conferring Orders as is evident from St. Paul's Epistles directed to them and though there were many Presbyters in the Dioceses of Ephesus and Crete yet none had Authority to ordain Elders or Priests but only Timothy and Titus Linus by Apostolick Consecration succeeded the Apostles in the Chair of Rome Symeon governed the Church of Jerusalem or the Diocess of Palestine next after St. James Anianus succeeded St. Mark in the Church of Alexandria And this Succession was propagated with so much care and certainty that Irenaeus tells us He could name all the Successors of the Apostles in the several Apostolick Churches unto his dayes Habemus annumerare eos qui ab Apostolis instituti sunt Episcopi in Ecclesiis Successores eorum usque ad nos And this line of Apostolick Succession of Bishops hath continued through all Ages of the Church to our present times So that he who is out of this line of Apostolick Succession and exercises any Ministerial Office without the Commission of Episcopal Ordination is but a Lay-Impostor and a Schismatick from the Catholick Church And all other Societies of Christian people who totally withdraw themselves from the Government of their Bishops who are the Apostles Successors and from the Ministry of those Presbyters lawfully set over them by Episcopal Ordination and Institution and cast themselves into any other Model of Government are guilty of Schism This was the formal Notion of Schism in the sense of the antient Church Irenaeus Bishop of Lugdunum who convers'd with Polycarpus the Disciple of St. John may in reason be allowed to understand the Primitive and Apostolick Notion of Schism better than our Doctor at the distance of sixteen hundred years He in his Book Adversus Hereses exhorts the Christian World to hearken only to those Priests who were in the Communion of the Catholick Church and who those are he there describes Quapropter eis qui in Ecclesia sunt Presbyteris obaudire oported iis qui successionem habent ab Apostolis sicut ostendimus qui cum Episcopatus successione charisma veritatis certum secundum placitum Patris accepêrunt Reliquos vero qui absistunt à principali successione quocunque loco colliguntur suspectos habere vel quasi Haereticos malae sententiae vel quasi scindentes elatos sibi placentes aut rursus ut Hypocritas quaestus gratia vanae gloriae hoc operantes Qui autem scindunt separant unitatem Ecclesiae eandem quam Hieroboam poenam percipiunt à Deo Ignatius the second Bishop of Antioch in succession from St. Peter in his Epistles ad Trallianos ad Smyrnenses and in those to the Philippians Ephesians and Philadelphians frequently charges them to keep themselves in the unity and communion of the Christian Church by a regular obedience to the Bishops and by communication with the Priests who were set over them by the Authority of Episcopal Order and to disobey those Bishops and their Presbyters and to separate from them is in those Epistles charg'd with Schism Athanasius brands Ischyras for a Schismatick and justifies the charge from this reason that Ischyras did usurp a Ministerial Authority without a regular Ordination from the Bishops of the Catholick Church and gathered to himself a distinct Congregation separate from the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Alexandria in whose Province he lived St. Cyprian in his fortieth Epistle ad populum Carthaginensem de quinque Presbyteris Schismaticis exhorts them to have no communion with those who had divided themselves from their Bishops for he tells them in that Epistle That to be sine Episcopis was to be extra Ecclesiam And in his Book de Unitate he gives us this notion of Schism Contemptis Episcopis derelictis Dei Sacerdotibus constituere aliud Altare or Conventicula diversa constituere That it was Schism to contemn and forsake the Bishops and Priests of God and to set up another Altar or to settle distinct Conventicles And this he accounts so foul a crime that he tells us in the same discourse Talis etiamsi occisi in confessione fuerint Macula ista nec sanguine abluitur inexpiabilis gravis culpa discordiae nec passione purgatur That Martyrdom it self cannot expiate the guilt of Schisim And when Maximus Urbanus Sydonius and Macarius return'd from the Novatian faction into the communion of the Church they express it thus Episcopo nostro pacem fecimus they had reconcil'd themselves to the Bishop and this was enough to assure St. Cyprian they had renounc'd their Schism and were restor'd to the Churches communion I will end this with the assertion of St. Augustine Radix Christianae societatis per sedes Apostolorum successiones Episcoporum certâ per orbem propagatione diffunditur i. e. the root or foundation of unity or communion in the Christian Church