Chapter VI (2)

Thus I have at once showed you the true order of the preaching, and proofs, and receiving of the several matters of religion, and how and into what our faith must be resolved; and how far your teachers are to be believed. And here you must especially observe two things: 1. That there can be no danger in this resolution of faith, of derogating either from the work of the Holy Ghost, or the Scriptures' self-evidence, or any other cause whatever; because we ascribe nothing to history or tradition which was ascribed to any of these causes by the first christians; but only put our reception by tradition, instead of their reception immediately by sense: our receiving by infallible history, is but in the place of their receiving by sight; and not in the place of self-evidence of Scripture, or any testimony or teaching of the Spirit. The method is exactly laid down, Heb. ii. 3, 4, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" Here is the sum of what I have been saying.

2. Observe also the great difference between us and the papists in this controversy of using tradition in the resolution of our faith. 1. They decide the main question in gross by tradition, viz. Whether the Scripture be the word of God? But we only decide the questions about history or matters of fact by it, which are subservient to the other. 2. The tradition which most of them plead, is nothing but the authoritative judgment of the successive pastors of the church in a general council confirmed by the pope; and as another faction among them saith, The reception of the whole church, both laity and clergy; and this church must be only the Roman faction. But the tradition which we plead is the concurrent testimony of friends and foes, orthodox and heretics; and of all the churches throughout the world, both Greek and Latin, Ethiopian, Armenian, protestants, &c. And this testimony we plead, not merely as a human testimony, much less as such as is credible chiefly for the mere power (real or pretended) of the testifiers; but as such as by a concurrence of testimonies and circumstances hath (besides the teachers' authority) the evidences of infallible moral certainty, in the very history; as we have of the statutes of the realm.

_Direct._ VI. Understand what kind and measure of obedience it is that you owe your lawful pastors, that you neither prove schismatical and unruly, nor yet have a hand in setting up idols and usurpations in the church. This you may learn from the foregoing description of the pastor's work. The kind of your obedience is commensurate to the kind of his office and work. You are not to obey your pastors, as civil magistrates that bear the sword; nor as physicians, to tell you what you must do for your health; nor as artificers, to command you how to plough, and sow, and trade, &c. (except in the morality of these); but it is as your teachers and guides in matters of salvation that you must obey them.[114] And that not as prophets or lawgivers to the church; but as the stated officers of Christ, to open and apply the laws that he hath given, and determine of such circumstances as are subservient thereunto. Not as those that have dominion of your faith, or may preach another gospel, or contradict any truth of God, which by Scripture or nature he hath revealed, or can dispense with any duty which he hath commanded; but as those that have all their power from God, and for God and your salvation, and the good of other men's souls; to edification only, and not to destruction: particular cases I here purposely forbear.

_Direct._ VII. Be sure that you look on them as the officers of Christ in all that they do as such; and see not only their natural, but their ecclesiastical persons, that through them you may have to do with God. Especially in preaching, and administering the sacraments, and binding the impenitent, and absolving the penitent, and comforting the sad and humbled souls. All the holiness, and life, and power of your spiritual converse with them consisteth in your seeing and conversing with God in them, and using them as his messengers or officers, that deliver his message and do his work, and not their own. If you disobey them in his work, it is God that you disobey; and if they teach you his word, or deliver you Christ and his benefits in the sacraments, it is Christ himself that doth it by them as his instruments, so far as they do it according to his commission and his will. This observing Christ in their teaching will possess you with due reverence and care, and cause you to do it as a holy work; and to see Christ in them, delivering and sealing his covenant to you, will very much increase your joy; when man as man is but a shadow.

_Direct._ VIII. Make use of their help in private, and not in public only: as the use of a physician is not only to read a lecture of physic to his patients, but to be ready to direct every person according to their particular case (there being such variety of temperatures, diseases, and accidents, that in dangerous cases the direction of the judicious is needful in the application); so here, it is not the least of the pastoral work, to oversee the individuals, and to give them personally such particular advice as their case requireth. Never expect that all thy books, or sermons, or prayers, or meditations should serve thy turn without the counsel of thy pastors, in greater cases; for that were but to devise how to prove God's officers needless to his church. If thou be an ignorant or unconverted sinner, go to the minister, and ask him, what thou must do to be saved? and resolve to follow his sound advice. If thou be in doubt of any weighty point of faith or godliness, or assaulted perilously by any adversary, or need his advice for thy settled peace, thy assurance of pardon and salvation, and thy preparation for death; go ask counsel of thy pastors, and receive their help with readiness and thankfulness: or if thou live where there is none that is able and willing thus to help thee, remove to them that are such, if lawfully thou canst.

