account of our bretheren as of the number of Gods elected Yet if they had not in this their learned discourse departed or fallen to much from grace woulde they or coulde they haue so fallen from the truth heerein by such vntrue and notorious sclaunders thus to seeke the vtter disgracing and defacing of the Bishops haue they prooued or can they prooue anye one article or decree of Fayth and Religion wherein the bishops haue taken vpon them any such Lordeship or anye Lordeship at all ouer our Fayth doth not euen the very former article of these two last cyted by our bretheren themselues against the Bishops for the distinction of the Canonicall bookes fully discharge the Bishops of this sclaunder that holy Scripture conteyneth all thinges necessary to saluation so that whatsoeuer is not read therein nor may be proued therby is not to be required of any maÌ that it should be beleued as an Article of Fayth or be thought requisite or necessary to saluation Doe they which with their bretheren in the conuocation doe set downe this decree for faith and Religion practise Lordeship ouer our fayth or set downe decrees of religion which must bee accepted of all men without eyther reason or testimonie of the Scripture to prooue them and no man permitted to shewe anye reason or Scripture that inforceth his conscience to the contrarie but onely to hang vpon the authoritie of Bishops When the Bishops in most plaine woordes renounce all such authoritie and referre it onely to the canonicall Scripture who may not see if he will not wilfully of too too much affection blindfold himselfe the apparance of this sclaunder But our Bretheren say they haue set downe the decrees without eyther reason or testimony of the scripture to proue theÌ I graunt it that for some they haue so done neyther is it the nature of briefe suÌmarie Articles which in Synodes are agreed vppon after that they haue bin by reason and Scripture cléerely proued and are apparant to haue them set out with their proues annexed to them which is another point beside the Articles In the ordinances Ecclesiasticall of the Church of Genena and the orders of the schole of the said Citie set out in french An. 1578. of the which many are of faith and religion and in their summarie of the Christian Doctrine annexed do they still adioyne their prooues by reasons testimonies of the Scripture And haue not all the most auncient councels which are greater than our conuocations in all their articles and decrees kept the selfe same order most briefely and plainely to set downe the naked article by it selfe so thus haue they set downe also the articles of their créedes And so is the summary of our Faith commonly called the Apostles Creede set downe in most short plaine and simple wordes and sentences without annexing the reasons or testimonies of Scripture that confirme them For when these ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or principles gathered as capitall conclusions and resolutions of the scripture are thus set downe if they bee not such nor haue the cléere proofe and grounde of Scripture for them they will quickelye appeare in this their nakednesse and quickelye shewe their shame to all the worlde as doe the Papistes decrees whiche they set foorth so soone as euer they come to the touchstone to bée examined and prooued by the Scripture they molter away and resolue to vanitie Let our bretheren nowe a Gods name take this our booke of articles and whette all their wittes and with all their learned discourses set vppon it examine and trye it peecemeale thorowe and through euerye sentence woorde syllable and tytle in it if they finde anye thing contrarye to good and sounde reason yea contrarye too our dissonant from the Canonicall Scriptures then saye our Bishops practise Lordeship ouer our Fayth and set downe orders of Religion which must bee accepted of all men without eyther reason or testimonie of Scripture to proue them and no man permitted to shewe any reason or Scripture that inforceth his conscience to the contrary but onely to hang vppon the authority of Bishops But if they cannot finde anye thing in these decrees orders and Articles nor anye coulde finde it then nor coulde euer since nor euer shal be able and there was then in the conuocation libertye enough and hath euer bin since and still is being vsed in that lawefull and reuerent manner that is requisite for the treaty of such matters which yet coulde neuer nor I hope shall euer be conuinced of errour then let our bretheren for verye shame or rather for loue of truthe yeilde and reuoke these soule sclaunders on the Bishops and indeede on all the conuocation and on all the realme and Churche of Englande that hath established the allowance of these articles or rather on the Articles themselues which they sclaunder to bée decrees of Religion without eyther reason or testimonie of the Scripture to prooue them and that they onely hang vppon the authoritye of Bishops and so are méere doctrines of men and that they are Errors grosse and palpable Thus through the sides of the Bishops are these Articles and our Faith and Religion wounded by these our Bretheren as though not onelye our Bishops but all the Cleargie the realme the doctrine and all were as ill or woorse than the Papistes so farre hath this immoderate beate of their inconsiderate zeale inflamed their passions and patience
perswaded and more mislike them when they view and consider better of the matters of the groundes of the prooues and of the drifts thereof But if they meane this through perswasion to be of them onely that doe openly professe their discontentment and are recusants and accusants of thâ gouernment established in Ecclesiasticall matters and that speake or write agaynst it and haue set out other bookes or that haue complâtted themselues together in deuising and setting foorth this fourme of reformation which they call a learned discourse and a declaration of all the faithfull Ministers c. which who they are and what number they be of God knowes I know not yet this I know and it is apparant that diuers of them are so farre from being throughly perswaded in the forme here set foorth that almost none of their writings bookes in many poynts and some of those very materiall are agreeable either one with another or with this forme as by conference of them will easily appeare And some of their diuers opinions and cleane contrary positions we haue here seene as occasion hath serued to obserue the same Yea we haue séene how their owne selues oppugne their owne selues with diuers and contrary assertions in this learned discourse And then by this title of their forme that it is the desires of all the faithfull Ministers that seeke for the discipline reformatioÌ of the Church of England all those different froÌ these seeke a wrong discipline reformatioÌ are vnfaithfull Ministers call their own faithfulnesse seeking in question too But I verely thinke God forgiue me if I thinke amisse where this learned discourse is set foâth in the name of all the faithfull Ministers that desire seeke for the reformatioÌ of the Church of England if they would declare their names who they bee and that they were asked their voyces by scrutinie or might deliuer the same as fréely as they their selues would wish our scrutators wheÌ they had nuÌbred al their voyces would returne vs a fayre Non placet If they would not rather many of them euen openly disclayme their coÌsent for their parts professe that this forme is none of their forme nor they desire nor seeke for many of these straunge and daungerous matters that in this learned discourse are prescribed Yea whosoeuer were the writers hereof in the names of all the faithfull Ministers me thinketh they began euen here somewhat to sâagger and dare not in playne wordes for a round conclusion say this forme is plat and playne set downe and prescribed or commaunded in the word of God and that they are throughly so perswaded No they haue yet more grace than so they pronounce their words more warylie saying it is agreeable to the word of God Howbeit they deale not well in this cunning coÌueyance of their words that vnder the quarter sayle of agreeable will so compasse the winde till they set vp full sayle and thrust it vpon vs not onely as agreeable but as flatly commaunded and prescribed For if it prescribe not but beâ onely agreeable as here they say then are not we of any such necessitie bound thereto but that wee may keepe this forme of Ecclesiasticall gouernment that is alreadie established well enough except our Bretheren can proue it to bee disagreeable Yea so disagreeable that it be repugnant to the word of God which as yet they haue not withall their heauing and shouing bene able to doe And yet if they could prooue it to bee disagreeable this inforceth no necessitie of their forme no though we should also admit that it were agreeable to the word of God which neither yet haue they bene able to doe withall their éeching and wringing of Gods word to prooue it But for all this they say they are able to prooue that their forme of reformation here set forth is consenting with the example of the Primitiue Church Indéede they sayd not so much before for the agreeablenes of this forme to the worde of God that they were able to proue