St. Paul to the Corinthians and Two to them from St. Clement then Bishop of Rome which are preserv'd and handed down to us It was this same occasion of Schism which so early began to Corrupt the Church that led the Holy Ignatius who flourish'd in that same Age to press so Earnestly in all his Epistles to the several Churches to whom he wrote the Indispensable obligation of a strict Obedience to their Respective Bishops That the Laity shou'd submit themselves to the Presbyters and Deacons as to the Apostolical College under Christ and that the Presbyters and Deacons as well as the Laity shou'd Obey their Bishop as Christ Himself whose Person he did Represent That therefore whoever kept not Outward Communion with his Bishop did forfeit his Inward Communion with Christ That no Sacraments were Valid or Acceptable to God which were not celebrated in Communion with the Bishop That nothing in the Church shou'd be done nor any Marriage Contracted without the Bishop's Consent c. As you will see hereafter These clear Testimonies fore'd the Presbyterians because they were not in a Temper to be Convinc'd to deny these Epistles of St. Ignatius to be Genuine But they have been so fully Vindicated particularly by the most Learned Bishop of Chester Dr. Pearson as to silence that Cavil and leave no Pretence remaining against Episcopacy in that Primitive and Apostolical Age. SECT III. Objection from the Times of Popery in this Kingdom as if that did Un-Church and consequently break the Succession of our Bishops I must now Account for an Objection which with some seems a mighty one even enough to overthrow all that I have said concerning the Succession of our Bishops And that is the long Mid-night of Popery which has in old Time Darken'd these Nations Well The Succession of which I have been speaking was no Part of that Darkness and we have by God's Blessing recover'd our selves in a great Measure from that Darkness But that Darkness was such as with some to Destroy the Episcopal Succession because as they say such great Errors especially that of Idolatry does quite Un-church a People and consequently must break their Succession I. This by the way is a Popish Argument tho' they that now make it are not a ware of it For the Church of Rome argues thus That Idolatry does un-Un-church and therefore if she was Idolatrous for so long a time as we charge upon her it will follow that for so many Ages there was no Visible Church at least in these Western Parts of the World And Arianism which is Idolatry having broke in several times upon the Church if Idolatry did quite un-Un-church and Break the Succession ther wou'd not be a Christian Church hardly left in the World The Consequence of which wou'd be as fatal to the Church of Rome as to us Therefore let her look to that Position which she has advanced against us that Idolatry does Un-church II. But that it does not Un-church I have this to offer against those Papists Quakers and Others who make the Objection I. If it does quite Un-church then cou'd no Christian be an Idolater because by that he wou'd ipso facto cease to be a Member of the Christian Church But the Scripture does suppose that a Christian may be an Idolater Therefore Idolatry does not Un-church The Minor is prov'd 1 Cor. v. 11. If any Man that is called a Brother that is a Christian be a Fornicator or Covetous or an Idolater Nay Eph. v. 5. a covetous man is call'd an Idolater and Col. iii. 5. Covetousness is Idolatry So that by this Argument Covetousness does Un-church If it be said that Covetousness is call'd Idolatry only by Allusion but that it is not Formal Idolatry I know no Ground for that Distinction The Scripture calls it Idolatry and makes no Distinction But 2dly In the first Text quoted 1 Cor. v. 11. both Covetousness and Idolatry are Nam'd so that you have both Material and Formal or what other sort of Idolatry you please to fansie I grant that in one sense Idolatry does Un-church that is while we continue in it it renders us Obnoxious to the Wrath of God and forfeits our Title to the Promises which are made to the Church in the Gospel But so does Fornication Covetousness and every other Sin till we Repent and Return from it But none of these Sins do so Un-church us as to Exclude our Returning to the Fold by sincere Repentance or to need a second Baptism or Admission into the Church Neither does Idolatry Do I then put Idolatry upon the level with other common Sins No far from it Every Scab is not a Leprosie yet a Leper is a Man and may Recover his Health Idolatry is a fearful Leprosie but it does not therefore quite Un-church nor throw us out of the Covenant For if it did then wou'd not Repentance heal it because Repentance is a great Part of the Covenant And therefore since none deny Repentance to an Idolater it follows that he is not yet quite out of the Covenant Some of the Ancients have deny'd Repentance to Apostacy yet granted it to Idolatry which shews that they did not look upon Idolatry to be an absolute Apostacy for every Sin is an Apostacy in a Limited sense 2. Let us in this Disquisition follow the Example before mention'd of the Apostles and most Primitive Fathers to measure the Christian Church with its exact Type the Church under the Law which are not Two Churches but Two States of the same Church for it is the same Christian Church from the first Promise of Christ Gen. iii. 15. to the End of the World And therefore it is said Heb. iv 2. That the Gospel was Preached unto Them as well as unto Us. And these two States of the Church before and after Christ do Answer like a pair of Indentures to one another the one being to an Iota fulfilled in the other Matth. v. 18. Now we find frequent Lapses to Idolatry in the Church of the Jews Yet did not this Un-church them no nor deprive them of a competent measure of God's Holy Spirit as it is written Neh. ix 18 20. Yea when they had made them a molten calf and said this is thy God yet thou in thy manifold Mercies forsookest them not Thou gavest thy good spirit to instruct them c. And let it be here observ'd That tho' God sent many Prophets to Reprove the great Wickedness and Idolatry as well of their Priests as People yet none of these Holy Prophets did separate Communion from the Wicked Priests They wou'd not joyn in their Idolatrous Worship but in all other Parts they joyn'd with them and set up no opposit Priesthood to them So little did the Prophets think that their Idolatry had either Un-church'd them or broke the Succession of their Priests or that it was Lawful for any how Holy soever to usurp upon their Priesthood and supply the Deficiencies of it
they had justly Forfeited And these wicked Husband men who slew those whom the Lord sent for the Fruits of His Vineyard yet continu'd still to be the Husband-men of the Vineyard till their Lord did Dispossess them and gave their Vineyard unto others And natural Reason does enforce this If a Steward abuse his Trust and oppresses the Tenants yet are they still oblig'd to pay their Rent to him and his Discharges are sufficient to them against their Landlord till he shall Supersede such a Steward If a Captain wrong and cheat his Soldiers yet are they oblig'd to remain under his Command till the King who gave him his Commission or those to whom he has Committed such an Authority shall Cashier him And thus it is in the Sacerdotal Commission Abuses in it do not take it away till God or those to whom He has Committed such an Authority shall Suspend Deprive or Degrade as the Fact Requires such a Bishop or a Priest And there is this higher Consideration in the Sacerdotal Commission than in those of Civil Societies That it being immediately from God as none therefore can take this Honour to himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron so can none take it way but he that is as Expresly and Outwardly called thereunto as Aaron was to be a Priest For this wou'd be to Usurp upon God's immediate Prerogative which is to Constitute His own Priests Upon this Foundation I argue V. As the necessity of Government and the general Commands in Scripture of Obedience to Government do require our Submission to the Government in being where there is no Competition concerning the Titles or any that