is founded in the several Seats of the Apostles and diffused through the Christian World by the certain propagation or succession of Bishops Therefore in the judgement of St. Augustine all those persons or societies that have divided themselves from the Bishops and Priests of the Apostolick succession are but wild plants and no branches of the Catholick stock I could fill many Pages more with Testimonies of the same nature but such numerous Quotations would look like Pedantick impertinence and I doubt not but those Authorities I have already mentioned will perswade you to believe That a total separation from the Orders and Government of Bishops was constantly adjudg'd to be Schism by the concurrent sentiments of the antient Church And now Sir having examined these Testimonies I may proceed to sentence That seeing the Teachers of our Non-conforming Congregations in England were never regularly Ordain'd to any Ministerial Function by the hands of the Bishops deriving their Authority from Apostolick succession and seeing their Leaders and their blind Proselytes have wholly withdrawn themselves from the Conduct Government of Episcopal Authority I shall therefore adventure to pronounce them Schismaticks not only from the Church of England but from the whole Corporation of the Catholick Church Therefore that which the Doctor so Magisterially asserts at the end of his seventeenth Page is no Axiom of Divinity for I have already prov'd that a man may be Schismatick from the whole Catholick Church on earth without Heresie or Apostasie The premises being considered will furnish us with an Answer to that passionate Harangue pag. 21. Do we not own Christ his Gospel the same points of faith the same acts of Worship where is the Separation then This St. Augustine tells us was the same Plea of the Donatists and might have been urged by the Novatians and Schismatick Presbyters of Carthage but it would not acquit them from Schism nor will it vindicate our English Sectaries Corah and his confederate Mutineers were neither Hereticks nor Apostates but men of the same Creed with Moses and Aaron their crime was the violating
spoiling all the Trade of England But Sir I hope this dreadful Harangue will not fright you for all is but noise and canting for I dare assure you the Execution of the Law will no way hinder the advancement of the Gospel nor hazard one soul in England for Christianity will be soberly preach'd in England though all these men be silenc'd And besides I should think by the principles of Calvinism that the salvation of souls were more fix'd and fatal than to depend upon the silence or preaching of a few Non-conforming Ministers You know Sir the Decree of peremptory Election was dated long before that Reprobate Act of Uniformity and therefore there is no fear of losing one of the elect though these men be struck dumb and as for the Reprobates all the Oratory of Dr. O. and Mr. H. and the rest of those mighty men can never alter their sadder fate And therefore I think I may conclude from their own Divinity that there is no necessity laid upon them to preach the Gospel Mr. H. solemnly propounds this weighty Question Which will be most for the glory of God either for the Non-conforming Teachers to preach the Gospel to their meetings or to keep the Union of their Parish Churches To which Question there is a very easie Answer for no doubt the God of order is more glorified by Unity Peace and Obedience to our Governours than by disorder and confusion And therefore I shall conclude this by inverting the Argument They may live in the communion of the Church without the least hazard of their salvation and necessity is laid upon them to obey their Governours and wo be unto them if they preach the Gospel in Conventicles and by walking disorderly trouble the peace and order both of Church and State But there is one Plea more for this Schism or Separation call it which you please and that is cunningly insinuated in that famous definition of Schism by Mr. Hales cited pag. 17. Schism is an unnecessary separation from that part of the visible Church of which we once were members That their separation is unnecessary let the Doctor himself judge who pag. 9. tells us they differ from us only in the insignificant fringes and laces of Forms and Ceremonies Now I fancy it were a very unnecessary and undutiful thing for a Son to disown and desert his Mother only because the fringe and lace of her garment did not please his eye But the mysterie lyes in the last words of the distinction A separation from that part of the Church of which we once were members Now Sir there are vast numbers of persons in England who were never baptized by the Ministery of the Church of England or had any