A Treatise of Episcopacy, Part 2 · Chapter 6
CHAP. VI. The ſame further confirmed by the Ancients.
I. EUſebius Demonſtrat. Evangel. pag. 138. ſaith, [When he conſidered the Power of Chriſt's Word, how it perſwaded innumerable Congregations of Men, and by thoſe Ignoble and Ruſtick Diſciples of Jeſus, foreign numeroſiſſimae Eccleſiae were conſtituted, not in certain unknown and obſcure places, but erected in the moſt famous Cities, (Rome, Alexandria and Antioch) through all Egypt and Lycia, through Europe and Aſia, foreign—in Villages and Countries or Regions and all ſorts of Nations.] By this it appeareth that Villages had Churches then.
II. Though of later date, conſider the Hiſtory of Patrick's Plantation of Churches in Ireland: who is ſaid himſelf in his own time to have three hundred ſixty five Churches, and as many Biſhops, and three thouſand Presbyters; as Ninius reporteth. Not only Thorndike taketh notice of this, but a better Author, Uſher de Eccleſ. Brit. Primord. pa. 950. And Selden in his Comment on Eutychius Origines Alex. pag. 86. from Antoninus and Vincentius, thus mentioneth it, [Certe tantum in orbe terrarum tunc temporis Epiſcoporum ſegetem mirari forſan deſinet, quiſquis crediderit, quod de B. Patricio Hibernenſi Antoninus & Vincentius tradunt; Eum ſcilicet ſolum Eccleſias fundaſſe 365. totidemque Epiſcopos ordinaſſe, praeter Presbyterorum 3000. Qua de re conſulas plura apud praeſtantiſſimum virum Jacobum Uſſerium, &c.] So that here was to every Church a Biſhop and near ten Presbyters. (No Man will doubt but the Biſhops themſelves were taken out of the better ſort of the Laity, and the Presbyters of the ſecond ſort; and all below many private Chriſtians now among us.) And were there three hundred ſixty five Cities think you in Ireland? Yea, or Corporations either? It's eaſie to conjecture what Churches theſe were.
III. All Hiſtory, Fathers, and Councils conſent, that every City was to have a Biſhop and Presbytery to govern and teach the Chriſtians of that City and the Country people near it; which is but a Pariſh or Presbyterian Church. For the word foreign ſignifieth in the old common uſe, any big Town, yea little Towns that were diſtinct from Country Farms and ſcattering Villages: ſo that all our Corporations and Market Towns are Oppida and ſuch Cities as foreign ſignified. Therefore even by this Rule we ſhould have a Biſhop to every ſuch Town.
1. Crete was called Hecatompolis, as having an hundred Cities, as Homer ſaith it had. And what kind of Cities were thoſe? Which were to have an hundred Churches and Biſhops (in a ſmall Iſland?)
2. Theocritus Idyl. 13. de laudibus Ptolem. verſ. 82. ſaith, that he had under his Government thirty three thouſand three hundred and thirty foreign, Cities: And if ſo, they muſt be as ſmall as our Boroughs, if not ſome Villages: certainly he had not above twice the number of Cities eminently ſo called that Stephanus Byzantinus could find in the whole World, in his Book, foreign.
3. He that will peruſe and compare the Texts in the New Teſtament thatTit. 1. 5. Ordain Elders in every City. uſe the word foreign (above ſixſcore times) and ſee Grotius on Luk. 7. 11. &c. ſhall ſoon ſee that the word is there uſed for ſuch Towns as I am mentioning, if not leſs.
IV. Sozomen, lib. 5. cap. 3. tells us, that Majuma which was Navale Gazae, being as part of its Suburbs, or the adjoyning part but twenty Stadia diſtant, was, becauſe it had many Chriſtians, honoured by Conſtantine with the name of a City, and had a Biſhop of their own. And Julian in malice took from them the honour of being a City, but they kept their Biſhop for all that. It had the ſame Magiſtrate with Gaza, and the ſame Military Governors, and the ſame Republick; but was diverſified only by their Church-State. For, ſaith he, each had their own Biſhop, and their own Clergy, and the Altars belonging to each Biſhoprick were diſtinct: And therefore afterward the Biſhop of Gaza laboured to ſubject the Clergy of Majuma to himſelf, ſaying, that it was unmeet that one City ſhould have two Biſhops: But a Council called for that purpoſe, did confirm the Church-Right of Majuma.
V. Gregory Neocaeſarienſis called Thaumaturgus, was by force made Biſhop of that City, where all the Chriſtians were but ſeventeen at his Ordination: ſuch was the Biſhop's Church. And when he had preached and done Miracles there till his Perſecution, there is no mention of any Presbyter he had with him; but of his Deacon Muſonius that fled with him. (Though when he died he left but ſeventeen unconverted.)
And when he had converted ſome at Comana, a ſmall Town near him,A Village, ſaith Euſeb. l. 5. c. 16. Vid. Baron. an. 233. n. 10. he did not ſet a Presbyter over it, and make it part of his own Dioceſs, but appointed Alexander (the Collier) to be their Biſhop; and that over a Church who were no more than met and debated the Caſe of his Election and Reception. See Greg. Nyſſen. in Orat. in Greg. Thaumat. & Baſil de Spirit. Sancto, cap. 19. & Breviar. Roman. die 15 Novemb. & Menolog. Graec.