it but onely that they were throughly perswaded it is agreeable But for all their perswasion we haue thankes be to God plainly seene it proued that it is much disagreable froÌ the word of God euen in euery of the persons of their Tetrarchie and in many other great and important poynts and not onely disagreeable but contrary But now when they come from the word of GOD to the Primitiue Church where they begin to take vppon them somewhat more boldly that they are able to proue what now are they able to proue any rule commaundement or prescription of this forme No. But say they we are able to proue it to be consenting with the example of the Primitiue Church What doe they passe cleane ouer all rule commaundement and prescription as a matter that they dare not so much as touch or looke after but leape at the first choppe into example Or doth euery example in the Primitiue Church make a prescription or is equiualent with a rule or commaundement or if it doe not how doth it binde vs especially vnderstanding the example of the Primitiue Church so as here they doe in a seperate sence from that that is conteyned in the Scripture for so I take it that they ment the scripture only wheÌ they spake before of the word of God and that now by yâ example of the Primitiue Church they meane the tyme immediatly succéeding that time that is expressed in the word of God And yet though they did coÌprehend in the name of the Primitiue Church the tyme also expressed in the word of God or any example in the word of God they should hardly vrge a rule or prescriptioÌ of some one exaÌple if they haue nothing els but only some such exaÌple for it Wel might an exaÌple be brought for an instance of the practise of some one poynt or matter set foorth in this forme but what would that serue for any exaÌple of all the poynts matters that they haue set forth in this forme Can they prooue a general practise of all these or of any one âoint vpon which they haue discoursed that the exaÌple thereof was vsed vniuersally and in continuall practise in the Primitiue Church Understand the Primitiue Church how they please they haue not yet shewed vs any such example No in very deede not any one example that is aunswerable to this their prescribed forme Yes say they wee are able to proue this forme to be consenting to the example of the Primitiue Church Consenting what meane they by that So they told vs before of being agreeable to the word of God and doe they now tell vs of consenting to the example of the Primitiue Church Why doe they now begin so sparingly to mince their termes and as it were by ounces thus warily to way their words in the ending of this their learned discourse
l. 1. than 830 l. 6 are not 831 l. 13â is 836 l. 22 dele the heaâing 839 l. 5 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 840 l. 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 841 l. 1 1. Tim. 4.844 l. 9 some gouernement in the church seperated both from others and from this sole 85 1 l. 46 neither 855 l. 42 vnpreaching 856 l. 8. perusall 876 l. 28 proportion ib. margi Theophilact 787 l. 9 life 883 l. 13 the. 914 l. 13 Epistle 922 l. 37 yee 923 l. 40 of elders 924 l. 26 them 938 l. 21 driueth 942 marg ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 943 l. 36 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 962 l. 21 driue vs. 972 l. 3 chosen counsels 975 l. 3 dele for 993 l. 13 whosoeuer 994 l. 6 is 996 l. 37 assessors 1002 l. 35 they 1003 l. 8 Sari 1007 l. 28 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1029 l. 4 that 1037 lâ 35 any thing 1044 l. 19 is 1048 l. 5 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1052 l. 10 meere 1057 l. 4 confute 1062 l. 24 and him 10â3 l. 42 disputed 1114 l. 33 to be 1116 l. 27 or shee 1120 l. 17 communion 1138 l. 32 them 1144 l. 2 discourses and. 1152 l. â all alike 1164 l. 1 seate l. 14 came l. 32 confirme 1176 l. 26 as 1182 l. 25 then no. 1295 l. 14 distractions 1198 l. 28 dele worthie 1204 l. 13. humor 1209 l. 36 to 1216. l. 9 still 1236 l. 4 seuerelie 1243 l. 12 is 1244 l. 6 which 1251 l. 37 crie 1254 l. 21 dele pro. 1255 marg proiudiciall 1256 l. 22 without 1261 l. 3 reference 1266 l. 2 no. 1287 l. 13 Seigniorie 1317 l. 28 the. ib. l. 39 40 Lord Bishop 1325 l. 3 reference 1348 l. 2 they â350 l. 41 seate 1357 l. 2â God 1361 l. 16 be 1365 l. 9 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1366 marg artic ib. marg reference These lines following are to be referred vnto the endes of their seuerall pages as they are here quoted thus as they ministred before by preaching vnto his beautie which hath there for the time bin vnworthilie defiled here committed the churches consent yet that the regiment is a consent of them is doubtfully Gal. 5. â 1. Pet. 5.8.9 Psal. 133. Prou. 6.16 Ioh. 54.27 Ioh. 15.11.12 Ioh. 16.33 Gal. 4.15 Math. 12.28 1. Esd. 3.35 Phil. 4.5 Eccl. 4.28 Rom. 12.18 Phil. 1.9 10 11. The Preface 1. Pet. 1.9.10 Lamen 1.2.3 4. Ioel. 2. Bridges Our BrethereÌs abusing of the spirit of God and of the Propheâs lamâtations S. Peters Testimony wrested The acknowledgement of our sins and Gods wrathe The fault in our selues not in our Lawes and Orders The True Causes of our ioye mourning 1 Iohn 2. The causes of our brethrens mourning Preface Bridges Her Mâ his most ho. counsell wrongfully challenged Her Maiest reigne not tempestuous Her Maieââ comfort to the ministery Her Maiest her moste hon counsels zeale care wrongfully burdened of our brethreÌ for not driuing out of the Cananits c. How farre christians are charged with that coÌmandement Difference of the opeÌ couert obstiuare and weake papists Her Ma. her moste hon counsels zeale care in planâing pruning and hedging of the L. vineyarde Our bretherens restraining the authority of her Maiesty VVhom our brethren meane by Cananits Foxes The impediments of endâng this ciuill warre The raisers of this ciuill warre The Preface Nehem. 4.2.3.4 Nehem. 4.7 Neh. 6.5.6 Neh. 10.11.12 Ioel. 19. Amos. 8.11.12.13 Bridges VVhom our brethren cal Cananits foxes How these termes redounde on themselues The peaceable and reasonable way that our brethren deuise of reconcilement The regiment cannot be christian and happie wheral the godly learned and faithfull ministers sâffer affliction Our brethreÌ graunt the church of Eng. regiment to be christian happie Our brethrâ causers of their ownâ afflictionâ The afflictions whereof our brethreÌ complaine Our Bretherens vnbrotherly sclauÌders Our bretherâns and our building Our bretherens nearer imitation of those Hammonits c. Who are lyker to vnder miners RevYlinge The displacinge of our Bretheren Our Brethârens Learning godlines The Priestes mouâning The famine prophesied of Amos. 8 11.12 13 How we are rather glutted then famâshed with Gâds word Our bretherens contentions make the worde the searser Preface The way that our brethreÌ seâke of reconcilement The inconuenience of publishing bookes without authority The thinges that our brethren seeke for haue no necessity of truth out of the Scripâures No good pâobability of truth out of the scriptures Preface Bridges How farre forth they yeeld autority to her Maiesty The learning godlinesse moderation of the debaters If the debaters shoulde be moderat men then should our brethren vse more moderation in their tearmes not be so peremptory in their dealing The debating of the questions the allowing of them The manner of the debating Who shal be the determiner Preface Act. 15.7 1. Cor. 14.13 32. 1. âor 2.4 Bridges The naked triall of the matter Our brethreÌs desire to conferre by waye of prophesying Lordlie carriyng awaye the matter Preface 1. Cor. 14.33 Act. 14.16 Bridges Bitternes to be left off Charging of men dead and aliue Mouing affections The alleaging of the late and ancient writers Preface Bridges Our bretherens presupposal of our obiections The 1. obiection of coÌparison betweene the Archb. B. our bretheren ComparisoÌ of age and youth CoÌparison of learning CoÌparison of authority The 2. obiection of our bretherens chalenge to be not vnlike the papists chalenge The 3. obiection of preiudice to the estate of gouernement established Bridges Our brethrens answer to these three obiections The ambiguitie of this answer The quieting of all The remoouing of the plagues Our brethrens bold and humble request vpoÌ their knees Preface Ioh. 32.7.8 Ioh. 32.21.22 2. Chron. 30.1.5.23 ver Act. 15.23 Gal. 1.1 Act. 11. â 2.3.4 c. Doctor Whitegiftes book p. 389. Bridges Our bretherens aunswere to the first obiect in yeelding for yeares learning Their exception of the reuelation of Gods spirit Our Replie Our bretherens examples Ezâchias The Apostles and Elders Act. 15. S. Paul Gal. 1. â Ezechias dealing with the priests and Leuites The exaÌple of Hezechias and the Leuites coÌ futeth our brethren The example also of the apostles and elders Act. 15. is cleane against theÌ Our bretherens gifts in interpreting the scriptures not denied Though diuerse doctors in learning excelled yet in gouernmeÌt they were inferiour Our bretherens haling of the Archbishops wordes Our bretherens intricat speeches Our bretherenâ refusall to subscribe to the Arch. aâticles The articles 1. Article of the supremacy the 2. article of the communion booke The 3. Arti. of the book of articles Ano. 1562 The inconueniences of refusing to subscribe to the âse âseââ articles The cleargâes subscription in K. Ed. time How dangerous our brethrens pretence is of straining conscience Preface Bridges ComparisoÌ of number for fewnesse or multitud Our bretherens exceptions from our nuÌber Of ignoraÌt