Claims a better Right than the Possessor So where a Church once Establish'd by God tho' suffering many Interruptions does continue Her Governors ought to be acknowledg'd where ther is no better Claim set up against them This was the Reason why our Saviour and His Apostles did without scruple acknowledge the High-Priest and Sanbedrin of the Jews in their time tho' from the days of the Maccabees ther had been great Irruptions and Breaches in the due Succession of their Priests and before Christ came and all His time the Romans as Conquerors dispos'd of the Priesthood as they pleas'd and made it Annual and Arbitrary which God had appointed Hereditary and Unmovable But ther was then no Competition The Jews did submit to it because they were under the subjection of the Romans and cou'd have no other No High-Priest claimed against him in Possession but all submitted to him And our Saviour did confirm His Authority and of the Sanhedrin or Inferior Priests with him Matth. xxiii 2. saying the Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses's seat All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and de And St. Paul own'd the Authority of the High-Priest Act. xxiii 5. Many Objections might have been rais'd against the Deduction of their Succession from Moses But ther being none who claim'd any better Right than they had therefore their Right was Uncontroverted and by our Saviour's Authority was Confirm'd Now suppose some Interruptions had been in the Succession or Corruptions in the Doctrine and Worship of our English Bishops in former Ages yet as in the Case of the Scribes and Pharisees that cou'd have no Effect to Invalidate their Commission and Authority at the present SECT IV. The Assurance and Consent in the Episcopal Communion beyond that of any other I. THE whole Christian World as it always has been so at this Present it is Episcopal except a few Dissenters who in less than Two Hundred years last past have arisen like a Wart upon the Face of the Western Church For little more Proportion do our Dissenters here the Hugonots in France the Presbyterians in Holland Geneva and thereabouts bear to the whole Body of the Latin Church which is all Episcopal But if you compare them with the Catholick Church all over the World which is all Episcopal they will not appear so big as a Mole II. If our Dissenters think it much that the Church of Rome shou'd be reckon'd in the List against them we will be content to leave them out Nay more if we shou'd give them all those Churches which own the Supremacy of Rome to be joyn'd with them as they are the nearest to them it will be so far from casting the Ballance on their side that the other Episcopal Churches will by far out-number them both Let us then to these Dissenters against Episcopacy add the Churches of Italy and Spain entire with the Popish Part of Germany France Poland and Hungary I think they have no more to reckon upon against these we produce the vast Empire of Russia which is greater in Extent than all these Popish Countries before nam'd England Scotland Denmark Sweden and all the Lutheran Churches in Germany which will out-number both the Papists and Presbyterians before-mention'd And this comparison is only made as to the Latin Church But then we have all the rest of the Christian World wholly on the Episcopal side against both the Supremacy of Rome and Parity of the Presbyterians The whole Greek Church the Armenians Georgians Mingrelians Jacobites the Christians of St. Thomas and St. John in the East-Indies and other Oriental Churches Then in Africa the Cophties in Egypt and great Empire of the Abyssins in Aethiopia These all are Episcopal and never own'd the Supremacy of Rome And over reckon out of sight all that disown Episcopacy and all that own the Supremacy of Rome with them III. Let me add that among our Dissenters every Class of them does Condemn all the rest the Presbyterian Damns the Quaker the Quaker Damns him Independent Baptist c. All Damn one another and Each denys the others Ordination or Call So that the Ordination of every one of them is disown'd by all the rest and all of them together by the whole Christian World And if their Ordinations are not Valid then they have no more Authority to administer the Sacraments than any other Lay-men and consequently ther can be no security in Receiving Baptism from any of them IV. What allowances God will make to those who think their Ordination to be good enough and that they are true Ministers of the Gospel and as such do receive the Sacraments from them I will not determine But they have no reason to expect the like allowances who are warned of it before-hand and will notwithstanding venture upon it before these Dissenters have fully and clearly acquit themselves of so Great and Universal a Charge laid against them such an one as must make the whole Christian World wrong if they be in the Right Not only the present Christian Churches but all the Ages of Christianity since Christ Of which the Dissenters are desir'd to produce any one in any Part of the World that were not Episcopal any one Constituted Church upon the Face of the Earth that was not Govern'd by Bishops distinct
Christ Page 35 II. That the whole Reformation even Calvin Beza and those of their Communion were zealous Asserters of Episcopacy Page 58 A DISCOURSE Shewing who they are that are now qualify'd to Administer BAPTISM and the LORD's SUPPER SECT I. The Necessity of an Outward Commission to the Ministers of the Gospel SOme Quakers having perus'd my Discourse of Baptism think the Quaker Arguments against it sufficiently Answered And they have but one Difficulty remaining that is who they are among the various Pretenders that are duly Qualify'd to Administer it And if satisfaction can be given to them herein they promise a perfect Compliance to that Holy Institution The Chief thing they seem to stand upon is the Personal Holyness of the Administrator thinking that the spiritual Effects of Baptism cannot be convey'd by the means of an Unsanctify'd Instrument But yet they Confess that there is something else Necessary besides the Personal Holiness of the Administrator Otherwise they wou'd think themselves as much Qualify'd to Administer it as any others because I presume they suppose themselves to have as great a Measure of the Spirit as other Men. This Requisit which they want is that of Lawful Ordination But the Presbyterians Independents and Baptists do pretend to this Therefore their Title to it is to be Examin'd And that we may proceed the more clearly in this Matter with Respect still to that Difficulty upon which the Quakers lay the stress we will Inquire concerning those Qualifications which are Requisit in any Person that shall take upon him to Administer the Sacraments of Christ's Institution And These Qualifications are of two sorts Personal or Sacerdotal I. Personal The Holiness of the Administrator And though this is a great Qualification to Fit and Prepare a Man for such an Holy Administration yet this Alone does not sufficiently Qualifie any Man to take upon him such an Administration II. But there is moreover requir'd 2ly A Sacerdotal Qualification that is an Outward Commission to Authorize a Man to execute any Sacerdotal or Ministerial Act of Religion For This Honour no Man taketh unto himself but he that is called of God Heb. v. 4. as was Aaron so also Christ glorify'd not himself to be made an High-Priest But he that said unto him thou art my Son Thou art a Priest c. Accordingly we find that Christ did not take upon Him the Office of a Preacher till after that Outward Commission given to Him by a Voice from Heaven at His Baptism for it is written Matth. iv 17. From that time Jesus began to Preach Then He Began and He was then about Thirty Years of Age Luke iii. 23. Now no Man can doubt of Christ's Qualifications before that time as to Holiness Sufficiency and all Personal Endowments And if all these were not sufficient to Christ Himself without an Outward Commission what other Man can pretend to it upon the Account of any Personal Excellencies in Himself without an outward Commission III. And as Christ was outwardly Commissionated by His Father so did not He leave it to His Disciples every ones Opinion of his own sufficiency to thrust himself into the Vineyard but Chose Twelve Apostles by Name and after them Seventy others of an Inferior Order whom He sent to Preach IV. And as Christ gave outward Commissions while He was upon the Earth Act. xiv 23. so we find that His Apostles did Proceed in the same Method after His Ascension They ordained them Elders in every Church V. But had they who were thus Ordained by the Apostles Power to Ordain others Yes Tit. 1.5 1 Tim. v 22. For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest Ordain Elders in every City Lay hands suddenly on no Man c. St. Clement in his first Epistle to the Corinthians writing concerning the Schism which was then risen up amongst them says Parag. 44. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Apostles fore-knowing there wou'd be Contests concerning the Episcopal Name or Office did themselves appoint the Persons And not only so lest that might be said to be of force only during their time But that they afterwards established an Order how when those whom they had Ordained shou'd Die others fit and approved Men shou'd succeed them in their Ministry Par. 43. that they who were intrusted with this Work by God in Christ did Constitute these Officers But this Matter depends not upon the Testimony of him or many more that might be produced It is such a Publick Matter of Fact That I might as well go about to quote particular Authors to prove that there were Emperors in Rome as that the Ministers of the Church of Christ were Ordained to succeed one another and that they did so succeed SECT II. The Deduction of this Commission is continu'd in the Succession of Bishops and not of Presbyters BUT here is a Dispute whether this Succession was preserv'd in the Order of Bishops or Presbyters or whether both are not the same I. Answ 1. This is the Contest betwixt the Presbyterians and us But either way it operates against the Quakers who allow of no Succession deriv'd by outward Ordination II. Answ 2. But because the Design of this Discourse is to shew the Succession from the Apostles I answer that this Succession is preserv'd and deriv'd only in the Bishops As the continuance of any Society is deduc'd in the Succession of the Chief Governors of the Society not of the Inferior Officers Thus in Kingdoms we reckon by the Succession of the Kings not of Sheriffs or Constables and in Corporations by the Succession of the Mayors or other Chief Officers not of the Inferiour Bailiffs or Serjeants So the Succession of the Churches is Computed in the Succession of the Bishops who are the Chief Governours of the Churches and not of Presbyters who are but Inferiour Officers under the Bishops III. And in this the Matter of Fact is as Clear and Evident as the Succession of any Kings or Corporations in the World To begin with the Apostles we find not only that they Constituted Timothy Bishop of Ephesus and Titus of Crete as in the Subscriptions of St. Paul's Epistles to them But in Eusebius and other Ecclesiastical Historians you have the Bishops Nam'd who were Constituted by the Apostles themselves over the then famous Churches of Jerusalem Antioch Rome and Alexandria and many other Churches and the Succession of them down all along St. Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna was Disciple to St. John the Apostle and St. Irenaeus who was Disciple to St. Polycarp was Constituted Bishop of Lyons in France I mention this because it is so near us for in all other Churches throughout the whole World where ever Christianity was Planted Episcopacy was every where Establish'd without one Exception as is Evident from all their Records And so it was with us in England whither it is generally suppos'd and with very good Grounds that St. Paul first brought the
several Titles of Bishops Presbyterians Independents c. to the true Succession from the Apostles That it may thereby be known to which of all these they ought to go for Baptism This I have shewn in behalf of Episcopacy and put the Presbyterians to prove their Succession in the Form of Presbytery which they can never do Because as I have said before the Chronology of the Church does not Compute from the Succession of the Presbyters but only of the Bishops as being the Chief Governors of the Church And therefore tho' in many Bishopricks the Roll of their Bishops is preserv'd from the Apostles to this Day yet there is not one bare Presbyter that is the Minister of a Parish and no more no not in all the World who can give a Roll of his Predecessors in that Parish half way to the Apostles or near it For from the first Plantation of Christianity the Church was Divided into Bishopricks this was necessary for the Government of the Church But it was not so early Sub-divided into Parishes The Presbyters at first attending upon the Bishop were sent out by him to such Places and for such Time as he thought fit and Returning gave Account of their Stewardships or were Visited and Changed by him as he saw Cause And therefore tho' one might come after another in the Place where he had Ministred before yet they cou'd not Properly be said to Succeed one another as to speak Intelligibly to the Quakers many of them do Preach after G. Fox yet none of them are said to Succeed him I have been thus long upon the Presbyterians because they only of all our Dissenters have any Pretence to Succession And what I have said as to them must Operate more strongly against the later Independent Baptist c. who have not the Face to Pretend to Succession but set up merely upon their own pretended Gifts VIII But what are these Gifts which they so Highly Boast 1. An Inward and more than Ordinary Participation of the Graces of the Holy Spirit 2. A Fluency and Powerfulness in Preaching and Praying I know of no other Gifts that any of our Dissenters pretend to unless they will set up for Miracles as G. Fox c. And other Dissenters did likewise pretend to the same at their first setting out to amuse the People but as the Quakers have let it drop afterwards to stop any further Examination of it having already serv'd their Turn by it But as to these pretended Gifts if we may trust to our Saviour's Rule of knowing the Tree by its Fruits we cannot think it the Holy Spirit of which these Men did partake who fill'd these three Nations with Blood and Slaughter and whose Religion was never otherwise Introduc'd than by Rebellion in any Country whither-soever it has yet come And as to that Volubility of Tongue which they Boast as the main Proof of their Mission we have found it by Experience that a little Confidence and Custom will Improve very slender Judgments to great Readiness in that sort of Talent And the Powerfulness which is found in it by some who are affected with a Dismal Tone Wray Faces and Antick Gestures is not more but less if there be either Method or Sense in the Discourse Which shews their Passion to proceed not from Reason but Imagination The Scots Presbyterian-Eloquence affords us Monstrous Proofs of this but not so many as you may have from Eye and Ear-Witnesses Such Course Rude and Nasty Treatment of God as they call Devotion as in it self it is the highest Affront to The Divine Majesty so has it Contributed in a very great Measure to that wild Atheism which has always attended these sort of Inspirations It seeming to many more Reasonable to Worship no God at all than to set up one on purpose to Ridicule Him But this sort of Enthusiasm presumes upon a Familiarity with God which breeds Contempt and Despises the Sobriety of Religion as a low Dispensation I Recommend to the Reader that Excellent Sermon upon this Subject of Dr. Hicks call'd The Spirit of Enthusiasm Exorcis'd And I desire those to consider who are most taken with these seeming Extraordinary Gifts of Volubility and Nimbleness in Prayer that the most Wicked Men are capable of this Perfection none more than Oliver Cromwell especially when he was about some Nefarious Wickedness He continu'd most Fluently in this Exercise all the time that his Cut-throats were Murthering of his Royal Master And his Gift of Prayer was greatly Admir'd Major weir of Edinborough was another great Instance who was strangely Ador'd for his Gifts especially of Prayer by