communion with her and then by the judgement of Mr. Hales cannot be charg'd with Schism or separation from her But this is already answer'd for I have prov'd that they are bound in duty to live in communion with those Bishops and Priests or that part of the Catholick Church under which they reside and if they never were in the communion of this Church they have been the longer in disorder and disobedience and that is a very ill method of excusing the crime By this Sophistry Schism can only be the sin of the first generation Novatus and his contemporaries that first departed from the communion of the Catholick Church were indeed Schismaticks but then those who were baptiz'd and educated by that faction were never in the communion of the Catholick Church and so by this argument were free from Schism and so downwards from generation to generation Now this looks like Magick for it teaches us an art how to split the Church into a thousand pieces and to continue this division for ever and yet in a little while there should be no dis-union for it is only the adventure of the first Authors to break off from the Catholick Church but then as many as they propagate to the end of the world are no Schismaticks because they never had any personal communion Now Sir having asserted that the Unity of the Catholick Church consists not only in the unity of faith but in a succession of Bishops and Priests and a regular obedience to their inspection and conduct give me leave to reflect and consider what direful conclusions our Adversaries may draw from this notion First This will be accused of too much kindness to the Church of Rome for they having continued their succession of Bishops from St. Peter this will acquit them from Schism and place them within the body of the Catholick Church I hope Sir it will not offend if we be as kind to the Pope as we are to the Devil and allow him his due No doubt the Church of Rome is in the communion of the Catholick Church but yet this is no argument for any to desert the Church of England and remove to that of Rome for our Apostolick Succession of Bishops is as authentick as theirs and our Doctrine more Pure Primitive and Catholick and therefore it is irrational for the Romish Church to accuse us of Schism for whatever they can justly plead for their Unity will equally establish ours with the Catholick Church I cannot better represent the present State of the Catholick Church than by an allusion to the Jewish Temple The Church of England we are able to prove is the purest part of the Catholick Church being most refined from error and superstition and therefore that may be resembled to the Sanctum Sanctorum The Greek Church though something defiled yet still preserving the Apostolick faith and succession of Patriarchs and Presbyters may be compar'd to the Middle Temple The Church of Rome like the Outward á Court is most profan'd with the Tables of the Money-changers and defil'd by abominable superstitions but yet though it be filthy it is a part of the building and within the Area of the Temple But for any to desert the Church of England to communicate with that of Rome is such a frantick humour as for a man to quit the neatest appartment and exchange for the most sluttish room in the same house Secondly That which will raise the greatest clamour is That by this notion I unchurch all the forreign Reform'd Churches who have no Bishops of the Catholick line to govern them and ordain their Ministers To this I answer That if any of the forreign Churches have continued a succession of Presbyters who can derive their Origination from Episcopal Ordination it something lessens their dis-union and gives them a remote alliance to the Catholick Church yet this is but private charity and will not justifie them from Schism by the Canons of the antient Church But if any of them have a Ministry which have no other Orders than their own Usurpation or popular Election I know not how to acquit them from being Schismaticks from the Catholick Church And why do not the States of Holland send their Professors from Leyden