ministers Of subscribers with limitation Of Dissembâeâs Of secret lamenters of their open subscribing The practise of Arius the Priscillianistes Preface Bridges Our bretherens aunswere to the 2. later ob vnder shewe of pârspicuity is very intricate Our bretherens distinction of matter and manner Our Bretherens our agreemeÌt in the SubstaÌce of Religion Our difference concerning gouernment Oâr bretherens vrging thâ alteration of The state Our Brethrens preteÌce of remooving Ignonoraunce Poperie Rebellion VVhether this alteration would not be occasioÌ of more ignortnce in the ministery The feare of more breeding Pop. by this alteration This alteration more inclinable to sedition Our bretherens aunswer for the manner VVho call the matter to the manner of a tumultuous reasoning we or they The ornaments of wit memory and vtterance The manner of reasoning that our brethreÌ set downe The moste part of these matters haue beene already decided by this maÌner Whether our brethreÌ would staÌâe to this manner What is heere assigned to her Ma. their honours The communicating thereof to the people These matters alreadiâ determined ratified All that was graunted to her Ma. and their H. was but onelie for maÌners sake and resolues to nothing The momeÌt of the gouernment pretended Our bretherens desires preiudicial to her Maiesties chiefest authoritie Preface Bridges Our bretherenâ 3. obiection not satisfied of preiudice to the state eâtablished Our bretherens confident opinion of recouering fauour and exercise of their ministerie How our brethren became ministers Our bretherens offer to be tyed to haue speciall regard to the peace of the church and publike orders The epiloge of the preface exhorting to praier for these thinges The title of our bretherens booke Page 1. The vaunt of learning in the discourse The proofe by the word of God The learned discourse Page 1. 1. Tim. â 15 The definition of the Church 2. Tim. 3.17 Bridges Three principles or propositions whereon all this learned discourse is grounded First that the Church is Gods house 1. Tim. 3.17 The Church the piller of âhe truth 2. that all things shold be directed by the housholders prescribed order Howe farre this rule holdeth Hebr. 8.5 Hebr. 9.11 Hebr. 3.1 The captious setting downe of the 2. principle The 3. principle That the scripture teacheth all the Churches gouernment The caption of this third principle The forme of common prayer by our bretheren prescribed Agreable to Gods worde though not prescribed The learned discourse Page 2. What ministers are apointed in the church Bridges The issue of these three principles Our bretherens foundââion and the fouÌdation that â Cor. 13.11 It sufficeth not to build on Christ but also to take heede howe we bâild on him Diligence and reuerence in searching the scriptures Vrging of things read in the scripture as necessarie to saluatâoÌ that are not necessarie Our bretherens to hard a censure of tâe greatest paâte of Christes church Our bretheren heerin are of Harrisons opinion against âartwright The learned discourse Page 2. Ephâs 4.11 1. Cor. 12.28 Bridges Thâ gifââ offices meÌtâoneâ Ephes. 4.11 Pastor and teacher The Apostles neither words nor scope set downe a perpetuall forme of externall gouernement in thâ church 1. Cor. 12.28 Gouernors Neither in this place the example sets downe any perpetuall order of the churches externall gouernment The examples scoâe The learned discourse Page 2. and 3. Bridges The confusednesâe of our bretherens wordâ The distribution of offices in regions cities and townes for orders sake and for verie necessitie Paule and Barnabasses ordeâning elders Titus limited to the region of Creta Titus office and authoritie in his limited region The giftes c. what office the elders had that Titus ordeined The proofe in Titus of Episcopall and Archiepiscopall iurisdictioÌ The learned discourse Page 3. Bridges The diuerse giftes mentioned in these places The leaâned discourse Page 3.4 5 6 Matt. 28.19 Mark 16.25 Acts. 1.25 Acts. 1â ââ Acts. 13.2 Acts. 8.5 Act. 8.14 Act. 21.8 â Tim. â 5 Bridges What gifts and offices were temporall what perpetuall Moe ordinarie gifts then our brethren mention The giftâ of rulinâ The learned discourse Page 7. 8 VVhat offices remainâ in the church Bridges Our Bretherens Terrarchie of 4. Persons their dissent from those our other Bretheren which make à Pentarchy of 5. or a Tritarchie of 3. A greater Mysterye in contending for this Cater-gouernment of these 4. cornered Persons then the contention was before against the 4. cornerd caps The necessitie that they make of this Tetrarchie Mens following the deuises of their owne braine No warrant of this Tetrarchie in Gods word Tetrarchy The exercise of the primitiue church The bringing in of all kinde of fals doctrin The beginning of the mysterie of iniquitie The pure Church When Gods ordinance was changed Archb. B. âboue all these Teârarkes Archb. The office of Archb. B. the readiest way to represse Antichrists pride and tyranny The breach of the Arch. and B. offices authorities was the readiest way to Antichristes pride and tyrannie The Archb. office a better stop against antichrist then thâse Tetrarkes The euil officers not the office of Archb. B. brought in false doctrine The state of the refor Churches The Tetrarchy commended The restoring Eccl. gouernmeÌt in the reformed Churches The bewtiful state of our neighbours refoâmed Churches The state of the ref Churches Our bretheâens defacing of our estate The state of the Primitiue churches governement not restored Resoning the office of gouernours Arch. Bi. not to bee displaced by restoring the state of the Primit church VVho deface the bewty of the reformed Churches The state of our neighbors No reformed Churches but in some points of gouer diffâr one froÌ another Differences eueÌ in their booke of common prayer Our neighbours experience no necessary paterne to vs. The demur of this question Emulation of our neighbours state Our owne âstâte Our vnthaÌkfulnesse for our estate The harde-state of our neighbours Churches The defacing of our state Oâr bretherens disordered speeâhes of our disordered state Tâe vpbraiding of our labors Our coÌforte of our labours The cause of our labours hinderance The Christian prince repelled What would indeede make the state disordered Our bretherens conclusion cleane excludeth the Prince and geueth the directioÌ of al Eccl. matters to their 4. Tetrarckâ The Christian prince excluded The learned discourse Page 8. Bridges The obiection why the treatise of the Christian princes supremacy is not first coÌsidered Our bretheren foresaââ the obiect in their Preface The Christian prince repelled The tardie comming of this obiection The CaptioÌ of these wordes Eccles goverâement The Princes supr gouernmeÌt The Papists selaunder of her Ma. The princes supreame gouernmeÌt ouer al Ecc. persons in al Ecclesi matters VVhat belongeth to the Eccl. persons and what to the Prince Good reasoÌ that al Protestants should think that the Princes supremacie should bee first treated on Christian princes haue a supreame authority in
breth Ezechiels sentence abused and the whole cleargie learned and vnlearned slaÌdered Reading Ministers Zacharies sentence wrested against the Ministers of the Gospell though not preachers The learned Dis. Pag. 47. 1. Pet. 18. Bridges What our breth mean by reading Ministers Homelies The learned disc Pag. 48. Bridges The learned discourse Pag. 48. Bridges Homelies Our breth derogation from Hom. though godlie and learned What can our bre saie worse to the derogation of godlie learned Homilies The smaller power maâe yet helpe somwhat ãâã want of thâ greateâ The force of godly learned Homilies to the godly disposed The learned disc Pag. 48. 49. Bridges Experience How far we allowe of Homilies The learned discourse pag. 49. Bridges The learned discourse Pag. 49. 50. Mat 15.14 Bridges The Iewes vsed a prescript forme of praiers written Sermons The true vse of Homilies Caluine on Zacharie chap. 11.15 The scriptur wrested is not the scripture which in his true sense is gods holy word The vse and abuse of the sacrifices The abuse in reading prayers and homilies letteth not but that there is a good vse of them Blind guidâ Politike shiftes The learned disc pag. 50. 