the Presbyterians in Scotland while at the same time he was wallowing in the most Unnatural and Monstrous Sins See his Stupendous Story in Ravillac Redivivus There are many Examples of this Nature which shew that this Gift is attainable by Art Dr. wilkins the Father of the Latitudinarians has given us the Receipt in his Gift of Prayer Yet none of the Performances of these Gifted-men are any ways Comparable as to the wonderful Readiness in which they Boast to the Extempore Verses of Westminster School which Isaac Vossius cou'd not believe to be Extempore till he gave the Boys a Theme which was senes bis Pueri and he had no sooner spoke the Words but he was immediately Pelted with Ingenious Epigrams from four or five Boys So that this Volubility in Prayer which is the Gift our Dissenters do most Glory in may be deduc'd from an Original far short of Divine Inspiration But suppose that they had really those wonderful Gifts which they pretend to yet were this no ground at all to Countenance or Warrant their makeing a Schism upon that Account This Case has been Rul'd in a Famous and most Remarkable Instance of it which God was pleas'd to permit for the future Instruction of His Church at the first setting out of the Gospel in the very Days of the Apostles Then it was that Christ having Ascended up on High gave many and miraculous Gists unto Men which was necessary towards the first Propagation of His Gospel in Opposition to all the Established Religions and Governments then in the World and under their Persecution But these Gifts of Miracles did not always secure the Possessors from Vanity and an high Opinion of themselves to the disparagement of others and even to break the Order and Peace of the Church by advancing themselves above their Superiors or thinking none Superior to themselves The Great Apostle of the Gentiles was not free'd from the Tentation of this whom the Messenger of Satan was sent to buffet least he shou'd be Exalted above measure thro' the Abundance of the Revelations which were given to him 2 Cor. xii 7. Nay more our Blessed Saviour tells of those who had miraculous Gifts bestow'd upon them and yet shou'd be finally Rejected Matth. vii 22 23. Therefore He Instructs His Disciples not to Rejoyce in those Miraculous Gifts which
to the People And apply to this what I have before shewn in the words of St. Clement whose Name is written in the Book of Life That the Evangelical Priesthood is as surely fixed in the Bishops of the Church and its Succession continu'd in those Ordain'd by them as the Levitical Priesthood was confirm'd by the Budding of Aaron's Rod and to be continu'd in that Tribe III. And here let our Korahites of several sizes take a view of the Heinousness of their Schism and let them not think their Crime to be nothing because they have been taught with their Nurses Milk to have the utmost abhorrence to the very Name of a Bishop tho' they cou'd not tell why Let them rather consider seriously the misfortune of their Education which shou'd make them Strangers to all the rest of the Christian World but themselves in a Corner and to all the former Ages of Christianity They have been told that Episcopacy is Popery because the Papists have Bishops So have they Presbyters too that is Parish Priests They have the Creed likewise and the Holy Scriptures and all these must be Popish if this be a good Argument But are they willing to be undeceived Then they must know that Episcopacy has none so great an Enemy as the Papacy which wou'd Engross the whole Episcopal Power into the single See of Rome by making all other Bishops absolutly dependent upon that which only they call the Apostolical Chair And no longer since than the Council of Trent the Pope endeavor'd with all his Interest to have Episcopacy except only that of the Bishop of Rome to be declar'd not to be Jure Divino By which no other Bishops cou'd claim any other Power but what they had from Him But that Council was not so quite Degenerated as to suffer this to pass And the Jesuits and Others who Disputed there on the Pope's part us'd those same Arguments against the Divine Right of Episcopacy which from them and the Popish Canonists and Schoolmen have been lick'd up by the Presbyterians and others of our Dissenters They are the same Arguments which are us'd by Pope and Presbyter against Episcopacy When the Pope cou'd not carry his Cause against Episcopacy in the Council of Trent he took another Method and that was to set up a vast Number of Presbyterian Priests that is the Regulars whom he Exempted from the Jurisdiction of their respective Bishops and fram'd them into a Method and Discipline of their own accountable only to Superiors of his and their own contriving which is exactly the Presbyterian Model These Usurpations upon the Episcopal Authority made the Famous Archbishop of Spalato quit his great Preferments in the Church of Rome and Travel into England in the Reign of King James I. to seek for a more Primitive and Independent Episcopacy Himself in his Consilium Profectionis gives these same Reasons for it And that this shameful Depression and Prostitution of Episcopacy in the Church of Rome was the cause of his leaving her He observ'd truly that the further we search upward in Antiquity there is still more to be found of the Episcopal and less of the Papal Eminency St. Ignatius is full in every line almost of the high Authority of the Bishop next and immediately under Christ as all the other Writers in those Primitive Times But there is a profound silence in them all of that Supremacy in the Bishop of Rome which is now claim'd over all the other Bishops of the Catholick Church Which cou'd not be if it had been then known in the World This had been a short and effectual Method whereby St. Paul or St. Clement might have quieted the great Schism of the Corinthians against which they both wrote in their Epistles to them to bid them refer their Differences to the Infallible Judge of Contreversy the Supreme Pastor at Rome But not a word like this Especially considering that St. Peter was one for whom some of these Corinthians strove 1 Cor. i. 12. against those who preferred others before Him The Usurp'd Supremacy of the later Bishops of Rome over their Fellow-Bishops has been as Fatal to Episcopacy as the Rebellion of our yet later Presbyters against their Respective Bishops And indeed whoever wou'd write the true History of Presbyterianism must begin at Rome and not at Geneva So very Groundless as well as Malicious is that popular Clamour of Episcopacy having any Relation to Popery They are so utterly Irreconcilable that it is impossible they can stand together For that moment that Episcopacy were Restor'd to its Primitive Independency the Papacy that is that Supremacy which does now distinguish it must ipso facto cease But enough of this for I must not digress into various Subjects I have shewn in Answer to the Objection of the Ages of Popery in this Kingdom that all those Errors even Idolatry it self does not Un-church nor break Succession And 2dly I have Exemplifi'd this from the Parallel of the Jewish Church under the Law Then applying of this to our Case I have vindicared Episcopacy from the Imputation of Popery I will now go on to further Reasons why the Succession of our present Bishops is not hurt by that Deluge of Popery which once cover'd the face of this Land IV. The end of all Government as well in the Church as State is to preserve Peace Unity and Order and this cannot be done if the Male-administration of the Officers in the Government did Vacat their Commission without its being Re-call'd by those who gave such Commission to them For then 1st Every Man must be Judge when such a Commission is Vacated and then no Man is bound to obey longer then he pleases 2dly One may say it is Vacated another not whence perpetual Contention must arise A Man may Forfeit his Commission that is do those things which give just Cause to his Superiors to take it from him But it is not actually Vacated till it be actually Recall'd by those who have lawful Power to take it from him Otherwise their cou'd be no Peace nor Certainty in the World either in Publick or in Private affairs No Family cou'd subsist No Man enjoy an Estate No Society whatever cou'd keep together And the Church being an Outward Society as shewn in the Discourse of Water Baptism must consequently subsist by those Laws which are indispensible to every Society Sect. iii. â— 1. And tho' Idolatry does justly Forfeit the Commission of any Church in this sense that God's Promises to Her being Conditional He may justly take her Commission from her and Remove her Candlestick Now tho' her Commission be thus Forfeitable yet it still Continues and is not actually Pacated till God shall please actually to Recall it or take it away For no Commission is Void till it be so Declar'd Thus tho' the Jews did often fall into Idolatry yet as before has been said God did bear long with them and did not Un-church them tho'