VI. Concil. Nic. Oecum. 1. Can. 13. decreeth that every one that before death deſireth the Sacrament, was to have it from the Biſhop: One Ed. in Crab ſaith, Generaliter omni cuilibet in exitu poſito, & poſcenti ſibi Communionis gratiam tribui, Epiſcopus probabiliter ex oblatione dare debebit. The other Ed. ſaith, [Et cura & probatio ſit Epiſcopi.] We are content that the Dioceſs be as great as the Biſhop will perform this for, to examine all ſuch dying men, and give them the Sacrament, or ſend it them after his diſtinct Examination.
VII. Gregor. Nazianz. Epiſt. 22. pag. 786. To. 1. perſwading the Church of Caeſarea to chuſe Baſil for their Biſhop, ſendeth his Letters to the Presbyters, the Monks, the Magiſtrates, and the whole Laity.] And though I doubt not but by that time there were Country Congregations, by this the magnitude of the City Church may be gathered, where the whole Laity could be conſulted, and could chuſe.
And Baſil made this Gregory his chief friend Biſhop of Saſimis, a ſmall poor dirty Town: And yet Gregory himſelf it ſeems had in ſome near Village a Chorepiſcopus with Presbyters and Deacons; as in Glycerius his Caſe appeareth, Epiſt. Greg. 205. pag. 900, 901.
And Nazianzum where he plaid the Biſhop under his Father (two Biſhops at once, one in Title, the other in Practice without Title) was but a ſmall Town.
VIII. Baſil an Arch-Biſhop was ſo much againſt enlarging Dioceſes, and taking in many Churches to one Biſhop, that he taketh the advantage of the difference between him and Anthymius to make many Biſhops more in his Dioceſs over ſmall places: yea, it ſeemeth ſome places were ſo ſmall as that they never before had any Paſtors at all: as appeareth by Gregory Nazianzene, Epiſt. 28.
IX. Theodoret tells us, lib. 4. cap. 20. Hiſt. Eccleſ. that even in the great Alexandria the Presbyters and Deacons were all but nineteen when Lucius came to baniſh them to Heliopolis, a City of Phoenicia; which City had not one Chriſtian in it. By which it appeareth, that even then under Chriſtian Emperors, Chriſtianity was not received by the multitude, when ſome Cities had not a Chriſtian.
X. Theodor. ib. l. 4. c. 16. ſaith, that when Eulogius and Protogenes, the Presbyters of Edeſſa, were baniſhed to Antionone in Thebais, they found the moſt of the people Heathens, and but few of the Church; yet had that little number a Biſhop of their own.
XI. Id. l. 4. c. 20. In Peter Biſhop of Alexandria's Epiſtle (wherein he ſheweth ſuch actions then done by the Soldiers in ſcorn of the Godly, proclaiming Turpitude not to be named under the name of ſcornful Preaching, as have been done by others lately among us) it's ſaid of Lucius, [Qui partes lupi nequitia & improbe factis agere impenſe ſtudebat, quique Epiſcopatum, non conſenſu Epiſcoporum O…thodoxorum in unum convenientium, non ſuffragiis vere Clericorum, non poſtulatione Populi, ut ſacri Eccleſiae Canones praeſcribunt.] So that great Patriarch himſelf was choſen Poſtulatione Populi, as ſhewing the cuſtom of all the Churches; which beginning when the people were but one Congregation, continued as it could in ſome degree when they came like a Presbyterian Church (for even then it was no otherwiſe) to have many Congregations.
XII. Id. c▪ 22. ſaith that [Valens found the Orthodox even in the great Patriarchal City of Antioch, in poſſeſſion but of one Church, which good Jevinian the Emperor had given them; of which he diſpoſſeſſed them. And when they met afterwards to worſhip God at a Hill near the City, Valens ſent to diſturb them thence.] And Cap. 23. Flavianus and Diodorus Presbyters (Meletius the Biſhop being baniſhed) led them to a River ſide, where they congregated, till they were thence alſo driven by the Emperor. And Flavianus when he could not preach, collected M…tter, Reaſons and holy Sentences, (as Sermon-Notes) for others to preach (in the Gy…naſ… Bellicum) where they reſolved to meet whatever came on it. Then Aphraates a Monk taught them, and when Valens told him that Monks muſt pray in private, and not preach in publick, Aphraates told the Emperor that he had ſet the Houſe of God our Father on fire, and troubled the Church, and therefore he was called to its publick help (to ſhew how far they obeyed a ſilencing Emperor.) By all which it appeareth that even then the Orthodox Patriarchal Church of Antioch was but one Aſſembly which met in one only place at once.
XIII. Id. l. 4. c. 29. When Teren…ius the Emperor's victorious General, (being Orthodox) was bid by the Emperor to ask what he would of him as a Reward, he asked but One Church for the Orthodox, and was denied it, which intimateth their numbers.
XIV. Dolicha where Euſebius made Maris Biſhop, was parvum Oppidum, a little Town (and infected with Arianiſm,) where an Arian Woman killed Euſebius with a Tile when he went to ordain Maris Biſhop. Theodor. lib. 5. cap. 4.
XV. Euſeb. Eccleſ. Hiſt. l. 5. c. 16. tells us that Apollonius ſaith of Alexander a Montaniſt Biſhop, that the Congregation whereof he was Paſtor, becauſe he was a Thief, would not admit him.] By which it appeareth that his Church was but one Congregation.