51. Mat. 5.13 Bridges Our forme of prayers homilies no politike shift to maintaine vnlearned Pastors The learned disc Pag. 51.52.53 The Pastors priuate dutie Act. 20.8.19 20. Act. 20.26 Act. 20.31 Bridges The Pastorâ priuate duty The learned disc pag. 53. Vnable Ministers Bridges Our Breth impugne one and we defende another What Ministers we defende how faââe foorth The exercise of our Ministârs The learned disc Pag. 54. Learned meÌ and maintenance Bridges Two necessities lacke of liuing lack of learned men For the time to supplye these necessities is contrary to that they saide before Our Breth protestation Prouisions for maintenance The learned disc Pag. 54. Bridges A threefold prouision This restoring requireth a longer time thaÌ is here set downe What our Breth meân by the sacrilege of Abbyes Abbies sacrilege The taking away their landes and goods was no sacrilege The Abbye landes and goâeds can not be well restored Restoring Abbye landes If they mean the lands goods âhat the Abbyes got sacrilegrously they can not be restored The 2. prouision by deuiding of superfluities What places haue superââuities Deuiding superfluities The true vse of aboundance 2. Cor. 8.14 The maÌnerâ quarreled at for the Manors what placeâ they meane haue too much These speeches ieopardous to the whole state The thirde Prouision The third prouision The learned Dis. Pag. 54.55.56 Remedy for learned Pastors Bridges The first âemedy of âncouragement Ouerseeing Studentes The seconde remedie of ouerseeing Students to doe their duties Why they restraine the ouerseer to the vniuersities Newe Doctors The third meanes by thrusting out c. Vnprofitaheads of Colleges This prouision already prouided for Expulsion The 4. means generall Bees better than waspes in hiues Vnprofitable heads of Colledges The prouision alreadie prouided Young Doctors 1. Tim. 3. â The too much boldnes and ouer feruency of yong schollers The way to all bolde licentiousnes ignorance innouations Prayer The sixt mâanâs compulsion How farre foorth this already is in practise The last meanes prayer Math. 9. Prayer is best meanes The learned Dis. Pag. 56. Bridges A soule defamation of the churches estate Our brethrens conâradiction and absurdities in this slaunder Our brethrens too great vnthankfulnesse Dispensation for a time For whose cause our breth raise this slander The maniâest inconueniences that our breth runne into by these deuises Our breth allowance of tolleration for a ââne ImaginatioÌ Whether our breth can dispense for a time with things contrarie to Gods commandment The learned Dis. Pag. 56. Bridges What our brethren woulde haue vs before-hand to imagine Whie wee dare not hazzard on this imagination Our incouragement in Gods blessing againât all theâe temptations Presum tuous offer The learned Dis. Pag. 56. 57. Act 20.26.27 Bridges The will grant of god Her Mâiesties gouernment commended Our breth teâtation to God and disobedience to her Maiestie What our bâeth grant in words and deny in facts Our breth coÌtradictioÌâ of her Mâiesties gouernment Her Maiesties gouernment defamed Our breth aduenterous pâoâise for the time of furnishing learned âaâors A bolde promise Our breth restraânt of their promise and exââptions What our breth wâl do if these thinges cannot be granted Our breth mourning How vnseemly these passions are for so learned discourses Our breth threate of Gods wratâ Bretherensch eate Our confesion coÌfort How we are all too negligent How our breth wee shuld thinke of these thinges and one of another Our breâh greât defalt heerein Our hope conscience Our brâth oueâbold âdding to gods word To whome pertayneth the ministration of the Sacra The learned disc pag. 58. 59. Rom. 4.11 Mat. 28.19 Luc. 22 19. Heb. 3.4 Ephes 4.11 To whome pertaineth the ministration of the Sacraments By our brethrens owne conclusion the Doct. may minister the Sacraments of consequence exhort and applie The Doct. are Pastors It perteyneth to him to deliuer the seale which deliuereth the writing but the Doct. deliuer the writing ergo The ministration of the Sacraments The learned disc Pag. 59. 60. Math. 28.19 Mark 16.15 Luc. 22.19 1 Cor. 11.26 Bridges How the forme of miâistring the Sacraments prescribed is not altogether destitute of preaching Sacr. ministred by no Preacher No distinction in the bapâizer of teaching preaching Teaching or preaching not alwaies done at the time of baptizing The preaching the baptizing not alwaieâ by the selfe same person Baptising without preaching Paul a gâeat while at Corinth where many were baptized yet not by him Caluines plaine confession that many vnder Paule being ministers of the worde baptized that were not preachers Baptizing without preaching The baptising of 3000 Actes 2. The baptizing of the Samaritans Actes 8. The baptizing of Cornelius and his houshold Act. 10 Baptizing A daÌgerous impossible position of our brethren These speeches sauour to strongly of the Anabaptistes argumentâ By these positioÌs our baptizme our brethrens is called in question Thechildren are not to be debarred for the ministers in ability of preaching The ministration of the supper may be truly administred though not by a preacher The Lordes Supper The obseruation of Christes Institution Whether Christ himself preached a sermon at the very time of the first institution of the sacrament The celebrating of the paschall laÌbâ had no preaching thogh teaching at it The sop giuento Iudas was not the sacramental bread The true administration of the Lordes supper Musculus in 1. Cor. 11. Caluine in 1. Cor. 11. Howe we should preach Christe at the Communion Bullingerus in 1. Cor. 11. Musculus in 1. Cor. 11. The right godly manner of our administration of the sacrament Our homilies and exhortations at the ministration of the L. supper What our Breth mean by ability to teach and to
for the Salike Lawe Cenalis arg for the Salike Law against womens regiment Caenalis shamefull wresting of the scripture Caenalis wresting of Ierome The iniurie that Caenalis offereth to all Christians The Etimology of the Salike law Vne salle Auâa Si aliquâ Sal. The scripture fowly wrested Col. 4. Marke 9. The words of the Salikel awe The text of scripture that Caenalis citeth expresseth both sons and daughters 2. Par. 13. The salt that Christ and the Apostle spake of is genârall to all Christians By these resemblances the salike lawe sâould not be against women The words of the salâk lawe The law Salike against Gods lawe The law Salike against the law of God Numb 27. VVomen in the publ asseÌbly pleade for their inheritance This lawe not only iudiciall but naturall This lawe stretcheth to the inheritance of the kingdome Christ king of the âewes froÌ his mother Caluini Harmon in Nuâ 27. Gods decree should suffice to ouâârule all reasons that occurre The law was a perpetuall and generall rule Gods lawe of ignoraÌce Caluines restraint doutfull The debarre of a general and perpetuall rule a wicked thing Sisters comprehended in the name of brothers The lawe of mariage in their tribes restrayned to the Iewes Iudicials Booâ had Alimelechs inheritance by Ruth Burgundie Caenalis coÌfutes himselfe The custom of Burgundie Burgundie descendeth to a womaÌ The Merouingians and Carolins lines The line of the Merouingians by the woman The line of the Carolins by the woman No sure footing in the Princes of Burgundies line but by the woman The occasioÌ of making the Salike lowe Io. Methensis manuscript Edwarde 3. right Burgundie The right of Burgundie deuolues not to the French king but to Maximilian by his wife * Ebroicensi The law Salike not regarded wheÌ it made not for them The Carolins from the womâ Inheritances comming by the right of women Hugh Caperes descent by the woman The Capetians from the womaÌ Caenalis Lib. 1. periche fol. 66. Colloss 3. Gen. 3. 1. Cor. 11. Monarchy How the French vse the Salike lawe Lazius de migrationibus gentium A Monarchy may admit a woman gouernour Monarch respecteth not the sexe A woman superior in some respectes How the maÌ is the womans head and how thâ woman may be the mans head The example of Debora The offer made to Hester of halfe the kingdome was a lawfull offer Mary Martha Ladies of Bethanie The Ladie Lois 1. Iohn Chiefe gouernor in moe then one Caenalis Bridges Caenalis Bridges Caenalis Bridges Caenalis Bridges Almost all Christendome acknowledgeth a womaÌ right of regiment Other Signiories Caenalis Bridges Caenalis graunt in others segnioties for womens gou Caenalis Bridges The imbecilitie of a maÌ childe or weakenes Caenalis Bridges Caenalis The gift of healing Bridges Caenalis The gift of healing the Squynâcy Bridges Caenalis Bridges The secrete sympathy antipathy of nature Monarchy Caenalis Bridges Many Monarchies where the Salike Lawe holdeth not Caenalis Bridges Caenalis Principaliây Bridges Caenalis Bridges The Apocryphall scripture wrested Caenalis Bridges Caenalis Bridges Caenalis Bridges The deriuation of the name womaÌ The rarenes takââh not away the right Guardianship Fortitude in a womaÌ Caenalis A child vnder tutors and yet a Monarke Bridges Infirmity no debarre to right Caenalis Bridges A Womans ability to beare the charge Many greater Monarchies then Fraunce French Monarchy Caenalis Bridges The comparison of the Sonne and the Moone to the man and the woman is not against womens gouernment The reasoÌâ of this treatise How vnhappilie the Salike law sotted the French Danaeus arguments The causes of the larger discussing this point of womens gouernment Danaeus on 1. Tim. 2.12 fol. 84. Bridges Danaeus examples of womens gouernment Semiramis Qâeene of Assyria and Chaldea Candace Queene of Aeâhiopia Caluine oâ Act. 8.27 Plinius lib. 6. natural hist. ca. 29. Candace The Queen of Saba gouerned a mightie troupe of men The Scripture familiar to the Aethiopians Womens gouernmeÌt a thing acstomable The Scriptures approbation of CaÌdaces gouernment Danaeus Cleopatra Zenobia Rhea and Isis Didorus Siculus Minerua Palladian woman Dido Panaeus Zenobia The Christian Churches obedient to the gouernment of Zenobia Womens