_Direct._ IX. Assist you pastors in the work of God, by the duties of your places which tend thereto: labour by your holy, serious conference, to instruct the ignorant, and convince the unbelieving, and convert the ungodly, and strengthen the weak, with whom you have fit opportunity for such work. Labour by your holy examples, by love, and concord, and meekness, and sobriety, and contempt of the world, and a heavenly life, to "shine as lights in the midst of a dark and crooked generation." Preach all of you, by the examples of your blameless, humble, holy lives. Oh how abundantly would this course promote the success of the public preaching of the gospel! If you would cause those men to see the glory and power of the gospel in your holy and heavenly lives, who cannot see it in itself: then many that would not be won by the word, might be won without it (to seek after it at least) by your conversations.[115] Thus all must preach and be helpers of the ministers of Christ.

_Direct._ X. Forsake not your faithful pastors to follow deceivers; but adhere to them who spend and are spent for you; defend their innocency against false accusers; and refuse them not such maintenance as is needful to their entire giving up themselves to that holy work to which they are devoted.[116] Read and study well Eph. iv. 13-15; Acts xx. 30. It is for your sakes that your faithful pastors are singled out in the world to bear the slanders and contradictions of the wicked; and to lead the way in the fiery trial. If they would forsake you, and that sacred truth and duty that is needful to your salvation, and sell you up into the hands of cruel and deceitful men, it were as easy for them to have the applause of men, and the prosperity of the world, as others: it is perfidious ingratitude to forsake them in trial, that must lose their lives and all the world, rather than forsake you or betray your souls; or to grudge them food and raiment that lay by the gainful employments of the world, that they may attend continually on the service of your souls.

[88] Disput. ii. of Church Government, chap. i. and Universal Concord.

[89] Of the difference between fixed and unfixed ministers, see my Disput. ii. iii. of Church Government, and Jos. Acosta lib. v. c. 21, 22, de Missionibus.

[90] Rom. x. 7, 14; Mark xvi. 15; Matt. xxviii. 19, 20.

[91] 2 Cor. v. 19-21; Acts xxvi. 17, 18; Eph. ii. 19; Acts ii. 37-40.

[92] Tit. i. 7; 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2; Matt. xxviii. 19, 20; Acts xx. 32; 1 Cor. iii. 11, 12.

[93] Acts xiv. 23; 2 Tim. ii. 2; Acts xiii. 3; ii. 41, 42; vi. 2; xx. 7, 28; 1 Tim. v. 17; Titus i. 5; Acts xx. 30, 31; Col. i. 28; Eph. iv. 11, 42; Mal. ii. 7; 1 Tim. v. 17.

[94] 1 Cor. xiv. 16, 26; Acts xx. 7, 36; James v. 14; Acts vi. 4; ii. 42; Phil. i. 4; Neh. xi. 24; xi. 17; 1 Cor. xi. 24; x. 16; Heb. vii. 7; Tit. ii. 15; i. 9, 11; 1 Tim. v. 19; iii. 5; Tit. iii. 10; Matt. xviii. 17, 18; 1 Cor. v. 4, 11, 13; Eph. iv. 13, 14; Acts xv.

[95] Princes may force their subjects by the temporal sword which they bear: bishops may not force their flock with any corporal or external violence. Bilson, Christ. Subjection, p. 525.

[96] Dr. Hammond Annot. q. d. The bishops of your several churches, I exhort--Take care of your several churches, and govern them, not as secular rulers, by force, but as pastors do their sheep, by calling and going before them, that so they may follow of their own accord. If you would know the true nature and extent of the bishop's work and office, read carefully the said Dr. Hammond's Paraphrase on Acts xx. 20, 28; Heb. xiii. 7, 17; 1 Tim. v. 17; 1 Thess. v. 12; Heb. xiii.; Annot. a. Tit. iii. 10; 1 Cor. xii. 28; Annot. e. Jam. v. 14; Annot. Acts xi. 30; Annot. b. Acts xiv. 23.