that subordination which God had appointed and not submitting themselves to the Superiour Authority of the Priesthood And Sir it may be worth your observation that this Plea of the Doctor and that of the Hebrew Rebels have the same sense for just thus they plead Numb 16. 3. All the Congregation is holy every one of them that is in the Doctor 's phrase Do we not own Moses his Laws the same points of faith the same acts of Worship But this plausible plea would not prevail nor mitigate the provocation for God punished one Schism with another The earth rent and swallowed them up and with open mouth taught the rest of the Church to keep Unity and Order as well as the profession of a true Religion Therefore the Answer is very easie to the Doctor 's ruffling Question Do we not own Christ his Gospel the same points of faith the same acts of Worship where is the separation then Why Sir the separation is in dividing from the communion of all the Bishops and Episcopal Presbyters who in a constant line succeeding the Apostles have only a just and regular Authority to govern and guide the Christian Church The Doctor in the beginning of pag. 34. tells us That a controversie among them of the same communion is the chief if not the only notion of Schism that the Scripture gives us I confess the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Schism in its general notion signifies any manner of separation or division and therefore I do acknowledge that those dissentions that were within the bowels of the Apostolick and Catholick Church were called Schisms both in the Scripture and in the Writings of the antient Fathers but this does not hinder but that the same word may be used to signifie a separation from the Catholick Church for if a wound in the body may be called a Schism sure Amputation or the cutting off from the body is the greatest rent and Schism in the World For though there were indeed divisions in the Church of Corinth where some were for Paul and some for Apollos and some for Cephas this at the worst was but a faction or a breach of charity but it was not properly Schism in the highest sense of the word for they still setled themselves under the Government and Ministry of the Apostles or some Presbyters ordained by the hands of the Apostles But those Conventicles that crept into houses and formed Assemblies distinct from the communion of the Apostolick Church those that heaped to themselves Teachers which as the phrase imports were not set over them by Apostolick Order and Institution those that despised Dominion and sake evil of those Dignities which did superintend the Government of the Church These men St. Jude tell us were those that did separate themselves that is were Schismaticks and just so are their Brethren the Sectaries of England Before I proceed to the next enquiry that concerns the Schism from the Church of England it will be necessary to state the right notion of the Catholick Church according to the sense of the antient Councils and Fathers The Doctor and his Complices are for Comprehension and give us a very wide notion of the Catholick Church for they will have all men that profess the name of Christ though in some things Hereticks and Schismaticks too yet to be included within the boundaries of the Catholick Church But I observe the Antients would not endure this Comprehension for they reckoned none to be in the communion of the Catholick Church but those who confessed the common faith delivered to the Saints and kept themselves under the Orders and Government of the Bishops who were the Apostles Successors and therefore oft-times in Councils and antient Epistles we find this Superscription To the Catholick Church in Antioch To the Catholick Church of Alexandria To the Catholick Church of Rome c. this still being used in contradistinction from the Novatians Arrians and Donatists which the antient Church look'd upon as Schismaticks and extra Ecclesiam Now having advanc'd thus far the way is prepared for the second enquiry Whether our Non-conformists are guilty of Schism from the Church of England And I doubt not but to prove the Affirmative The Church of England adhere to that Creed which was delivered by the Apostles professed by the antient Primitive Church and confirm'd by the first four General Councils it hath preserv'd the Unity of Government by a succession of Bishops in the Apostolick line as appears from the undoubted Archives and Records of England Therefore we are secured that it is in the Unity of the Catholick Church and a most excellent part of it Now as our Christianity obliges us to be members of that body of Christ the Catholick Church So the eternal reasons of Peace and Order bind us to communicate with that part of the Catholick Church in which our lot hath plac'd us except it can manifestly appear that that part is so corrupted that we cannot communicate with it without evident hazard of our salvation It were an unpardonable disorder for a Native of England dwelling in London to contemn the Laws of our Prince and to govern himself by the Placaets of the United Provinces and it were as great a confusion for those who live within the Jurisdiction of the Church of England to submit themselves to the Orders and Government of Rome or Geneva Before the Papal Usurpation of Universal Monarchy the Patriarchs of the Christian Church had their distinct Limits and Jurisdictions