gouerning The examples of many notable Queenes Their Paganisme hindered their authoritie Salomons line Danaeus in 1. Tim. 2. ver 12. Bridges The state of gods people among the Israelites Iewes Debora A woman iudge Athalia God continuing the issue male or destroying male and female The house Ieroboam cleane rooted out The like destruction of the issue of Omri saue Athalia The issue of the kings of Iuda slaine saue Ioas. Athaliaes âsorpation Athalias ââling in her husbands sons daies Ioas. WomeÌs gouernment euen vnder kings amoÌg the Iewes Athaliaes massacre The lawe of God Deut. 17. Salomons line The prophesie of Iacob The promise to Dauid 1. Chro. 17.4 A great mistaking of the note of Geneua traÌslation 1. Chro. 3.5 VVomens gouerning Flacius Illiricus coniectures out of Philo that Ioas was but legall âon to Ochozias Chitraeus proues out of Scripture to the contrarie Salomons line No likelihood that Ozias was of Nathanâ line Athalia thogh an vsurper yet she raigned 6 yeeres K. Richard 3 The state depends not on the peoples willingnesse The RomaÌs came worse to the kingdom thaÌ Athalia and with more grudging of the people Athalia Caluine in 1. Cor. 13. Peter Matt. in 2. Par. 11. fol. 279. The approbation of Ioiadas executing Athalia The Queen of Sabea Pet. Mart. in 1. Reg. 10. fol. 79. This Queen one of the elected This Queen did acknowledge the true God The Queen of Sabaea The religiousnesse of this Queene The coÌmendation of this Queens coÌming to Salomon No let could staie thie Q. iourney The mysterie of this Queenes comming Christs commendation of this Q. Her questions to SolomoÌ about âtârnall life anâ ciuil gouernmeât The Q. a Mirror to al Christian Princes How Solomon did esteeme of this Queen Was hee of Caluines and Caenalis iudgement A great confirmation of a womaÌs supreme gouernment Iesus Christ approoues her state as Queene What excellânt high speeches Prophecies she publikly vttereth Peter Mart. What this Q teacheth God âhad people ouer whome shee was Queen The lawfulnes of Womens gouernment ouer Gods âc Alexandra Alexandra Amazones Danaeus Bridges The curse of God in ill gouernors Childish effiminate Princes Gods curse Caluine in Esai 3. What personâ the Prophet vnderstandeth by Children Women Though women children be in this curse literally vnderstood yet it still coÌfirms the lawfulnes of their state Rom. 13. Danaeus The curse turned into a blessing Bridges Women childrens gouernmeÌt lawfull Childrens gouernmeÌt Salomon a childe Iosias a childe Azaria a childe Manasses a childe The gouernment of women as lawful as the gouârnment of men Danaeus Bridges Her Maiesties happie reigne How much we are bouÌd to glorifie God for her Maiestie to loue her obey her lawes Our Brethr. disobedieÌce not like the Papistes Strangers
Whether our bretheren theÌselues satisfie the godlie meaning of the statute The Statute Anno 13. The godlie meaning of the statute flââ against our Bretherens discourse How our Bretheren ouerthrow their own ministery How our Bretheren are in daunger of losing their lyuinges by the godlie statute Our bretheren impugning the booke of articles Our brethereÌs aduised impugning the articles and maintaining doctrine contrarie thereunto The 34 article of the traditioÌs of the church The 35. article of homilies The 36. article of consecrating of Bishops ministers Two pastors in euery congregation How directlie our bretherens learned disc is against these articles The learned disc pag. 130 131. Bridges Two Pastors at least in euerie congregation One Doctor also at least in euery congregation The Number of the gouernors and Deacons not determined At whose charges all theâe must be maintayned The factions arising by 2 equall pastors A new disposing of all the parishes in England New disposing of parishes The learned disc pag. 131. Bridges Our Bretheren hauing all thinges at their pleaâure Abuses creeping in after our bretheren haue all thinges at their pleasure Grounds of Gods word Difference of the order grounded vpon gods word and abuses rising of mans corruption What grouÌdes of Gods word our bretheren alleage The pastors members of the synod The learned disc pag. 132. Bridges What the pastors haue as members of the synod The reformation of the corruptions in Poperie Reteyning corruptions How we reteine anyething that hath bin corrupted The learned disc pag. 132 â33 and 134. Particular Synods Bridges Corruptions of paâticuler Synods Ordinarie fees of officers The endes of liuings offices and fees The fault of the officer and not of the office Our Brethrens pitie on the poore ministers Our Brethrens mockerie Faultes in Officers Extorting money for âeâing letters of Orders The dutie of lawefull fees in Registers c. Our bretheren loth to shewe their letters of orders Buying of Bookes For dinners such like matters Selling buying of bookes The presentâeââs not âeformed PresentmeÌââ The presentment no more hearde of Reformation of faultes The Summoner caryinge forth the citations and excoÌmuications The presentment hearde of Bribes not preuayling General coâââââions Absolution not for money The learned disc pag. 123.125.136 137. Choosing of Clearkes of the conuocation house Act. 15. 2. Cor. 4. Bridges Our generall conuocations Our Brethrens contumelious speaches of Chauncelors Lawyââs Chauncelors and Lawyers Chauncelors or Lawyers in our conuocationâ Whether our Chauncelors or Lawyers in conuocations be more lay vnlearned in diuitie then our bretherens gouernors our brethenâ obiecting to chauncelors Lawyers The Bishops seuerall place that thâ ãâã learned ãâã ninitie Chauncelors Lawyers beare not the greatest sway in our conuocations The Bishops seuerall place in the conuocation Seuerall place The Apostles example Act. 15.6 The Apostles were seuerall by themselues and yet ioyned with the Pastors and the multitude The Bishops higher in thoritie The decrees arâ of the whole synod not of the Bishops ââlie Speaking in the conuocation How euery oÌe of the house may speake in the conuocation None excluded the house for not subscribing to the Bishops dâcree Subscribing to the articles Whether the booke of articles conteyne any errouâ Our Brethrens owne acquittaunce for the truth of our religion The distinctioÌ of the Canonicall and Apocryphall booâes The booke of articles not erroneus The names number of the Canonicaâl bookes The numbeâ and namâs of the Apocâyphall bookes in the old testâment The canonicall scripture In what words this grosse error should lye The bookes that were neuer doubted of Some of the canonicall doubted of The apocrpha Our Brethrens to quicke censure Ieronimus in prefarioneÌ in libros Salamo The eâââmatioÌ of the âpocâphall bookes In ãâã confesâion ãâ¦ã 1 de scâiptura pag. 10. Aât 6. ãâ¦ã Aphoris â The 1. 2. booke of Esdras Hieronimi pâsatio in 1. Esdras ãâ¦ã Our Brethrens 2. challeng of of the booke of articles for grosse and palpable errours The 17. article of predestination electioÌ Election Nothing in this article of Predestination and Election but sounde doctrine The 16 article of sinne after Baptisme Departing from grace How we may depart from grace Diuerse graces of the holy ghost may bee geuen to those that are not elected How the elected may depart or fall ârom grace The state and coÌfidence of the elected Our Brethrens sclaunder of the Bishops for diuers grosse palpable errours The articles with proues The learned disc pag. 136. Bridges Article 6. The articles briefelie set down without their proues testimonies Articles not erronious Satisfying the ignoraunt How any in the conuocation house may be heard How our bretheren ofâeâed to be satisfied Satisfiing our Bretheren Confuting the Bishops How âarâe of our bretheâen are from those partes wherewith they burden the bishops The state of our brethrens new pastorship The true pastors description Our Brethrens accusation of our Bishops Our Brethrens commendatioÌ of themselues Defacing our Bishops Learning Longe studie Our Bishops accusation Sound iudgment The best example Determining in Synods Determining Ecclesiasticall matters The Pastors determining How our bretheren deale in synods with their owne gouernors Our Brethrenâ wordes returned home Preiuaâceââ the synod Whether our Bishops or these Pastors do more preiudice the synod Our brethrenâ conclusion The whole ministrie The learned disc pag. 137. Bridges The whole ecclesiasticall ministerie and all the duties and authorities pertayning The diuersities of our Bretherens discââries The reâders dutie in these controuersies The treatise of the princes authorithie Our Brethrens entrie into the treatise of the Princes authoritie Our Brethrens dealing with Christian princes in these matters The learned disc pag. 138. Gods soueraigne Empire Bridges The title of the Princeâ supremacie The vnderstanding of the title of supremacie Our Brethr. exception of Gods soueraigne Empire Gods Empire entire Gods empire kept whole by the Princes supremacie Our Brethr. graunt of the Prince to be highest ouer the persons The Eccl. Gouernors How farre our Brethr. graunt the Princes supremacie ouer their Eccl. gouernors Supremacy ouer all persons Our Brethr. reseruation of the Princes supremacie in the matters The learned disc pa. 138. 139 Bridges The Clergies temporalties The Christian Princes supremacie farre different from the Popes The blasphemous chalenge of the Pope ãâ¦ã and these Tetrarkes yoake The Clergies holding their temporalties of the Prince Our Brethr. gouernors incroching on the Prince Euery prince ought to cast off the yoake of the Popes and of these new tetrarks subiection The learned disc pa. 139. 140 The Princes supremacie in Eccl matters Bridges The Princes authoritie for Eccl. matters Our Brethr. speeches against Princes dealing in eccl matters How our Brethren incârre the lâke dealing that they repâchende in the Pope for nâiâsing Princes and the Clââgie The Pastors supremacie in Eccl. matters Our Brethr. owne sayings rightly returned on themselues These Gouernors Pastors not in Script