Ghost which was the reason why He sometimes refus'd to work Miracles among them because thereby they grew worse and worse and if the Preaching of the Gospel by the mouths of Apostles became the savour of Death to wicked and unprepar'd Hearts why may not the words of Truth have a good Effect upon honest and good Minds tho' spoken from the mouth of an Hypocrite or of Persons who in other things are greatly Deluded I have before mention'd the Wizard Major Weir who Bewitched the Presbyterians in Scotland since the Restoration 1660 as much as Simon Magâ—â—s did the Samaritans And yet I suppose the more moderate of the Quakers will not rashly give all over to Destruction who blindly followed him and admir'd his Gifts or will say but that some words of Truth he might drop might have a real good Effect upon some Well meaning tho' grosly Deluded People who followed him Two of Winder's Witches see The Snake in the Grass p. 300. 2d Edit were Preachers among the Quakers for Twenty years together and thought to be as Powerful and Affecting as any others VI. But the Argument will hold stronger against them as to the Sacraments than in the Office of Preaching because in Preaching much depends upon the Qualifications of the Person as to Invention Memory Judgment c. But in the Administration of an Outward Sacrament nothing is requir'd as of Necessity but the lawfulness of the Commission by which such a Person does Administer and a small measure of natural or acquir'd Parts is sufficient to the Administration Therefore let us lay no stress upon the Instrument more than was upon the Waters of Jordan to heal Naaman but trust wholly upon the Commission which conveys the Vertue from God and not from His Ministers That all the Glory may be to God and not to Man 'T is true the Personal Qualifications of the Instrument are Lovely and Desirable but they become a Snare where we expect any part of the Success from them This was the ground of the Corinthian Schism 1 Cor. i. 11. and tho' unseen of ours at this Day VII And the consequences of it are of manifold and fatal Destruction 1. This unsettles all the Assurance wee in have in God's Promise to assist His own Institution for if the Vertue or any part of it lies in the Holiness of the Instrument we can never be sure of the Effect as to us because we have no certain knowledge of the Holiness of another Hypocrites deceive even good Men. 2. This wou'd quite disappoint the Promise Christ has made Matth. xxviii 20. To be with His Ministers in the Execution of His Commission to Baptize c. always even unto the end of the world For if the Holiness of the Instrument be a necessary Qualification this may fail nay always must fail so far as we can be sure of it and consequently Christ has commanded Baptism and His Supper to continue to the end of the world till his coming again and yet has not afforded means whereby they may be continu'd which He has not done if the Holiness of the Administrator be a necessary Qualification and that He has not left us a certain Rule whereby to judge of the Holiness of another And thus have you rendred the Command of Christ of none Effect thro' your Tradition 3. This is contrary to all God's former Institutions The wickedness of the Priests under the Law did not excuse any of the People from bringing of their Sacrifices to the Priests The Priests were to Answer for their own Sin but the People were not answerable for it or their Offerings the less accepted But we were in a much worse condition under the Gospel Administration if the Effect of Christ's Institutions did depend either wholly or in part upon the Personal Holiness of His Priests This wou'd put us much more in their Power than it is the Intention of those who make this objection to allow to them This magnifies Men more than is due to them therefore I will apply the Apostle's wolds to this Case 1 Cor. iii. 21. Let no man glory in men who is Paul and who is Apollo but ministers so then neither is he that planteth any thing neither he that watereth but God who giveth the increase 4. This was with others the Error of the Ancient Donatists those Proud and Turbulent Schismaticks the great Disturbers of the Peace of the Church upon an opinion of their own Sanctity above that of other Men For which reason they rejected all Baptisms except what was performed by themselves and Re-baptiz'd those who came over to them from the Church for they said that the Holiness of the Administrator was necessary towards conveying the Spiritual Graces of Baptism Thus they argu'd Qui non habet quod Det quomodo Dat i.e. How shall a Man give that to another which he has not himself Adv. Parmen l. 5. de schismat Donatist Ed. Paris 1631. p 87 But Optatus Answers them that God was the Giver and not Man Videte Deumesse Datorem And he argues that it was preferring Themselves before God to think that the Vertue of Baptism did come from Them that they were nothing but Ministers or Work-men and that as when a Cloth was Dyed the change of the Cloth came from the Colours infus'd not from the vertue of the Dyer So that in Baptism the Change of the Baptized came from the Vertue of the Sacrament not from the Administrator That it was the Water of Baptism which did wash not the Person who apply'd the Water That the Personal Sanctity of the Administrator signify'd nothing to the Efficacy of the Sacrament Therefore says he Nos operemur ut Ille det p. 88. qui se daturum esse promisit i.e. Let us work that God who has promis'd it may bestow the Effect And that when we work Humana sunt opera sed Dei sunt Munera i. e. The Work is Man's but the Gift is God's And thence he exposes that Ridiculous Principle of the Donatists Jam illud quam Ridiculum est quod quasi ad Gloriam vestram à vobis semper auditur hoc munus Baptismatis est Dantis non Accipient is p. 89. which they advanc'd to gain Glory to Themselves that the Gift in Baptism was of the Administrator and not of the Receiver But he shews that the Gift was conferred by God proportionably to the Faith of the Receiver and not according to the Holiness of the Administrator The Discourse is large to which I refer the Reader I have given this Tast of it to let these see to whom I now write that they have tho' unaware stumbled upon the very Notion of the Donatists which divided them from the Catholick Church and which with them has been long since Exploded by the whole Christian World and I hope this may bring them to a more sober mind to consider from whence and with whom they have fallen and