And l. 7. c. 29. The Synod of Antioch ſay of Dionyſius Alexandr, that he wrote not to the perſon of Paulus Samoſatenus; but to the whole Congregation (that is, his Church.) And they ſay [He licenſed the Biſhops and Miniſters of the adjoyning Villages and Cities to preach to the People.] Which ſheweth what Dioceſes and Churches then were.
XVI. Socrates, l. 1. c. 8. tells us that Spiridion was at the ſame time a Biſhop and a Shepherd.] And whether his Pariſh was one Church or many hundred you may eaſily judge, when ſo holy a Man could ſpare time all the Week to keep his ſheep.
XVII. When Conſtans the Emperor affrighted Conſtantius to reſtore Athanaſius, Conſtantius craved of Athanaſius that the Arrians in Alexandria might have one Church to themſelves: Athanaſius told him, It was in his power to command and execute; but craved alſo a requeſt of him, which was that in all Cities there might alſo be one Church granted for them that communicated not with the Arrians: But the Eaſtern Arrian Biſhops hearing that, put off the deciſion of both the Requeſts.] By which a willing perſon may conjecture at the quantity of the Epiſcopal Churches in thoſe times.
XVIII. Even in Ambroſe's days the great Church of Milan was no greater than could meet in one Temple to chuſe a Biſhop: And Ambroſe was choſen by them. Socrat. l. 4. c. 25.
And Baronius, in Vita Ambroſii ex Paulino, ſaith, (pag. 9.) [Quod ſolitus erat circa Baptizandos ſolus implere, quinque poſtea Epiſcopi tempore quo deceſſit vix implerent.] What then was all the reſt of his work? and how many Churches could he thus overſee?
And the Arrians, for whom the Emperor made all that ſtir with Ambroſe, were ſo few in Milan, that when the Emperor would have had one Church for them, and could not get it by fair means or force, Ambroſe thus jeſteth at the Empreſs and the Arrian Gothes; Quibus ut olim plauſtrum ſedes erat, it a nunc plauſtrum Eccleſia eſt; Quocunque foemina illa proceſſerit, ſecum ſuos omnes coetus vehit.] Her Coach is their Church; and which way ſoever ſhe goeth, ſhe carrieth all her Congregations with her.
Ambroſ. de Offic. To. 4. c. 1. ſheweth that teaching his Church is the Biſhop's Office: And de initiandis, c. 2. p. 163. To. 4. he ſaith to the baptized perſon, [Vidiſti illic (in Sacrario) Levitam, vidiſti Sacerdotem, vidiſti ſummum Sacerdotem] In which he intimateth that the Biſhop (as the Chief Prieſt) was preſent in the Church with his Presbyters at Baptizings. Which ſheweth that they had not a multitude of Churches without Biſhops. And de Sacram. l. 1. c. 1. how the Biſhop himſelf muſt touch with Oyl the Noſtrils of all that were baptized, with other Ceremonies after mentioned, ſheweth that he was uſually preſent at every Baptiſm.
And de Sacram. l. 3. c. 1. he giveth the reaſon why he did waſh the Feet of all that were baptized, and the Church of Rome did not, Vide ne forte propter multitudinem declinarit.] [Perhaps they decline it becauſe of the multitude.] But all the Dioceſs of Milan (as a Biſhoprick, not as an Arch-Biſhoprick) had no ſuch multitudes, but that beſides all his other work, Ambroſe could have time to waſh the feet of every one that was baptized.
And cap. 3. Eccleſiae contuitu & conſideratione te ipſe commenda—The Church was preſent then. And to ſhew by his work what his Church was, he celebrated the Sacrament daily: Accipe quotidie quod quotidie tibi proſit: ſic vive ut quotidie merearis accipere: Qui non meretur quotidie accipere, non meretur poſt annum accipere.
And how he diſcharged all this you may perceive, de Dignit. Sacerdot. cap. 3. Epiſcopus non aliud niſi Epiſcopalia opera deſignat, ut ex bono opere magis quam profeſſione noſcatur, plus meritis eſſe Epiſcopum quam quod nomine vocitetur. Quia ſicut nihil eſſe diximus Epiſcopo excellentius, ſic nihil eſt miſerabilius ſi de ſancta vita Epiſcopus periclitetur; ſi Sacerdos in crimine teneatur. (He thought not as too many now do, that the Name and Seat of Biſhop or Prieſt can do more to hallow Perſecutions, Worldlineſs and other Crimes, than the Crimes can do to unhallow the Biſhop or Prieſt.)
And lib. 5. To. 4. pag. 180. having mentioned [The Husband of one Wife,] he addeth, [Si vero ad altiorem ſenſum conſcendimus, inhibet, duas uſurpare Eccleſias.] A Biſhop muſt no more have two Churches than a Husband have two Wives. But ſome Biſhops imitate Solomon's Luſt rather than his Wiſdom, and will have above a thouſand Churches, as Wives or Concubines.
Adding, Qui ſtipendiis tantum contentus Eccleſiae ſuae, penitus non ambiat quae novit eſſe ſuperflua. Covetouſneſs hath enlarged Dioceſes.