The Patriarch of Constantinople had his peculiar Primacy or Regiment and was not to intermeddle with the Province of Alexandria and so the Bishop of Rome had his peculiar Jurisdiction and was allowed no inspection over Constantinople Antioch or Alexandria and these distinct boundaries were fixed by a Canon of the Council of Nice and because it conâ—utes both the Papal Supremacy and Puritanical Anarchy I will give you the copy of that Canon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Let the antient customs be in force Let the Bishop of Alexandria have the Jurisdiction of Aegypt Libya and Pentapolis as likewise the Bishop of Rome was accustomed to have in his Province and so let the Churches of Antioch and other Provinces keep their peculiar priviledges And so the Christians dwelling under these distinct Patriarchates were obliged to a respective obedience to their peculiar Provincial and to divide themselves from their proper Patriarch or Bishop was accounted Schism in the antient Church Timothy being constituted Bishop of all the Diocess of Ephesus the Christians residing within that Precinct were obliged by the rules of Order to submit themselves to his peculiar inspection and it had been Schism to have disobeyed him or separated themselves from his Jurisdiction St. Ambrose observed this decorum himself as he tells us by St. Augustin in an Epistle of his ad Januarium Cum Romae sum jejuno Sabbato cum hic sum non
Chrysostome in his Discourse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 highly magnifies the Office and Authority of a Priest for speaking of that order of men he tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That God hath invested the Priests with such Authority as he never conferred upon Angels or Arch-Angels For to which of the Angels did he say at any time What ever ye bind on Earth is bound in Heaven and whose sins ye Remit they are Remitted For as the Father gave Power to the Son to Remit sins so the Son of God hath committed the same Power to his Ministers on Earth I believe the Power of Absolution which was conferred upon the Christian Priesthood by the Commission of our Lord is not so large as the Pope would extend it nor yet so inconsiderable as the Puritan fancies it I believe our Saviour did not trifle when he granted that Charter to the Apostles but sure there is something in that Authority that is solemn and momentous and whatever it be I resolve to enjoy the benefit of it And therefore I declare that I would sooner travel from London to Larissa to communicate with the Greek Church where I might be assured of Priestly Authority than walk from Temple-Barr to Westminster to joyn with a Lay-Conventicle I know no Rule in the World that can rationally assure me of Ministerial Authority but a Sacerdotal succession from the Apostles As for the Pretension of Inspiration it is no more than Mahomet and Manes and every Impostor have pretended Their Argument from Gifts and Qualifications weighs nothing with me A Jew under the Mosaical Oeconomy might have hired an Hebrew Butcher who might have slain his Lamb or Goat and have dress'd it and laid it upon an Altar with as much art and exactness as the eldest Priest in the Temple but then it had been no Sacrifice nor have ever been accepted of God as a Legal Attonement no it was the Priests offering Sacrifice that made them Peace-offerings it was the Priests sprinkling the blood upon the Altar of the Lord and his burning the Fat that was an essential Requisite to render the Oblation a sweet savour unto the Lord. Angels and Arch-Angels are Wise Zealous and Holy Spirits but all their excellencies do not make them Priests though in another sense they are Ministring Spirits To conclude this since I can no way be rationally secured of my Relation to Christ or of my participation of all the advantages of Christianity but by a commâ—nion with the Catholick Church and its Ministerial Authority I do therefore assure you that I have a greater value for my communion with the Priests and the Temple than for that ador'd Diana of English Property And if any unhappy circumstance should ever put me upon the experiment I would desert this to enjoy the other Sir if ever the Christian World become wise and sober this very consideration would repair the Breaches of the Catholick Church and prove the final Ruine of Fanatick Conventicles Our Author passionately declaims against the Supremacy and Ambition of Bishops I confess Pride and Ambition are greatly inconsistent with the humble nature of Christianity and are strange indecencies in Spiritual Governours and I will never make an Apology for Vice and Disorder But this ought not to be urged as a Reason for the extirpation of Episcopacy Our