and to the Deacons Without the Bishop do nothing In his Epistle to the Smyrneans he says Flee Divisions as the beginning of Evils All of them follow their Bishops as Jesus Christ the Father and the Presbyters as the Apostles and Reverence the Deacons as the Institution of God Let no man do any thing of what appertains to the Church without the Bishop Let that Sacrament be judg'd Effectual and Firm which is Dispenced by the Bishop or him to whom the Bishop has Commited it Where-ever the Bishop is there let the People be as where Christ is there the Heavenly Host is gathered together It is not lawful without the Bishop either to Baptize or celebrate the Offices But what He approves of according to the good Pleasure of God that is firm and safe and so we do every thing securely I salute your most worthy Bishop your venerable Presbytery and the Deacons my Fellow Servants Anno Domini 70. St. Clement Bishop of Rome and Martyr of whom mention is made Phil. iv 3. in his 1st Epist to the Corinthians N. 42. p. 89. of the Edition at Oxford 1677. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In his Epistle to St. Policarp Bishop of Smyrna and Martyr who together with himself was Disciple to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist He gives these Directions If any can remain in Chastity to the glory of the Body of the Lord let him remain without Boasting if he Boast he Perishes and if he pretends to know more than the Bishop he is corrupted It is theduty both of Men and Women that Marry to be joyn'd together by the Approbation of the Bish that the Muriage may be in the Lord and not according to our own Lusts Let all things be done to the Glory of God Give heed to your Bishop that God may Harken unto you My Soul for theirs who subject themselves under the Obedience of their Bishop Presbyters and Deacons and let me take my Lot with them in the Lord. And he says to Bishop Policarp Let nothing be done without thy sentence and approbation In his Epistle to St. Policarp Bishop of Smyrna and Martyr who together with himself was Disciple to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist He gives these Directions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A.D. 180. St. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons in France who was Disciple of St. Polycarp he flourish'd about the year of Christ 180. We can reckon those Bishops who have been Constituted by the Apostles and their Successors all the way to our times And if the Apostles knew hidden Mysteries they wou'd certainly deliver them chiefly to those to whom they committed the Churches themselves and whom they left their own Successors and in the same Place of Government as themselves We have the Successions of the Bishops to whom the Apostolick Church in every place was committed All these Hereticks are much later than the Bishops to whom the Apostles did deliver the Churches The true Knowledge is the Doctrin of the Apostles and the Ancient State of the Church â—hrough the whole World and the Character of the Body of Christ according to the Succession of the Bishops to whom they committed the Church that is in every Place and which has Descended even unto us A.D. 180. St. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons in France who was Disciple of St. Polycarp he flourish'd about the year of Christ 180. Advers Haereses l. 3. c. 3. Habemus muncrare qui ab Aposolis Instituti sunt Episcopi in Ecclesiis successores corum usque ad nos Et si Recondita mysteria Scissent Apostoli vel his maxime traderent ea quibus etiam ipsas Ecclesias committebant quos successores relinquebant suum ipsorum locum Magisterii tradentes lib. 4. c. 63. Habemus successiones Episcoporum quibus Apostolicam quae in unoquoque loco est Ecclesiam tradiderunt l. 5. c. 20. Omnes enim ii Haeretici valde Posteriores sunt quam Episcopi quibus Apostoli tradiderunt Ecclesias L. 4. c. 6. Agnitio vera est Apastolorum Doctrina Antiquus Ecclesia status in universo Mundo Character Corporis Christi secundam successiones Episcoporum quibús illi eam quae in unoquoque lico est Ecclesiam tradiderunt quae pervenit usque ad nos Tertullian A.D. 203. of the Prescription of Hereticks A.D. 203. c. 32. Let them produce the Original of their Churches let them shew the Order of their Bishops that by their Succession deduc'd from the beginning we may see whether their first Bishop had any of the Apostles or Apostolical Men who did likewise persevere with the Apostles for his Founder and Predecessor For thus the Apostolical Churches do derive their Succession As the Church of Smyrna from Polycarp whom John the Apostle placed there The Church of Rome from Clement who was in like manner ordain'd by Peter And so the other Churches can produce those Constituted in their Bishopricks by the Aposiles c. 36. Reckon over the Apostolical Churches where the very Chairs of the Apostles do yet Preside in their own Places At Corinth Philippi Ephesus Thessalonica c. Of Baptism c. 17. The High-Priest who is the Bishop has the Power of conferring Baptism and under him the Presbyters and Deacons but not without the Authority of the Bishop Origen Names the distinct Orders of Bishop Presbyter and Deacon Such a Bishop says he speaking of one who sought vain Glory c. doth not desire a good Work and the same is to be said of Presbyters and Deacons The Bishops and Presbyters who have the Chief Place among the People The Bishop is called Prince in the Churches And speaking of the Irreligious Clergy he directs it to them whether Bishops Presbyters or Deacons Tertullian A.D. 203. of the Prescription of Hereticks Edant ergo Origines Ecclesiarum suarum evolvant ordinem Episcoporum suâ—rum ita ut per successiones ab initio decurrentem ut primus ille Episcopus aliquem ex Apostolis vel Apostolicis viris qui tamen cum Apostolis perseveraverit habuerit Auctorem Antecessorem Hoc emm modo Ecclesiae Aposlolicae census suos deferunt sicut Smyrneorum Ecclesia Polycarpum ab Johanne conlocatum refert sicut Romanorum Clementem à Petro ordinatum itidem Perinde utique Ceterae exhibent quos ab Apostolis in Episcopatum Conslitutes Apostolici
Episcopis atque Calcatis Pax à Presbyteris verbis fallacibus Prodicetur ibid. Antichristi jam propinquantis adventum Imitantur Ep. LXXX Successo Rescripsisse valerianum ad Senatum ut Episcopi Presbyteri Diacones in continenti animadvertantur Firmillanus Cypriano Ep. LXXV p. 225. Potestas ergo Peccatorum remittendorum Apostolis data est Episcopis qui eis Ordinatione vicaria successerunt Ep. XVI p. 36. Cyprianus Presbyteris Diaconibus Quod enim periculum metuere non debemus de offensa Domini quando aliqui de Presbyteris nec Evangelu nec Deci sue memores sed ne que futurum Domini Judicium neque sibi praepositum Episcopum cogitantes quod nunquam omnino sub Antecessorthus factum est cum Contumelia Contemptu Praepositi totum sibi vendicent Contumeliam Episcopatus nostri dissimulare ferre possum sed dissimulandi nunc locus non est Optatus Milevitanus Bishop of Mileve or Mela in Numidia in Africa A. D. 365. A.D. 365 In his 2d Book against Parmenian The Church has her several Members Bishops Presbyters Deacons and the Company of the Faithful You found in the Church Deacons Presbyters Bishops you have made them Lay-men acknowledge that you have Subverted Souls St. Ambrose Bishop of Milan A. D. 370. upon Eph. iv 11. Speaking of the several Orders of the Church And he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and Evangelists c. Says that by the Apostles there were meant the Bishops by Prophets the Expounders of the Scriptures and by the Evangelists the Deacons But says that they all met in the Bishop for that he was the Chief Priest that is says he the Prince of the Priests and both Prophet and Evangelist to supply all the Offices of the Church for the Ministry of the Faithful And upon 1 Cor. xii 28. says that Christ Constituted the Apostles Head in the Church and that these are the Bishops And upon v. 29. are all Apostles i.e. all are not Apostles This is true says he because in the Church ther is but one Bishop And because all things are from one God the Father therefore hath He appointed that one Bishop shou'd Preside over Each Church In his Book of the Dignity of the Priesthood c. 3. he says That ther is nothing in this World to be found more Excellent than the Priests nothing more Sublime than the Bishops And speaking of what was Incumbent upon the several Orders of the Church he does plainly distinguish them For says he in the same place God does require one thing from a Bishop another from a Presbyter another from a Deacon and another from a Lay-man Optatus Milevitanus Bishop of Mileve or Mela in Numidia in Africa A. D. 365. l. 2. Contra Parmenianum Certa Membra sua habet Ecclesia Episcopos Presbyteros Diaconos turbam Fidelium Invenistis Diaconos Presbyteros Episcopos fecisiis Laâ—cos agnoscite vos animas evertisse Quosdam dedit Apostolos A.D. 37â— quosdam Prophetas c. Apostoli Episcopi sunt Prophetae Explanatores sunt Scripturum sicut Agabus Evangelist Diaconi sunt sicut fuit Philippus Nam in Episcopo omnes ordines sunt quia Princeps Sacerdos est hoc est Princeps est Sacerdotum Propheta Evangelista Caetera