And cap. 5. Cum dominatur populis, & anima ſervit Daemoni. When he Lords it over the people, his own Soul is a Slave to the Devil.
And cap. 6. pag. 18. Nam quid aliud interpretatur Epiſcopus niſi ſuperinſpector? Maxime cum ſolio editiore in Eccleſia reſideat ut ita cunctos reſpiciat, ut & cunctorum oculi in ipſum reſpiciant.] So that it is from the overſight of one Congregation where he ſits among and above the Presbyters, that he is called a Biſhop, and not from Churches which he overſeeth indeed, but ſeeth not, and might well be ſaid to be an Overſeer in our vulgar ſenſe, as it ſignifies one that overlooketh or obſerveth not, were he, as many now.
And of ſo ſmall a place as Forum Cornelii, inſtead of committing it to a ſubject Presbyter, he ſaith, (Epiſt. 63. p. 111. ad Conſtant. Arauſicorum Epiſcopum) Commendo tibi fili Eccleſiam, quae eſt ad forum Cornelii, quo cam de proximo inviſas frequentius, donec ei ordinetur Epiſcopus.
And pag. 117. Ad Eccleſ. Vercellenſ. poſt obitum Euſebii Epiſt. he writeth to them thus to chuſe another, Quanto magis ubi plena eſt in nomine domini Congregatio; ubi Univerſorum Poſtulatio congruit, dubitare vos nequaquam oportet, ibi dominum Jeſum & voluntatis authorem, & petitionis arbitrum fore, & ordinationis praeſulem, vel largitorem gratiae.] So that this famous Church was no greater than that all the people could meet and agree in the Choice or Poſtulation of a Biſhop.
So To. 4. de Poenitent. l. 5. c. 15. Tota Eccleſia ſuſcipit onus peccatoris cui compatiendum & fletu, & oratione & dolore eſt. By which it ſeems that all the Church (that is, ſo great a part as might be called all) was uſed to be preſent each meeting when Penitents lamented their ſin.
And in To. 3. p. 183. in 1 Cor. 11. he ſaith, that the Angels before whom the Women in the Church muſt be veiled, are the Biſhops as God's Vicars?] which intimateth that ordinarily every Church-Aſſembly was to have a Biſhop preſent.
And ibid. Hoc notat qui ſic in Eccleſiam conveniebant, ut munera ſua offerentes advenientibus Presbyteris, quia adhuc rectores Eccleſiis non omnibus locis fuerant conſtituti, &c. And p. 161. in Rom. 1. 2. Propterea Eccleſiae ſcribit, quia adhuc ſingulis Eccleſiis Rectores non erant inſtituti. By which you may conjecture what he thought of the magnitude of Churches then.
Tom. 3. p. 89. He ſo far acknowledgeth the People to have elected him, that he calleth them on that account his Parents, who in other reſpects were his Children, (in Luk. 18.) Vos mihi eſtis Parentes, qui Sacerdotium tuliſtis: Vos inquam Filii, vel Parentes: Filii ſinguli, Univerſi Parentes. (Like Hooker's Singulis Major, Univerſis Minor.) Where you ſee, that the whole Church (and not a thouſandth part) did chuſe him Biſhop.
And To. 3. p. 180. in 1 Cor. 14. Verum eſt, quia in Eccleſia (that is in every Church) Unus eſt Epiſcopus (not in hundreds of Churches.) For he ſaith, ibid. in 1 Cor. 12. Et quia ab uno Deo Patre ſunt omnia, ſingulos Epiſcopos ſingulis Eccleſiis praeeſſe decrevit.] He decreed that there ſhould be to every Church a ſeveral Biſhop.
When I cite all this of the ſtate of that famous Church of Milan; where the Emperor himſelf did oft reſide, and which preſumed to differ in Cuſtoms from Rome, I leave you to gather how it was before Chriſtian Emperors, and in all the ordinary Churches.
XIX. Auguſtine was choſen by the people, and brought to the Biſhop to be ordained. Vit. cap. 4. And cap. 5. Valerius the Biſhop gave him power to preach before him contrary to the uſe of the African Churches, but according to the cuſtom of the Eaſtern Churches.] Which ſheweth that Auguſtine while Presbyter (and ſo other Presbyters ordinarily) was in the ſame Congregation with the Biſhop, and not in another. And upon this other Churches took up the ſame cuſtom.
And cap. 21. it's ſaid, [In Ordinandis Sacerdotibus & Clericis Conſenſum majorem Chriſtianorum, & conſuetudinem Eccleſiae ſequendam eſſe arbitrabatur:—And cap. 25. Cum ipſo ſemper Clerici una etiam domo & menſa, ſumptibuſque communibus alebantur, & veſtiebantur. Yea, he ordered juſt how many Cups in a day his Clergy-men with him ſhould drink; and if any ſware an Oath he loſt one of his Cups. (Through God's Mercy ſober Godly Miniſters now need no ſuch Law.) By this it evidently appeareth that the Church which he and his Presbyters ruled, was not many hundred, but one▪ Congregation, or City-Church: There being no mention of any Country Presbyters that he had elſewhere, as far as I remember.
And when Auguſtine was dying, the People with one conſent, accepted of his choice of Eradius to be his Succeſſor; Epiſt. 110. pag. 195. To recite all that is in Auſtin's Works intimating theſe Church-limits, would be tedious.