colleague with Paule whome wee neuer read to haue exercised the office of teaching Yea who alwaies him-selfe holding his peace yeelded the partes of speaking to Paule I answere he had manie occasions inowe of speaking offered him in Paules absence that there was businesse inough for them bothe for one could not be alwaies present in all places There is no doubt but that hee faithfullie went about the parts that God commaunded nor was a dombe looker on Neither is there any cause that we should maruell whie the Sermons that he made are not in plaine wordes expressed of Luke sithe that hee scarse reciteth the thousand Sermon of those that Paule made Thus saithe Caluine Whereby it appeareth that as Paules Doctorship and Apostleship was all one bothe before and after the difference being onelie this commission of dooing the same thing in common to the Gentiles the which also was foretold before bothe to Ananias that baptised him and to himselfe in his traunce at Ierusalem as he declared after in his Sermon Act. 22.21 But héere it was enioyned vnto him And being a Doctor before he was héere made the Doctor of the Gentiles euen so his manner of teaching and executing this doctors office was euer one and the same manner that is to saye euer ioining exhortation admonition consolation rebukeing or some kinde or other application to his doctrine And this appeareth euen in the selfe-same 13. chapter verse 14. c. But when saithe Luke they departed from Perga they came to Antiochia of Pisidia and went into the Synagog on the Sabaoth daye and sate downe and after the Lecture of the Lawe and of the Prophets the rulers of the Synagog sent vnto them saying yee men and Bretheren if yee haue anye worde of exhortation for the people saye on Heere saithe Caluine is no mention made of praiers which notwithstanding it is certeine were not omitted nor neglected But bicause Lukes purpose was to rehearse the Sermon that Paule made there it is no maruell if hee onelie mention those things that apperteine to the order of teaching But this is a notable place out of which wee learne what was the manner of treating on doctrine among the Iewes in that age The firste place was giuen to the lawe and the Prophets For it was not lawefull to propound any thing vnto the Churche which was not drawne out of that founteine Heerevpon also we gather that the Scripture was not suppressed among a few but all were indifferentlie admitted to the reading thereof After this they that excelled in the grace of teaching and exhorting had the second partes as interpreters of the Scripture that was read Notwithstanding last of all Luke dooth shewe that all were not permitted to speake least of that licence confusion should spring But the office of exhorting was committed vnto certeine men whome he calleth the princes of the Synagog or the Maisters Paule therefore and Barnabas doo not by and by shooue themselues foorth to speake least they should disturbe with too muche haste the accustomed order but they modestlie expect vntill leaue bee giuen them for to speake and that by the permission of those vnto whome the authoritie thereof by publike consent belonged Wee knowe howe corrupte the state of that people at that time was and Luke at length in the end of the chapter will declare how these Antiochians in refusing the grace of Christe were more then proud froward And yet notwithstanding this goodnesse remained among them that their assemblies were ordered comelie and honestlie c. Which saying of his is woorthie to bee the more considered for that diuerse of these our Bretheren doo make an argument of proportion for the offices and orders of the Churche vnder Christe correspondent to the offices and orders of the Iewes Synagogs vnder Moises That for their sacrificing Priests wee haue Pastors for their Leuites Doctors of the Lawe we haue teachers doctors of the Gospell for theyr rulers of the Synagogs wee haue Gouernours for their Leuiticall lookers to the treasurie wee haue Deacons for theyr presbyterie wee haue Elders c Which enumeration and proportion though it be very disordered and confused and the argument thereon more weake and faultie yet to make the best of it that mought bee it appeareth if wee goe no further then this place that these Iewes obseruing their ordinarie custome were not acquainted with suche a kinde of Doctors as vsed no applying nor exhorting in their teaching but suche as styll ioyned these togither For what did they else meane in this demaunde If yee haue anye worde of exhortation But that they tooke it to bee the office of a Teacher to vse to the people the worde of exhortation with the worde of Doctrine But perhaps they did this of ignorance of their owne orders and had not béene acquainted with suche Doctors But what-so-euer they thought or conceaued or demanded aright or amisse héerein let vs sée as we began Caluins iudgement Dooth hee mislike it No This speeche saithe hee dooth betoken that whatsoeuer grace is in men to edifie the Churche it is as it were pawned vnto them Although the particle in if there bee in you anye worde of consolation according to the Hebrewe phrase maye bee superfluous and therefore I vrge not stiffelye that matter Because the sense maye bee plaine if you haue anye exhortation that is apte and profitable to the people howbeit exhortation excludes not Doctrine But this name seemeth to come of the common vse that was receaued among them For properlie the office of a Doctor is not to bring foorth anye newe thing of his owne sense but the Scripture wherein all the wisedome of the godlie is comprehended and to make it fitte vnto the presente vse of the people By this meanes they do not so muche teache as they applie the doctrine taken from another matter vnto the edification of the Churche Which I suppose to be noted by the worde exhorting What can be spoken of the office of a Doctor more plaine then this And howe plaine withall this iudgement of Caluine bothe for the Doctors of the Iewes and the Doctors of the Christians is cleane contrarie to these Discoursers distinguishing and limitting of a Doctors office from a Pastors by exhorting and applying I referre me not onelie to anye Doctors but to any godlie Christian readers iudgement be he neuer so simple yea almost be he neuer so much affectionate And with-all let the Reader marke the Geneua note héereân This declareth the Scripture is giuen to teache and exhorte vs and that they refused none that had giftes to set foorth Gods glorie and to edifie his people Belike then they regarded not the nice distinguishing of the persons office but onelie respected these ends in him Gods glorie and their edifiyng To which endes they required not bare teaching but teaching and exhorting wherevnto they thought the Scripture to be giuen them But whatsoeuer they
thought did S. Paule satisfie their demaund being now appointed to become the Doctor or Teacher of the Gentiles as hâ calleth himselfe 1. Tim. 2.7 And would he ioyne exhortation to his teaching Yea the verie first words of his Sermon are an Exhortation to them to giue him audience verse 16. And although he procéede from thâ 16. verse vntill the 26. verse all in doctrine yet hee entereth againe into application and vseth not onelie a moste graue exhortation anâ reprehension but returning to matter of doctrine knits vp all his Sermon with an application and a dreadfull admonition to the dispisers of his doctrine And the next day againe both Paule and Barnabas as they begin with persuasion so afterwarde reprehending the obstinate Iewes and comforting the beléeuing Gentiles they conclude with Doctrine And this order to ioyne and enterlace these things togither was alwaies the manner of Saint Paules teaching being the Doctor and Teacher of the Gentiles And this manner of teaching he constantlie obserueth in all his Epistleâ and willeth other Teachers so to doo For charging Timothie to giue attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine 1. Tim. 4.13 And willing him to teach and exhorte 1. Tim. 6.2 And bidding him to ordeine Teachers dooth he limite it onlie vnto doctrine No. But saith he 2. Tim. 2. What things thou haste heard of me by manye witnesses commend the same to faithfull men which shall be able also to teache others And what was that All and only doctrine No. But doctrine intermingled with exhortation admonition reprehension consolation perswasion or still some kinde or other application These thinges saith he admonish c. ver 14. and 15. studie to shew thy selfe an approoued workeman before God and one not to be