adimplenda officâ—â— Ecclesiae in Ministerio Eidelium Caput in Ecclesia Apostolos posuit Ipsi sunt Episcopi Verum est quia in Ecclesia unus Episcopus est Quia ab uno Deo Patre sunt omnia singulos Episcopos singulis Ecclesiis Prae-esse Decrevit De Dignat Sacerdot c. 3. ut ostenderemus nihil esse in hoc seculo Excellentius Sacerdotibus nihil Sublimius Episcopis reperiri Aliud est enim quod ab Episcopo requirit Deus aliud quod à Presbytero aliud quod à Deacono aliud quod à Laico St. Jerom A. D. 380. A. D. 380. In his Comment upon the Ep. to Titus When it began to be said I am of Paul I of Apollos c. and every one thought that those whom he Baptized belong'd to himself and not to Christ it was Decreed thro' The whole Earth that one Chosen from among the Presbyters shou'd be set over the rest that the Seeds of Schism might be taken away In his Epist to Evagrius From Mark the Evangelist to Heraclas and Dionysius the Bishops the Presbyters of Egypt have always chosen out one from among themselves whom having plac'd in an higher Degree than the rest they called their Bishop He that is Advanc'd is Advanc'd from less to greater The Greatness of Riches or the Humility of Poverty does not make a Bishop greater or less seeing all of them are the Successors of the Apostles That we may know the Apostolical Oeconomy to be taken from the Pattern of the Old Testament the same that Aaron and his Sons and the Levites were in the Temple the Bishops Presbyters and Deacons are in the Church of Christ To Nepotianus Be subject to your Bishop or Chief-Priest and receive him as the Father of your Soul Against the Luciferians The safety of the Ch. depends upon the Dignity of the High-Priest to whom unless a sort of absolute and eminent Power be given above all ther will be as many Schisms in the Church as ther are Priests Thence it is that without the Command of the Bishop neither a Presbyter nor a Deacon have Power to Baptize And the Bishop is to impose his Hands upon those who are Baptized by Presbyters or Deacons for the Invocation of the Holy Spirit And Comforting Heliodorus a Bishop upon the Death of Nepotian his Presbyter and his Nephew he Commends Nepotian in that he Reverenc'd his Bishop He Honour'd Heliodorus in publick as his Bishop at home as his Father But among his Presbyters and Co-equals he was the first in his Vocation c. Upon the 60th of Isa He calls the future Bishops Princes of the Church Of the Ecclesiastical Writers Concerning James James after the Passion of our Lord was immediatly by the Apostles ordained Bishop of Jerusalem The like he tells of the first Bishops of other Places Epist 54. against Montanus With us the Bishops hold the Place of the Apostles St. Jerom A. D. 380. A. D. 380. In his Comment upon the Ep. to Titus Postquam unusquisque eos quos Baptizabat suos putabat esse non Christi IN TOTO ORBE Decretum est ut unus de Presbyteris Electus superponeretur Caeteris ut Schismatum semina tollerentur A Marco Evangelista ad Heraclum usqâ—ad Dionysium Episcopos Presbyrari Aegypti semper unum ex se Electum in Clesiori Gradu collocatum Episcopum Nominabant Qui provehitur à Minori ad Majus provehitur Potentia Divitiarum Paupertatis Humilitas sublimiorum vel inferiorem Episcopum non facit Ceterum Omnes Apostolorum Successores sunt Ut sciamus Traditiones Apostolicas sumptas de veteri Testamento Quod Aaron Filii ejus
Bishop The Presbyter ought to consult the Bishop and receive his Orders in it as is declar'd in the 7. Can. Can. 10. If any Presbyter being puff'd up with Pride shall make a Schism against his own proper Bishop let him be Anathema Can. 11. Gives leave to a Presbyter who is Condemn'd by his Bishop to Appeal to the Neighbouring Bishops but if without this he flies off and makes a Schism from his Bishop it confirms the Anathema upon him Can. 12. Orders what is before Recited out of Can. xi of the Council of Carthage That a Bishop who is Accus'd shall be try'd by twelve Bishops if more may not be had a Presbyter by six Bishops with his own Bishop and a Deacon by three Can. 14. Orders that in Tripeli because of the smaller number of Bishops in those Parts a Presbyter shall be judg'd by Five Bishops and a Deacon by Three his own proper Bishop Presiding Can. 46. That a Presbyter shall not Reconcile a Penitent without the knowledge of the Bishop unless upon necessity in the absence of the Bishop Can. 59. That one Bishop may ordain many Presbyters but that it was hard to find a Presbyter who was fit to be made a Bishop Can. 65. That a Clergy man being Condemned by the Bishops cannot be deliver'd by that Church to which he did belong or by any Man whatsoever Can. 126. That Presbyters and Deacons may Appeal from their own Bishop to the Neighbouring Bishops chosen by consent of their own Bishop and from them to the Primate or Provincial Synod but not to any Trans-marine or Forraign Jurisdiction under pain of Excommunication The Council of Carthage A. D. 419. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Council of Chalcedon being the Fourth General Council A. D. 451. Can. 9. If any Clergy-man have a Cause of complaint against another Clergy-man let him not leave his own proper Bishop and have Recourse to the Secular Courts-Whoever does otherwise shall be put under the Canonical Censures Can. 13. That a Forreign Clergy-man and not known shall not officiate in another City without Commendatory Letters from his own Bishop Can. 18. If any of the Clergy shall be found Conspiring or Joyning in Fraternities or Contriving any thing against the Bishops they shall fall from their own Degree Can. 29. To reduce a Bishop to the Degree of a Presbyter is Sacrilege The Council of Chalcedon being the Fourth General Council A. D. 451. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These Authorities are so plain and full as to prevent any Application or Multiplying of further Quotations which might easily be done For if these can be answer'd so may all that can possibly be produc'd or framed in words And ther is no Remedy left to the Presbyterians and other Dissenters from Episcopacy but to deny all these by whole-sale to throw off all Antiquity as well the first Ages of Christianity even that wherein the Apostles themselves Liv'd and Taught as all since and to stand upon a New Foundation of their own Invention But this only shews the Desperatness of their Cause and the Impregnable Bulwork of Episcopacy which I must say it stands upon so Many Clear and Authentick Evidences as can never be overthrown but by such Topicks as must render Christianity it self Precarious And if from the Etymology of the Words Bishop and Presbyter any Argument can be drawn against all the Authorities Produc'd to prove them the same we may by this way of Reasoning prove Cyrus to be Christ for so he is call'd Isa XLV 1. Or if the Presbyterians will have their Moderator to be a Bishop we will not Quarrel with them about a word Let us then have a Moderator such as the Bishops before describ'd viz. A Moderator as a standing Officer during Life to whom all the Presbyters are to be obedient as to Christ i. e. to the Moderator as Representing the Person of Christ That nothing be done in the Church without Him That He be understood as the Principle of Unity in His Church so that they who unjustly break off from his Communion are thereby in a Schism That he shew his Succession by Regular Ordination convey'd down from the Apostles In short that He have all that Character and Authority which we see to have been Recogniz'd in the Bishops in the very Age of the Apostles and all the succeeding Ages of Christianity and then call Him Moderator Superintendent or Bishop For the Contest is not about the Name but the Thing And if we go only upon the Etymology of the Word how shall we prove Presbyters to be an Order in the Church more than Bishops as Athanasius said to Dracontius of those who persuaded him not to accept of a Bishoprick Why do they persuade you not to be a Bishop when they themselves will have Presbyters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will end this Head with the Advice of that great Father to this same Drasontius If the Government of the Churches do not please you and thâ—t you think the Office of a Bishop has