XX Epiphanius's Teſtimony I have before mentioned, as produced by Petavius, that there were few Cities, if any beſides Alexandria in thoſe Countries that had more than one Congregation; and particularly none of his own. And Doctor Hammond truſteth to him and Irenaeus to prove that the Apoſtles ſetled ſingle Biſhops in ſingle Congregations in many places without any Sub-Presbyters.
XXI. Socrates, l. 5. c. 21. ſaith, [The Church of Antioch in Syria is ſituate contrary to other Churches: for the Altar ſtands not to the Eaſt, but to the Weſt.] Which Speech implieth that (beſides Chappels if any) there was but one Church that was notable in Antioch; while he calleth it [The Church at Antioch,] without diſtinction from any other there.
XXII. Socrates, l. 7. c. 3. tells us a notable ſtory of Theodoſius Biſhop of Synada, who went to Conſtantinople for Power to perſecute Agapetus the Macedonian Biſhop in that City. But while he was abſent Agapetus turned Orthodox, and his Church and the Orthodox Church joyned together, and made Agapetus Biſhop, and excluded Theodoſius: who made his Complaint of it to Atticus the Patriarch of Conſtantinople (a wiſe and peaceable Man) who deſired Theodoſius to live quietly in private, becauſe it was for the Churches good.] (May ſuch cauſes oft have ſuch deciſions, and Lordly troubleſome Prelates ſuch ſucceſs.) By which ſtory you may gueſs how many Congregations both Parties made in Synada.
XXIII. Socrates, l. 7. c. 26. tells us that Siſinnius was choſen Biſhop of Conſtantinople by the Laity againſt the Clergy. And cap. 28. Siſinnius ſent Proclus to be Biſhop of Cyzi…um; but the People choſe Dalmatius and refuſed him.] And this cuſtom of the People's Choice, muſt needs riſe at firſt from hence, that the whole Church being but one Congregation was preſent: For what Right can any one Church in a Dioceſs have to chuſe a Biſhop for all the reſt, any more than the many hundred that are far off, and uncapable to chuſe?
XXIV. Sozomen's Teſtimony (even ſo late) is very obſervable; lib. 7. cap. 15. who mentioning the differences of the Eaſt and Weſt about Eaſter, and inferring that the Churches ſhould not break Communion for ſuch Cuſtoms, ſaith, [Frivolum enim & merito quidem judicarunt, conſuetudinis gratia a ſe mutuo ſegregari eos qui in praecipuis Religionis capitibus conſentirent: Neque enim eaſdem traditiones per omnia ſimiles in omnibus Eccleſiis quamvis inter ſe conſentientes, reperire poſſes.] And he inſtanceth in this, [Etenim per Scythiam cum ſint Civitates multae, unum d…ntaxat hae omnes Epiſcopum habent (I told you the reaſon of this Rarity before) Apud alias vero nationes reperias ubi & Pagis Epiſcopi ordinantur: Sicut apud Arabes & Cyprios ego comperi.] He ſpeaketh of his own knowledge: No wonder then if Epiphanius be to be interpreted as Petavius doth, when in Cyprus not only the Cities had but one Church, but alſo the Villages had Biſhops. To theſe he addeth the Novatians and the Phrygian Montaniſts. And let none think their inſtances inconſiderable. For the Montaniſts were for high Prelacy, even for Patriarchs, as in Tertullian appeareth. And the Novatians were for Biſhops, and had many very Godly Biſhops, and were tolerated by the Emperors even in Conſtantinople, as good People and Orthodox in the Faith: And Novatus was martyred in Valerian's Perſecution, as Socrates, l. 4. c. 23. ſaith.
XXV. Even Clemens Roman. or whoever he was that wrote in his name, Epiſt. 3. ſheweth that Teaching the People is the Biſhop's Office, and concludeth (in Crab, p. 45.) Audire (Epiſcopum) attentius oportet & ab ipſo ſuſcipere doctrinam fidei; Monita autem vitae a Presbyteris inquire, a Diaconis vero ordinem Diſciplinae: By which Partition of Offices it is evident, that the Biſhop only and not the Presbyters then uſed to preach to the Church, and that the Preſbyters (though ejuſdem ordinis, and not Lay-Elders) uſed to inſtruct the People perſonally, and give them Monita vitae: and that they were all in one Church together, and not in ſeveral diſtant Churches.
XXVI. Paul himſelf telleth us that Cenchrea had a Church, and the Scripture ſaith, They ordained Elders in every Church: And though Downame without any proof obtrude upon us, that it was under the Biſhop of Corinth, and had a Presbyter of his to teach them; yet of what Authority ſoever (in other reſpects) the Conſtitutions called Clements or the Apoſtles be, they are of more than his in this; where lib. 7. cap. 46. in that old Liturgy, Lucius is ſaid to be Biſhop of Cenchrea, ordained by the Apoſtles.
XXVII. Gennadius de viris illuſtr. l. 1. c. 10. ſaith, that Aſclepius was Vici non grandis Epiſcopus, Biſhop of a Village not great.
XXVIII. Saith Cartwright, Four or five of the Towns which were Seats of the Biſhops of the Concil. Carthag. which Cyprian mentioneth, are ſo inconſiderable that they are not found in the Geographical Tables.