Lord did not suspend nor degrade his Apostles because there was a strife among them who should be the greatest Nor would it be just or charitable to charge all Bishops with these evil imputations I observe one famous Instance of Humility in the Chair of Rome and that Sir you know is the most Principal Seat of Ambition Gregory Bishop of Rome who in the year of our Lord 596. sent Augustina into England to convert the Saxons in his Epistle to Eulogius Bishop of Alexandria disowns the ambitious Title of Universal Supremacy Indicare quoque vestra Beatitudo studuit jam se quibusdam non scribere superba vocabula que ex vanitatis radice prodierunt mihi loquitur dicens sicut jussistis Quod verbunt jussionis peto à meo Auditu removere quâ—â—scio quis sum qui estis Loco enim mihi Fratres estis moribus Patres non ergo jussi sed quae utilia visa sunt indicare curavi ecce in praefatione Epistolae quam ad me ipsum qui prohibui direxistis superbae Appellationes verbum Universalem me Papam dicentis imprimere curastis Quod peto dulcissima mihi fanctitas vestra ultra non faciat quia vobis subtrahitur quod alteri plus quam ratio exigit praebetur And we must not look upon this Modesty as the Poor spirited humour of this single Bishop for he assures us in the same Epistle that it was the constant humility of his Predecessors Recedant verba quae vanitatem inflant charitatem vulnerant quidem in Sancta Chalcedonensi Synodo atque post à subsequentibus Patribus hoc Decessoribus meis oblatum vestra sanctitas novit sed tamen nullus eorum uti hoc unquam vocabulo voluit But Sir our Author not only protests against the Ambition but the Authority of Bishops for he tells us They do but abuse themselves and others that would perswade us that Bishops by Christs institution have any Superiority over other men than that of Reverence He grants that there is a greater Reverence due to them than to other men but how this should become a duty without supposing a just superiority to exact it I cannot understand I will not here ingage in the Controversie about the Divine Right of Episcopacy But I am sure the Apostles had a Superiority over the Seventy Disciples by Christs Institution and I am certain that the Antient Catholick Church did esteem Bishops as the Apostles Successors The first we meet with in Ecclesiastical History that ever denyed the Superiority of Bishops was Aenius a discontented Arian and Epiphanius records him for a Heretick and brands his Opinion as a Diabolical Delusion Sir there remains nothing more considerable in our Author only the old Puritan Cavil against all Pomp and Gestures Garments and Musick in Publick Worship I confess I dislike the gaudy Pageantry and numerous Ceremonies of the Ordo Romanus and I as much abhorr the Rudeness of a Conventicle Sir I have neither mind nor leisure to examine the Scruples of nicer fancies but I will propound these Queries and reserve them for future consideration 1. Whether the Governours of the Catholick Church have not as much Authority to make Institutions in matters indifferent as the Apostles Whether the Womans Veil or the Holy Kiss were more Jure Divino than the Surplice or Sign of the Cross 2. Whether a Pompous Superstition in Publick Worship be not more pardonable than a Rude Forlorness Or whether a Sancy Rudeness will not sooner introduce Atheism than the most Glorious Superstition 3. Whether the awful Adorations of the Jews the Glory of the Tabernacle and the Temple the Ornaments of the Priests and the Musick were Leviticall or rather founded upon Moral Reasons 4. Whether a Publick Oratory or Church that is set apart for the more Solemn Worship of the Eternal God may not without Superstition be as Glorious and Magnificent as the Stadthouse in Holland except Imagery Whether a Respect to God will not as much justifie one as a Relation to the States will vindicate the other Sir Whenever you please to command I shall enquire for Resolution in the mean I rest Sir Your Affectionate Friend and Servant R. C. FINIS Lib. 3. adv Haer. cap. 3. Lib. 4. cap. 43. ☞ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epad Philadelph And exhorting to obey the Bishops and Priests he tells them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. Ep. ad Trall Epist 42. Pag. 34. Aug. Ep. 113. Tom. 1. p. 781. ad p. 802. Epiphan adv Haeres Tom. 2. p. 727. Pag. 30. Page 10. Sect. 12. Pag. 11. Pag. 3 4 5 6. Pag. 4. Page 2. Page 2. Page 2. Page 4. Sect. 5. Page 9. Page 2. Page 1. Epist 118. Page 3. Niceph. l. 8. c. 25. Lang. Int. 〈◊〉 Tom. 1. Lib. 10. Cap. 5. Sect. 1. Tom. 1. lib. 16. cap. 5. sect 5. What authority have we for Infant Baptism the Lords Day the dispensing the Eucharist to Women but the Authority and Practice of the Antients Lev. 17. 5 6.