ashamed of cutting a-right the word of truthe 24. Moreouer the seruant of the Lorde must not striue but be gentle towardes all men apt to teach suffring the euill men patiently instructing them with meekenesse that are contrarie minded proouing if at any time God will giue them repentance that they may knowe the truthe Lo here the dutie and office of a Teacher And doth he not herein most plainly insinuate that he should teach them so that with exhortation perswasion application and all gentle meanes he should assay to winne them and doth not this Doctor of the Gentiles to this purpose set out himselfe an example heereof 2. Tim. 3. ver 10. saying But thou hast fully knowen my doctrine maner of liuing purpose faith long suffring loue patience c. 14. but continue thou in the thinges which thou hast learned and art perswaded thereof knowing of whom thou hast learned them and that thou hast knowen the holy scriptures of a childe which are able to make thee wise vnto saluation through the faith which is in Christ Iesus For the whole scripture is giuen by inspiration and is profitable to teach to improue to correct and to instruct in righteousnes that the man of God may be absolute beeing made perfecte vnto all good workes cap. 4. I charge thee therefore before GOD and before the Lorde Iesus Christe which shall iudge the quicke and the dead at his appearing and in his kingdome preach the worde be instant in season and out of season improoue rebuke exhort with all long suffring and doctrine Hetherto alwayes wish teaching doctrine Paule ioyneth exhortation and willeth Timothie to ioyne application of these thinges with doctrine and the like he doeth to Titus Tit. 1.9 Holding-fast the faithfull worde according to doctrine that he may bee able to exhort with wholsome doctrine and improue them that say against it If nowe it be replyed that here he speaketh of a Bishop and Paul was an Apostle and Timothie and Titus Bishops not onely the text maketh them Teachers or Doctors but what office or degrée of the ministerie of the worde soeuer they had S. Paule doth alwayes so ioyne these together that Caluine on 2. Tim. 3.16 saith He setteth doctrine in the first place as in order it goeth before all other For hee should exhort or reprooue to nâ purpose except yee should teach before but because doctrine is colde by it selfe he addeth improouing and correcting c. and on 2. Tim. 4.2 he willes him to be instant in reprouing rebuking exhorting by which wordes hee signifieth that there is neede to driue vs on with manie proddes that we may proceéde in a straight course for if there were that docilitie in vs that ought to be the minister of Christ might drawe vs with his becke onely But nowe no not moderate exhortations I say not sounde counselles do suffice to shake off our sluggishnesse except a greater vehemencie of reprehensions and chydinges doe come thereto VVith all lenitie A very necessarie exception For reprouings euen with the very pushe of them doe fall away and vanish into smoulder except they be strengthned with doctrine For as well exhortations as reprehensions are helpes onely vnto doctrine And therefore without it they are of small force Example whereof are they which excell only in feruencie and eagernesse but they are not defenced with sounde doctrine for they stoutly tyre themselues they make loude cryes and make a turmoyle and that without profit because they build without a foundation I speake of good-men otherwise but too litle learned too much feruent And on Tit. 1.9 But what meaneth he by this according to doctrine To wit such an one as is profitable for the aedification of the Church For whatsoeuer is learned or knoweÌ without any fruite of godlinesse Paule is not woont to account it in the name of doctrine But rather he condemneth for vanitie all speculations that bring no profite although otherwise they be neuer so wittie So to the Rom. the 12. chap. 7. He that teacheth let him doe it in doctrine that is to say let him studie to profite his audience To conclude this is the first point that a Pastor must be furnished with the knowledge of doctrine but the second is that he must reteyne the confession thereof with a firme constancie of minde euen to the vttermost The third that he apply his maner of teaching in edifying nor flie about by subtleties of friuolous curiositie but al-onely seeke the sounde profite of the Church Thus doth Caluine not only in a Bishop Pastor or any Minister of the worde shew how these two Doctrine Application cannot coÌueniently be disioyned without the hindrance of edification doctrine is colde and mooues not men without these helpes and yet they helpe not without doctrine but also one of these very places which these our Learned Disc. and other of their minde do chiefly vrge for Doctors Rom. 12.7 Caluine speaking of Pastors applies it to them to their dutie And simply expoundeâ it thus he that teacheth let him do it in doctrine that is to say let him studie to profite his hearers As who say let him
euen in this sorte as I haue saide of Pastors not stande vpon méere speculation of doctrin which moueth coldly of it selfe by reason of the hearers dulnesse or hardnes but let him ioyne such application thereof vnto his doctrine as may best redound to their profite and aedification And now as this was Paules continuall teaching both by mouth writing and moouing all others to do the like euen the Doctor so well as thâ Pastor as appeareth in all his Epistles so Barnabas if the Epistle to the Hebr. be his not rather as it is coÌmonly accepted S. Paules though the argumeÌt stand most of doctrine aboue all the other epistles yet doth he stil among the greatest points of doctrine inserte application adioyne sundry singular exhortations admonitions repreheÌsions coÌsolations c. to his doctrin And the like doth Peter both in all his preachings recorded in the Acts of the Apostles in both his Epist. And Iohn Iames Iude Stephen Act. 7. c. For they all learned this order of Iesus Christe the chiefe Doctor and both their our M. of all our doctrine of all our teaching of it Who euer ioyned exhortation application c. to his doctrine And sent out both his 12. Apostles his 72. Disciples to kéepe the like maner of teaching and neuer taught or enioyned other to teach in other order Which is eueÌ as much as so to seuer the letter the spirit in seuering the doctrine froÌ al application of the same that the liuely and quickning sense thereof is damped neither only to say that a man may do so vpon occasion or in time place as some Doctors in the scholes in their lectures now then but to make a rule theron a seueral office of such Doctors that ordinarie perpetual distinct froÌ Pastors and that they must not exhort nor rebuke nor coÌfort nor apply but only teach without all these things and that such Doctors must be in euery congregation must so teach the common people who of all other are most moued by affections and that if the Doctor should perswade or apply he is an intruder into other mens functions a confounder and breaketh off the ordinance of Christ I do not only sée how this is not yet sufficiently prooued but that as me thinkes and I will speake it vnder correction of better proofe than is yet brought either in the Frutefull Sermon on 1. Cor. 12. or in the Counterpoyson or in this Learned discourse I take it not agréeable to the Apostles precept ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to cut a-right the worde of God nor fitte for the man of God which is his minister nor according to the effectuall woorking of his worde which is the power of God to saluation to all that beleeue it which is written to our consolation which is profitable to reach to improoue to correct to enstruct c. which is liuely and mightie in operation and sharper then anie two edged sworde and entereth through euen to the diuiding a-sunder of the soule and the spirite and of the ioyntes and of the marrawe and is a discerner of the thoughtes and ententes of the heart All which and all other principall vertues therâof are no lesse wrought by the apt and right application then by the true interpretation of the same And thus much for these examples of these Doctors teaching or rather neuer teaching without applying of their doctrine But softe wee haue yet an-other example that if all these will not proue it as on the contrarie they plaine confute it to sée if that will yet at length inferre it Likewise Apollos which was an eloquent man and mightie in the Scriptures first at Ephesus but afterwarde being more perfectly instructed in the way of God by Aquila and Priscilla in the Church of Aâhaia exercised the office of a Teacher with great profite of them which had beleeued and to the great confusion of the stiffe-necked Iewes while he prooued plainely by the Scripture that Iesus was the Christe Actes 18.28 Apollos was an eloquent man I graunt but can you my Learned Masters with all the eloquence and learning ye haue prooue this that Apollos did exercise the office of such a Teacher as you haue here described Which if ye could doe yet one swallowe would not make a spring But euen this example of Apollo maketh as much against you as the residue For Apollos being so eloquent and mightie in the Scriptures so seruent in the spirite and so