XXIX. And faith Altare Damaſcen. p. 294. Oppidum trium Tabernarum Velitris vicinum was a Biſhop's Seat for all the nearneſs and ſmallneſs of the Towns: And Gregor. lib. 2. Epiſt. 35. laid the Relicts of the waſted Church to the Biſhoprick of Veliterno.
Caſtrum Lumanum had a Biſhop till Gregory joyned it to Benevatus Biſhop of Micenas: (and ſo had many Caſtra ordinarily.)
Remigius did appoint a Biſhop within his own Dioceſs when he found that the number of perſons needed it: Viz. apud Laudunum clavatum Caſtrum ſuae Dioeceſeos. Of Spiridion the Biſhop of Trimithantis I ſpake before.
XXX. Theoph. Alexand. Epiſt. Paſch. 3. in Bibl. Pat. To. 3. concludeth thus, [Pro defunctis Epiſcopis in locis ſingulorum conſtituti. In urbe Nichio pro Theopempto Theodoſius; In Terenuthide Aiſinthius; In oppido Geras pro Eudaemone Pirozus; In Achaeis pro Apolline Muſaeus; In Athrivide pro Iſidoro Athanaſius; In Cleopatride Offellus; In Oppido Lato, pro Timotheo Apelles. And the nearneſs and ſmallneſs of ſome of theſe ſheweth the Dioceſes ſmall.
The ſame Theoph. Alex. ſaith, Epiſt. Canon. Can. 6. [De iis qui ordinandi ſunt haec erit forma, ut quicquid eſt Sacerdotalis ordinis conſentiat & eligat, & tunc Epiſcopus examinet, vel ei etiam aſſentiente Sacerdotali ordine in media Eccleſia ordinet praeſente populo, & Epiſcopo alloquente, an etiam poſſet ei populus ferre teſtimonium: Ordinatio autem non fiat clanculum: Eccleſia enim pacem habente decet praeſentibus ſanctis ordinationes fieri in Eccleſia.] Undoubtedly, as Balſamon, noteth by [Saints] is meant fideles, the People. Here then you ſee that the Churches then were ſuch where all the Clergy were preſent with the Biſhop, who ordained Miniſters to a ſingle Church where all the people could be preſent to be conſulted.
XXXI. In the Life of Fulgentius it is ſaid, that Plebs ipſius loci ubi fuerat Monaſterium conſtitutum differre ſuam prorſus Electionem, donec inveniret B. Fulgentium, cogitabat (where, the Biſhops reſolved to ordain, though the King forbad it them.) And though the King perſecuted them for it, it is added, [Repleta jam fuerat Provincia Bizacena novis Sacerdotibus, & pene vix paucarum plebium Cathedrae remanſerant deſtitutae.] And the Phraſe [plebium Cathedrae] doth ſignifie a Biſhop's Seat in one Congregation of People. One Plebs was one Congregation; and had its proper Cathedram.
XXXII. Sozomen (after Socrates) mentioning the diverſity of Church Cuſtoms (as aforeſaid) l. 7. c. 19. ſaith, that at Alexandria the Arch-Deacon only readeth the Holy Scriptures, in other places only the Deacons, and in many Churches only the Prieſts, and on ſolemn days the Biſhops.] By which words it appeareth that then every Church was ſuppoſed to have a Biſhop, Prieſts and Deacons preſent in their publick Worſhip. For the Biſhop on his ſolemn days could not be reading in many Churches (much leſs many hundred) at once.
XXXIII. Hiſtor. Tripartit. l. 1. c. 19. (out of Sozomen, l. 1. c. 14. Edit. Lat. Baſil. p. 1587.) telleth us, how Arius ſeeketh (as from the Bithynian Synod) to Paulinus of Tyre, Euſeb. Caeſar. & Patroph. Scythopol. ut una cum ſuis juberetur cum populo qui cum eo erat, ſolennia Sacramenta Eccleſiae celebrare,—Eſſe dicens conſuetudinem in Alexandria (ſicut etiam nunc) ut uno exiſtente ſuper omnes Epiſcopo, Presbyteri ſcorſim Eccleſias obtinerent, & populus in eis C…ctas ſolemniter celebraret.—] [Tunc illi una cum aliis Epiſcopis, &c.] By this (with what is ſaid before out of Epiphanius) it is undeniable that this (gathering of Aſſemblies by the Presbyters in the ſame City, and adminiſtring the Sacrament to them beſides the Church where the Biſhop was) was taken to be Alexandria's ſingularity, even as low as Sozomen's time. And yet note that here is even at Alexandria no mention of many Churches in the Countries at a diſtance, much leſs hundreds, thus gathered, but only of ſome few in that great City. And if even in a great City, and in Epiphan. and in Sozomen's days a Presbyter's Church was an Alexandrian Rarity, what need we more Hiſtorical Evidence of the Caſe of the Churches in thoſe times?
XXXIV. Ferrandus Diaconus, in Epiſt. de 5. Quaeſt. ſaith to Fulgentius, [Sanctos Presbyteros, Diaconos, beatamque Congregationem (which was his Church) ſaluto.]