[97] Chrysost. cited by Bilson. p. 525. But if any man wander from the right path of the christian faith, the pastor must use great pains, care, and patience. For he may not be forced, nor constrained with terror, but only persuaded to return entirely to the truth.----A bishop cannot cure men with such authority as a shepherd doth his sheep.--For of all men christian bishops may least correct the faults of men by force, p. 526. Matt. xx. 26; Mark x. 43. See Psal. ciii. 21; civ. 4; Isa. xvi. 6; Jer. xxxiii. 21; Joel i. 9, 13; ii. 17; 2 Cor. xi. 23; Acts xxvi. 26; Rom. xv. 16; Eph. iii. 7; Col. i. 23, 25; 1 Tim. iv. 6; 1 Thess. iii. 2; Col. i. 7.

[98] Functiones in ecclesia perpetuæ sunt duæ, Presbyterorum et Diaconorum: Presbyteros voco cum omni ecclesia veteri eos, qui ecclesiam pascunt verbi prædicatione, sacramentis et clavibus; quæ jure divino sunt individua. Grotius de Imperio, p. 267. c. 10.

[99] Bishop Jer. Taylor of Repentance, Pref. "I am sure we cannot give account of souls of which we have no notice."

[100] Ignat. Epis. ad Philad. Vid. Mead's Disc. of Churches, p. 48-50.

[101] Tertull. de Coron. Milit. c. 3.

[102] It is very observable that Acosta saith, l. vi. c. 12, that they found it an old custom among the Indians to confess their sins to the priests before the gospel came thither.

[103] See more in Dr. Hammond, ibid.

[104] Vid. Canon. Apost. 5. 32. Et Concil. Antioch. c. 5. Et Concil. Carthag. 4. Can. 35.

[105] Vid. Just. Mart. Apol. 2. Vid. Tertul. Apol. c. 39.

[106] I hope all this will tell you what a bishop indeed is.

[107] Grot. de Imp. p. 273. Pastorum est ordinare pastores. Neque id officium eis competit, qua hujus aut illius ecclesiæ pastores sunt, sed qua ministri ecclesiæ catholicæ.

[108] See in Grotius de Imper. sum. potest. p. 269. The necessary distinction of, 1. Ipsa facultas prædicandi sacramenta et claves administrandi, quod Mandatum vocat. 2. Applicatio hujus facultatis ad certam personam, viz. Ordinatio. 3. Applicatio hujus personæ ad certum cœtum et locum, viz. Electio. 4. Illud quo certa persona in certo loco ministerium suum exercet publico præsidio ac publica authoritate, viz. Confirmatio, p. 273. Constat muneris institutionem a Deo esse; ordinationem a pastoribus, confirmationem publicam a summa potestate. So that the doubt is only about election. Which yet must be differenced from consent.

[109] See my Disput. with him of the Successive Visibility of the Church, p. 336.

[110] Cyprian. Epis. 68. Plebs obsequens præceptis dominicis a peccatore præposito separare se debet. Which Grotius de Imper. p. 230, citing saith, Jubentur enim singuli, multo magis universi, cavere prophetas falsos, alienum pastorem fugere, ab iis declinare qui dissidia faciunt et offensas contra doctrinam. 2. Imperatur fidelibus familiarem eorum consuetudinem declinare, qui fratres, &c. 2 Cor. v.; Rom. xvi. 17; John x.; 2 Tim. iii. 6; 2 Thess. iii. 6, 14; 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4.