diligent in his teaching as Luke testifieth do ye not sée how all these things do manifestly infer that he vsed applicatioÌ perswasion with his teaching He was excellently wel learned which he calleth mightie in the Scriptures which point more properly indéede doth appertain to doctrine and he was diligent also in his teaching which thing like-wise belongs to doctrine and yet was not he so mightie in the scriptures for all his diligence in his teaching but that he was God wât a verie meane and insufficient Teacher till hee was taught further euen by a poore meane learned handie-craftes man and his wife So that his Eloquence was more in perswasion then in doctrine and his feruencie of the spirite to mooue affections as much as his diligence in his teaching And what I beséech you were the matters he taught Were they not those thinges that are of the Lorde And is not life and manners and exhortation thereto dehortation from the contrarie pertayning also to the way of the Lorde But only the teaching of the articles of religion and the confutation of the contrarie And what was the doctrine that he onely knewe and taught Is it not here named Iohns Baptisme And did he not then administer the Sacrament that he taught Yea was not the Sacrament of Baptisme that Iohn vsed vnto repentance And did not Iohn in ministring it exhort and applie saying Repent ye for the kingdome of heauen is at hande Did he not applie when he pointed out Christ with his finger When he sent them to Christ that came to him Did hee not applie and exhort and rebuke euen in particuler almost all sorts of persons when they came to be baptised of him And doeth not the name of Iohns Baptisme comprehende all his ministerie And howe was Apollo then such a Doctor as is here imagined without all ministring of the sacramentes or preaching or exhorting or applying But nowe when Apollo was instructed more perfectly and was minded to goe into Achaia and the brethren exhorting him thereunto wrote to the Disciples to receaue him when he was come he helped them much who had beleeued through grace For mightilie he confuted publikely the Iewes with great vehemencie saith Luke shewing by the scriptures that Iesus was Christ. Now as though he did nothing there but onely teache and confute you leaue out these
wordes mightily and with great vehemencie and thrust in another of your owne plainely as though he had vsed nothing but plaine teaching Which wordes left out by you notwithstanding Beza doth especially obserue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã For with great contention I would vse this Periphrase to expresse the forceablenes of the Greeke word wherby is signified that this eloquent man stretched all his sinewes to ouercome the Iewes The vulgar and Erasmus call it vehemently that is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Moreouer a little after they doe not seeme sufficiently to haue expressed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they ouercame For the preposition ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã encreaseth the signification as in ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã throughly to endure ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an exquisite perfect knowing or doing of a thing and in such like And therefore I translated it he did more and more conuince them As who say he did more by his vehement eloquent and zelous exhortations and admonitions on the one side confirme and strengthen them that had before beléeued and were taught the principles and groundes of Religion by others then he did by teaching So that though he taught them also by the Scriptures that Iesus was Christ which is the foundation of our doctrine yet he did this greater help vnto them in confirming of them by application and exhortation in his teaching And euen so against the aduersaries he did mightily conuince them with the scriptures But this mightinesse this vehemencie and so exquisite conuincing of them could not be done without a singuler application and great reproouing of them And to this besides that Caluine doth agrée Gualter gathereth a general rule of this teaching of Apollos saying This example also doth admonish what manner of teaching ought to be retained in the Church First there is neede of zeale and feruencie of spirite that all men may perceaue the matter is handled euen from the heart For except this zeale be ioyned thereto the doctrine will serue but for ostentation Euen so that Christ did burne in zeale his studie of teaching which was neuer wearied and that feruent spirite in reforming the temple doe aboundantly declare Neither shall those luke-warme Doctors or Teachers be euer allowed of him when as Christ would haue no not so much as priuate men in the cause of religion to be luke-warme Looke Apocal. â And then it is necessarie that diligence be added both for the slownesse of our wit which receaueth not matters that are diuine and also for the corruption of our nature which alwayes is woont to striue against thâ commaundements of God To the which also commeth the wicked industrie of Sathan our common enemie whose suares to meete with by continuall industrie it behooueth the faithfull ministers day night And therefore Paule commaundeth Timothie whom he knew to be trayned vp in the studie of the Scripture from his childhoode to applie reading 1. Tim. 4. and the same Paule will afterwardes exhort with most graue argumentes the Pastors of the Ephesians to watchfulnesse and diligence Thirdly it behooueth the ministers to be endewed with a freenesse of speaking least they should dissemble any thing being deceaued either with feare or fauour Thus doth Gualter declare that this teaching of Apollos was not a peculier kinde of teaching in Doctors without applying and exhortation but such as was the office in common of all ministers and namely Pastors And vpon this that he profited the faithfull and conuinced the Iewes saieth Gualter Further this place admonisheth vs of manye thinges necessarie to be obserued For first we are taught that there is neede in the Church not onely of institution but also of confuting of the aduersaries for it cannot be that they should profite the Churches much that indeuour not with chiefe diligence to roote out false opinions as neither husbandrie can be fruitefull which suffereth shrubbes or vnfruitefull darnell to growe vp Ieremie therefore is bidden to plucke downe and roote vp then to builde and plant And Paule would haue a Bishop to be such as should be able also to conuince the gainesayers Tit. 1. but that that is spoken of false Doctors who must vtterly be confuted that also ought to be vnderstoode of those that are openly wicked liuers ad euill doers which are woont to be offensiue to the weaklinges For against these also the faithfull ministers with the sworde of the spirite ought to fight except they will lay open the Church to be spoyled of wolues Greatly therfore do they erre who at this day would haue the Gospell so to be preached that we should not withstande wicked doctrines and corrupt manners Besides we are admonished what weapons in the Church we muât fight withall to wit with the scriptures which Paule teacheth in an-other place to be inspired from God and to be profitable to teach to reproue to exhort and to rebuke 2. Tim. 3. Thus doeth this example of Apollos not serue for such a Doctor as may not doe the actions of a Pastor but may as well deale with life aâ doctrine and may as well applie exhort and rebuke as teach and confute And yet to the further consideration heereof let vs note euen the place it selfe the office of a teacher that ye say Apollo in Achaia exercised Which as it appeareth cap. 19.1 euen in the next wordes foâlowing to your own quotation and it came to passe âhile Apollo was at Corinthus conferred with this 18. chap. by you cited for Apollos teaching this Apollo succéeded Paule who had planted a Church to Christ before at Corinth after this saith Luke v. 1. c. Paule going from Athens came to Corinth so that Apollos was Paules successor in that place And euen by that terme doth Caluine call him ver 28. This is rightly to be attributed to the prouidence of God that while Paule is forced to go from Ephesuâ Apollo is sent in his place who might recoÌpence the losse of his absence And it is to purpose to note in what sort this mans beginning was sithe he was also Paules successor among the Corinthians and behaued himselfe so excellently and employed so faithfull and earnest trauaile that Paul commendeth him honorablie as his singular colleague or one sent in the same commission with him 1. Cor. 3.6 4.6 c. So then this Apollo succéeding Paule in place office by Paules exercise in the same place and office we shall sée Apolloes except Apollo did not his office or were inferiour in execution of the same where Paule preferreth him euen aboue himselfe in the point that we are now in hande withall And how did Paule teach at Corinth and at Ephesus in which places this Doctor Apollo did succeede this Doctor Paule He disputed saith Luke in the Synagogue euery Sabboth day and exhorted the Iewes and Graecians ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã therefore that is to perswade saith Caluine I take it for that that is by little