And that you may again ſee what Congregation or Church that was, In vita Fulgentii, cap. 17. pag. 8. it is ſaid, that the Plebs ſought and choſe him (and that in deſpight of Foelix the ambitious Deacon, who ſought the place, and ſought the life of Fulgentius.) Populus ſuper ſuam Cathedram eum collocavit: Celebrata ſunt eodem die Divina ſolenniter Sacramenta, & de manibus Fulgentii Communicans omnis populus laetus diſceſſit.] And if in the noble City of Ruſpe, ſo late as the days of Fulgentius, the Biſhop's Church-members were no more than could chuſe him, ſet him on his ſeat, and all communicate that day at his hands, it is eaſie by this to judge of moſt other Churches.
XXXV. Concil. Pariſienſ. 1. (in Caranz. pag. 244. Can. 5.) ſaith, [NullusIt is the eighth Canon in Crab. civibus invitis ordinetur Epiſcopus, niſi quem Populi & Clericorum Electio pleniſſima quaeſierit voluntate; Non principis imperio, neque per quamlibet conditionem Metropolis voluntate Epiſcoporum Comprovincialium ingeratur. Quod ſi per ordinationem Regiam honoris ſui culmen pervadere aliquis nimia temeritate praeſumpſerit, a Comprovincialibus loci ipſius Epiſcopis recipi nullatenus mereatur, quem indebite aſſumptum agnoſcunt. Siquis de Comprovincialibus recipere eum contra indicta praeſumpſerit, ſit a fratribus omnibus ſegregatus, & ab ipſorum omnium Charitate remotus.] Here again you ſee how late all the Church was to chuſe every Biſhop; pleniſſima voluntate; and conſequently how great the Church was. And were this Canon obeyed, all the people muſt ſeparate from all the Biſhops of England, as here all are commanded to do from all thoſe Biſhops that do but receive one that is put in by the King, and not by the free choice of all the Clergy and People of his Church. Note that Crab (Vol. 2. pag. 144.) hath it, [contra Metropolis voluntatem:] But both that, and Caranza's Reading, who omitteth [contra] ſeem contrary to the ſcope; and it's moſt likely that it ſhould be read [Metropolis voluntate, contra Epiſcoporum comprov.] ſcilicet voluntatem.
XXXVI. Leo 1. P. Rom. Epiſt. 89. pag. (mihi) 160. damning Saint Hillary Magiſterially, yet ſaith, [Expectarentur certe vota Civium, teſtimonia populorum, quaereretur honoratorum arbitrium, Electio Clericorum, quae in Sacerdotum ſolent ordinationibus, ab his qui norunt patrum regulas, cuſtodiri, ut Apoſtolicae authoritatis norma in omnibus ſervaretur, qua praecipitur ut Sacerdos Eccleſiae praefuturus, non ſolum atteſtatione fidelium, &c. Et poſtea, Teneatur ſubſcriptio Clericorum, honoratorum teſtimonium, ordinis conſenſus & Plebis: Qui praefuturus eſt omnibus, ab omnibus eligatur.] And how great muſt that Dioceſs be, where all the Laity muſt chuſe and vote? &c. It's true that Epiſt. 87. c. 2. p. 158. he would not have little Congregations to have a Biſhop, to whom one Presbyter is enough; and no wonder at that time, that this great Biſhop of Rome, (the firſt that notably contended for their undue Supremacy in the Empire) was of that mind; who alſo Epiſt. 88. ſaith of the Chorepiſcopi, (Qui juxta Can. Neocaeſar. ſive ſecundum aliorum decreta patrum iidem ſunt qui & Presbyteri.) The falſehood of which being too plain, Petavius in Epiphan. ad Haereſ. 74. p. 278. judgeth that theſe words being in a Parentheſis are irreptitious.) And ibid. Epiſt. 88. he ſaith that by the Can. all theſe things following are forbidden the Chorepiſc. and Presbyter, [Presbyterorum, Diaconorum, aut Virginum conſecratio, ſicut conſtitutio Altaris, ac benedictio vel unctio: Siquidem nec erigere eis Altaria, nec Eccleſias vel Altaria conſecrare licet, nec per impoſitiones manuum fidelibus baptizandis vel converſis ex haereſi Paracletum Spiritum Sanctum tradere, nec Chriſma conficere, nec Chriſmate Baptizatorum frontes ſignare, nec publice quidem in Miſſa quemquam poenitentem reconciliare, nec form…tas cuilibet Epiſtolas mittere.] By which it appeareth how big that Man's Dioceſs muſt be, who beſides all his other work, muſt be preſent to ſign every baptized perſon, and reconcile every Penitent in every Congregation. And it's worth the noting what kind of works they be that the Biſhop's Office is maintained for.
XXXVII. From the great Church of Rome (at its firſt Tide time) let us look to the great Church of Conſtantinople; even in the days of a better Biſhop, Chryſoſtom: Beſides that they had long but one Temple, (of which anon) Chryſoſtom ſaith in 1 Theſ. 5. 12. Orat. 10. foreign &c. Et primum debet imperare & praeeſſe volentibus & lubentibus, qui ei gratiam habent quod imperet, (p. 1472. & p. 1473.) Sacerdos in hoc ſuum contulit negotium: Nulla eſt ei alia vita quam ut verſetur in Eccleſia—Qui Chriſtum diligit, cujuſmodicunque ſit Sacerdos eum diliget, quod per eum ſit veneranda aſſecutus Sacramenta; (And Doctor Hammond ſaith, this Text ſpeaketh only of Biſhops, 1 Theſ. 5. 12.) Et ibid. [Pro te precatur, & dono quod per Baptiſmum datur tibi inſervit, viſitat, hortatur & monet, & media nocte ſi vocaveris venit.] And how many Pariſhes can a Biſhop thus ſerve? And how many ſcore miles will they ſend and he go to viſit the Sick at midnight?