[111] Satan or their own worldly advantages, saith Dr. Hammond. Dan. i. 12, 13; Ezek. iv. 12, 15. Read c. iii. Acosta excellently rebuking the negligence of their priests that taught the Indians the catechism idly, and without explication, or calling them to account about the sense, and then laid all the fault on the blockishness of the people, when Tota catechizendi ratio erat umbratilis, et ludicræ similis: ego vero (inquit) si homines ingenio acerrimo, et discendi percupidi tales præceptores nacti essent, nihil aliud quam ut duplo ignoratiores evaderent, doceri isto modo arbitrarer. Olim in symbolo addiscendo et intelligendo, mysteriisque fidei agnoscendis viri ingenio præstantes et literatura celebres, diu in catechumenorum ordine tenebantur, cum ecclesiastica disciplina vigeret; neque ante ad fidei sacramentum admittebantur, quam multas ab episcopo de symbolo conciones audissent, diu et multum cum catechista contulissent; post quas omnes curas et meditationes, magnum erat si recta sentirent, consentanea responderent, &c. And he addeth, p. 360, Equidem sic opinor, neque ab ea opinione avelli unquam potero, quin pessimo præceptori omnes esse auditores hebetes credam. A bad teacher hath always bad scholars. Even in the Roman church how little their authority can do against profaneness and negligence, the same Acosta showeth, l. 6. c. 2. p. 519. Cum in provinciali concilio Limensi ab omnibus Peruensibus episcopis cæterisque gravibus viris ad ea vitia emendenda multum operæ et studii collatum sit, atque edita extent egregia decreta de reformatione permulta, nihil tamen amplius perfectum est, quam si ab otiosis nautis de republica moderanda consultatum esset. Bonific. Mogunt. Ep. iii. mentioneth it as the error of a new-sprung sect, that heinous sinners even so continuing may be priests. And Ep. lxxiii. it is said, No man may be made a priest, that hath sinned mortally after baptism, and, Si iis qui tam in episcopatu vel presbyterio positus mortale peccatum aliquod admiserit, non debet offerre panes Domino, quanto magis patienter retrahat se ab hoc non tam honore quam onere, et aliorum locum qui digni sunt non ambiat occupare. Qui enim in erudiendis et instituendis ad virtutem populis præest, necesse est, ut in omnibus sanctus sit, et in nullo reprehensibilis habeatur. Qui enim aliquem de peccato arguit, ipse a peccato debet esse immunis. Auct. Bib. Pat. Tom. ii. p. 81. If there were somewhat too much strictness in the ancient exclusion of them that heinously sinned after baptism from the priesthood, let us not be as much too loose.

[112] Est enim mirabilis quædam continuatio seriesque rerum, ut alia ex alia nexa, et omnes inter se aptæ colligatæque videantur. Cic. De Natur. Deor. pag. 6.

[113] By all this it is easy to gather whether a pastor may do his work _per alium_. Saith Grotius de Imp. p. 290, 291, Nam illud quod quis per alium facit per se facere videtur ad eas duntaxat pertinet actiones quarum causa efficiens proxima a jure indefinita est. Yet people should labour after such maturity and stedfastness, that they might be able to stand if their pastors be dead or taken from them by persecution, yea, or forsake the truth themselves. Victor. Utic. saith of the people in Africa when their pastors were banished, and others might not be ordained in their steads: Inter hæc tamen Dei populus in fide consistens, ut examina apum cereas ædificantia mansiones, crescendo melleis fidei claviculis firmabatur. Quanto magis affligebantur, tanto magis multiplicabantur. Victor. p. 382.

[114] We may not offer any violence, but only persuade: we have not so great authority given us by the laws, as to repress offenders; and if it were lawful for us so to do, we have no use of any such violent power: for that Christ crowneth them which abstain from sin, not of a forced, but of a willing mind and purpose. Chrys. citante Bilson of Subjection, p. 526. Et ibid. ex Hilar. If this violence were used for the true faith, the doctrine of bishops would be against it: God needeth no forced service. He requireth no constrained confession. I cannot receive any man but him that is willing: I cannot give ear, but to him that entreateth, &c. Ita et Origen. ibid. citat. 2 Cor. i. 24; Gal. i. 7, 8; 2 Cor. x. 8; xiii. 10.

[115] Acts xviii. 24, 26, 27; Rom. xvi. 3; John iii. 8; Eph. iv. 29; 1 Pet. iv. 11; Phil. ii. 15; Matt. v. 16; 1 Pet. iii. 1, 2; 2 Pet. iii. 11: 1 Pet. i. 15, 16; ii. 12; Heb. iii. 13; Heb. x. 24.

[116] 1 Thess. v. 12, 13; 2 Tim. ii. 10; 2 Cor. iv. 15; 1 Thess. iii. 9; i. 5; Matt. xxvi. 56; 2 Tim. iv. 16; Gal. vi. 6, 10; 1 Cor. ix.; Col. i. 24.