no Reward thereby making your self a Despiser of our Saviour who did Institute it I beseech you surmise not any such things as these nor do you Entertain any who advise such things for that is not worthy of Dracontius For what things the Lord did Institute by His Apostles those things remain both good and sure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas Epist ad Dracont II. Having thus Explain'd those Texts of Scripture which speak of Episcopacy by the Concurrent sense of those who liv'd with the Apostles and were taught the Faith from their Mouths who liv'd zealous Confessors and dy'd glorious Martyrs of Christ and who Succeeded the Apostles in those very Churches where themselves had sat Bishops And having deduc'd their Testimonies and of those who Succeeded them down for Four Hundred and Fifty Years after Christ from which time ther is no doubt rais'd against the Universal Reception of Episcopacy and this not only from their Writings apact but by their Canons and Laws when Assembl'd together in Council which one wou'd think sufficient Evidence against none at all on the other side that is for the Succession of Churches in the Presbyterian Form of which no one Instance can be given so much as of any one Church in the World so Deduc'd not only from the days of the Apostles as is shewn for Episcopacy but before Calvin and those who Reform'd with him about 160 Years last past I say tho' what is done is sufficient to satisfie any Indifferent and Un-byass'd Judgment yet ther is one Topick yet behind which with our Dissenters weighs more than all Fathers and Councils
and that is the late Resormation from whence some Date their very Christianity And if even by this too Episcopacy shou'd be Witnessed and Approv'd then is ther nothing at all in the World left to the Opposers of Episcopacy nothing of Antiquity Precedent or any Authority but their own Wilful Will against all Ages of the whole Catholick Church even that of the Reformation as well as all the Rest Let us then Examine First for the Church of England that is thrown off clearly by our Dissenters for that was Reform'd under Episcopacy and continues so to this day And as to our Neighbour Nation of Scotland where the Presbyterians do boast that the Reformation was made by Presbyters that is most Clearly and Authentically Confuted by a Late Learned and worthy Author already mention'd in his Fundamental Charter of Presbytery Printed 1695. so as to stop the Mouths of the most Perverse who will not be Persuaded tho' they are Persuaded Go we then abroad and see the state of the Reformed Churches there The Lutherans are all cut off as the Church of England for they still Retain Episcopacy as in Denmark Sweden c. Ther remains now only the Calvinists Here it is the Presbyterians set up their Rest This is their strong Foundation And this will fail them as much as all the other For be it known unto them however they will receive it that Calvin himself and Beza and the rest of the Learned Reformers of their Part did give their Testimony for Episcopacy as much as any They counted it a most unjust Reproach upon them to think that they condemn'd Episcopacy which they say they did not throw off but cou'd not have it there in Geneva without coming under the Papal Hierarchy They highly Applanded and Congratulated the Episcopal Hierarchy of the Church of England as in their several Letters to Q. Elizabeth to the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and others of our Eaglish Biships They Pray'd heartily to God for the Continuance and Preservation of it Bemoan'd their own unhappy Circumstances that they cou'd not have the like because they had no Magistrate to Protect them and wished for Episcopacy in their Churches the want of which they own'd as a great Defec t but call'd it their Misfortune rather than their Fault As the Learned of the French Hagonots have likewise pleaded on their Behalf As for their Excuse I do not now meddle with it for I think it was not a good one They might have had Bishops from other Places tho' ther were none among themselves but those who were Popish And they might as well have had Bishops as Presbyters without the Countenance of the Civil-Magistrate It might have rais'd a greater Persecution against them but that is nothing as to the Truth of the thing And if they thought it a Truth they ought to have suffer'd for it But whatever becomes of their Excuse here it is plain that they gave their Suffrage for Episcopacy which who so pleases may see at large in Dr. Durel's View of the Government and Worship in the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas who was himself one of them Printed 1662. So that our Modern Presbyterians have departed from Clavin as well as from Luther in their Abhorrence of Episcopacy from all the Christian World in all Ages and particularly from all our late Reformers both of one sort and other Calvin wou'd have Anathematiz'd all of them had he liv'd in our times He say's ther were none such to be found in his time who oppos'd the Episcopal Hierarchy but only the Papal which Aspir'd to an Universal Supremacy in the See of Rome over the whole Catholick Church which is the Prerogative of Christ alone But says he If they wou'd give us such a Hierarchy in which the Bishops shou'd so Excell as that they did not refuse to be subject to Christ and to depend upon Him as their only Head and refer all to Him then I will confess that they are worthy of all Anathemas if any such shall be found who will not Reverence it and submit themselves to it with the utmost Obedience Talem si nobis Hierarchiam exhibeant in qua sic Emineant Episcopi ut Christo subesse non Recusent ab Illo ranquam unico Capite pendeant ad Ipsum referantur c. Tum vero nullo non Anathemate dignos fatear si qui erunt qui non Eam Revereantur summaque Obedientia observent Calvin De necessitat Ecclaes Reformand See he says si qui erunt if ther shall be any such which supposes that he knew none such and that he own'd none such amongst his Reformers And that if ever any such shou'd arise he thought ther were no Anathemas which they did not deserve who shou'd refuse to submit to the Episcopal Hierarchy without such an Universal Head as Excludes Christ from being the only Universal Head for if ther be another tho substitute He is not only Thus He is called the Chief Bishop but never the only Bishop because ther are others deputed under Him But He calls no Bishop the Universal Bishop or Head of the Catholick Church because He has appointed no Substitute in that supreme Office as not of Universal King so neither of Universal Bishop And Beza supposes as Positively as Calvin had done that ther were none who did oppose the Episcopal Hierarchy without such an Universal Head now upon Earth or that oppos'd the Order of Episcopacy and condemns them as Mad-men if any such cou'd be found For thus says he If ther be any which you shall hardly peswade me to believe who reject the whole Order of Episcopacy God forbid that any Man in his wits shou'd assent to the Madness of such Men. Si qui sunt autem quod sane mihi non facile persuaseris qui omnem Episcoporum ordinem Rejiciant absit ut quisquam satis sanae mentis furoribus illorum assentiatur Beza ad Tractat. de Ministr Ev. Grad ab Hadrian Sarav Belga Editam c. 1. And particularly as to the Church of England and her Hierarchy of Archbishops and Bishops he says that he never meant to oppugne any thing of that but calls it a singular Blessing of God and wishes that she may ever enjoy it Fruatur sane â—â—la singulari Dei beneficentia quae utinam sit illi Perpetua Ibid. c. 18. So that our Modern Presbyterians are disarm'd of the Precedent of Calvin Beza and all the Reformers abroad by whose Sentence they are Anathematiz'd and counted as Mad-men Here then let us consider and beware of the Fatal Progress of Error Calvin and the Reformers with him set up Presbyterian Government as they pretended by Necessity but still kept up and Profess'd the highest Regard to the Episcopal Character and Authority But those who pretend to follow their Example have utterly Abdicated the whole Order of Episcopacy as Anti-Christian and an Insupportable Grievance While at the same time they wou'd seem to pay the