And Chryſoſt. in 1 Cor. 14. p. 653. ſaith, Conveniebant olim, omnes pſallebant communiter. Hoc nunc quoque facimus, (They had no ſeparating Choriſters) ſed tunc in omnibus erat una anima & cor unum: Nunc autem nec una quidem anima illam concordiam videris & conſenſum; ſed ubique magnum eſt Bellum. Pacem nunc quoque precatur pro omnibus, is qui praeeſt Eccleſiae, ut qui in domum ingreditur paternam, ſed hujus pacis nomen quidem eſt frequens, res autem nuſquam. Tunc etiam domus erant Eccleſiae (though called Conventicles:) Nunc autem Eccleſia eſt domus, vel potius quavis domo deterior. When Churches grew to be Dioceſes they grew worſe than when they were in houſes: But he that here is ſaid praeeſſe Eccleſiae is he alſo that pronounceth Peace to them.
XXXVIII. Gregory Nyſſen. ſpeaking of the gathering of true Churches by preaching, ſaith (in Eccleſiaſt. Hom. 1. p. (mihi) 93.) [He is the true Preacher, who gathereth the diſperſed into one Aſſembly, and bringeth thoſe together into one Congregation (or Convention) who by various Errors are variouſly ſeduced.
XXXIX. He that readeth impartially Beda's Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory ſhall find that in England between ſix and ſeven hundred years after Chriſt they were but ſingle Churches that had Biſhops: For indeed the famouſeſt and holieſt of them in the Kingdom of Northumberland, were but Scots Presbyters, and ſuch as were ſent by them without any Epiſcopal Ordination; (Aidan, Finan, &c.) And though they did Apoſtolically preach in many places to convert the Heathen Inhabitants, yet their Churches of Chriſtians were ſmall: yet preſently the Roman Grandeur and Ceremoniouſneſs here prevailed, and ſo by degrees did their Church-form. Yet ſaith Cambden, Brit. ed. Frank. p. 100. When the Biſhops at Rome had aſſigned ſeveral particular Churches to ſeveral Presbyters, and had divided Pariſhes to them, Honorius Arch-Biſhop of Canterbury about the Year 636. firſt begun to diſtribute England into Pariſhes, as is read in the Canterbury Hiſtory.] But it's plain in Beda, if he did then begin it, he went but a little way with that diviſion.
The ſame Cambden alſo tells us, that the Biſhoprick of York devoured ſeven Biſhopricks, and the Biſhoprick of Lincoln more, &c. Some Seats were but removed, but many Biſhopricks were diſſolved and turned into one, which yet were erected when Chriſtians were fewer, ſaith Iſaackſon Chronolog. There was one at Wilton, the See at Ramesbury, one at Crediton, one at St. Patrick's at Bodmin in Cornwall, and after at St. Germains, one at Selſey Iſland, one at Dunwich, one at Helmham, and after at Thetford, one at Sidnaceſter or Lindis, one at Oſney, one at Hexham, &c. And at this day Landaff, St. Aſaph's, Bangor, St. David's are no Cities, where we have Biſhops Seats, as notices of the old way.
XL. Iſidorus Peleuſiota, lib. 1. Epiſt. 149. to Biſhop Tribonianus diſtinctly nameth the Biſhop's Charge, and the calamity, if he be bad, that will befall himſelf firſt, and then the whole Church: Himſelf for undertaking and not performing, and the whole Church, foreign Quod hujuſmodi viro Sacerdotium indigne mandavit. The whole Church then was no bigger than to chuſe the Biſhop and be under his preſent inſpection, as he intimateth.
And Epiſt. 315. to Biſhop Leontius; [If thou tookeſt on thee the care of the Church, againſt thy Will, and art conſtrained by the Suffrages, and the Contentions and Hands of the People, God will be thy helper.—But if by Money—&c.
Lib. 3. Ep. 216. p. 342. He reckoneth up ſuch and ſo much work as neceſſary for a Biſhop as no man living can do for above one ordinary Pariſh. And frequently he deſcribeth the City and Congregation at Peluſium as the place where the wicked Biſhop and his wicked Prieſts together deſtroyed the intereſt of true Religion.
XLI. I conclude this with the words of Euſebius with the Collection of Papirius Maſſonus, a Writer of the Popes Lives. [Fabianus ab iis electus eſt ad Epiſcopatum urbis: Ac forte evenit ut in locum ubi convenerant Columba, e ſublimi volans capiti ejus inſideret, Id pro foelici ſigno accipientes magno conſenſu & alacritate animorum ipſum elegerunt: Haec Euſebius, Hiſt. l. 6. Ex quo loco collegimus Electionem Epiſcopi Romani, non ad paucos, ſed ad omnes olim pertinuiſſe. Pap. Maſſon. in vita Fabiani, fol. 18 col. 2.] And if all the whole People of the great Church of Rome, were then no more than could meet in one Room to chuſe their Biſhop, what were the reſt of the Churches in the World? and how many Congregations did they contain?