Historical Defense of the Reformation, Part 4 · Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
That the Miniſtry Exerciſed in the Communion of the Proteſtants is Lawful, and that the Call of their Ministers is ſo alſo.
WE come now to Juſtify the Right that we have to the Goſpel-Miniſtry, and to defend our Call not only againſt the Ordinary Objections of thoſe of the Church of Rome; but alſo againſt the Accuſations of the Author of the Prejudices in Particular. For that Author who thinks it meritorious to go beyond others eſpecially in his Paſſions, is not contented meerly to ſay, that we are Paſtors without Miſſion and Miniſters without a Call, but by a heat of Zeal obſtinately adhering to him, he call us Thieves and Robbers, Tyrants, Rebells, falſe Paſtors, and Sacrilegious Ʋſurpers of the Authority of Jeſus Chriſt. Nevertheleſs, as thoſe injuries are nothing elſe but the Effect of his ill humour, it will be no hard matter to ſhew him, that all the Conditions that we can rationally require to make a Miniſtry Juſt and Lawful, are to be found in that of the Proteſtant Miniſters, and that Thanks be to God they can reproach them with nothing on that occaſion. This is that which I deſign to ſhew in this Chapter, and to this Effect I ſhall firſt propound ſome Obſervations which I Judge neceſſary for the unfolding of that Queſtion.
I ſay then in the Firſt place, That we do not here diſpute about the Call that our Fathers had for a Reformation, but only of that which they had, and which we have after them for the Ordinary Miniſtry of the Goſpel. For we ought to take great heed leaſt we confound as the Author of the Prejudices has done, thoſe two ſorts of Calls that we acknowledge our Fathers to have had, and which the Church of Rome diſputes with them. For, That which they had to Reform themſelves, that is to ſay, to reject that which we call their Errors and Superſtitions that were brought into the Latin Church, and that which regards the Ordinary Preaching of the word of the Goſpel, the Adminiſtration of the Sacraments, and the Exerciſe of Diſcipline. Theſe two Calls are wholly different. The one, which is that of the Reformation, is of Right common to all Chriſtians, there being no one who is not Lawfully called by his Baptiſm, to deſtroy Errors contrary to the Nature or Purity of the true Faith, and to exhort his Neighbours to do the ſame thing, for the Intereſt of his own Salvation, and that of the Glory of God, as I have already ſhewn in my Second part. From whence it follows, That in that Reſpect they can have nothing to ſay againſt our Fathers, and much leſs Chap. 4.againſt thoſe whom they call the firſt Reformers, ſince being as they were, in publick Offices, they had more of a Call for that then was neceſſary. The other, which is that which reſpects the Ordinary Preaching of the Word of the Goſpel, the Adminiſtration of the Sacraments, and the exerciſe of Diſcipline, is not common to every private man. On the contrary, no one ought on his own head to thruſt himſelf in without being otherwiſe Lawfully called. The Reaſon of this Difference is, that the Reformation conſiſted in the meer Acts of Faith and Charity, which are thoſe Particular Acts that none can diſpence with, becauſe no one can ſay that it does not belong to him to be of the true Faith, or to be Charitable; but the Preaching of the Word, the Adminiſtration of the Sacraments, and the exerciſe of Diſcipline, are thoſe Acts of Authority that no one can do in his own name, but in the name of another, that is to ſay, in the Name of God, or in the Name of the whole Church, ſo that he ought to be Lawfully Authoriz'd to do them. It is then this latter Call that we are concerned about in this Queſtion.
2. In the Second place we muſt note, that we do not here any more diſpute about that Extraordinary Miniſtry which Jeſus Chriſt himſelf immediately Communicated to his Apoſtles to give men the firſt Call to the Chriſtian Faith, and to Aſſemble them in a Society. For our Fathers did not make any new Convocation, nor any new Society, nor any new Church, as I have ſhewn in the Two Foregoing Chapters. They did not preach a new Teſtament or a new Covenant differing from that which the Apoſtles preached. They were not qualified either as new Apoſtles, or new Prophets, or new Evangeliſts; they did not bring with them any new Revelation to the World, but they Purged and Reformed the Corrupted State of Religion and the Church, by the ſame Scriptures that the Apoſtles left us; they laboured to Reduce things into their Antient and Natural State, and for the reſt, they Preached the ſame Gopel and Adminiſtred the ſame Sacraments that the Apoſtles left, and which had alwayes Subſiſted, notwithſtanding the Corruptions wherein they were plunged. In a word, they did not ſet up any thing new, for which they can with any Colour of Reaſon require an immediate Miſſion either from God, or Jeſus Chriſt his Son. We ſpeak therefore here only of the ſame Ordinary Miniſtry that the Apoſtles eſtabliſhed in the Chriſtian Church, as they called or formed it, and which was there appointed, to help its Preſervation and Purgation. This is that Miniſtry which we do not pretend to have a new, but that Antient and perpetual one which Jeſus Chriſt and his Apoſtles left to the Church when they were Converted to the Chriſtian Faith.
3. In the Third Place, we muſt know that to Judge well of the Validity or Invalidity of a Miniſtry, we ought to Conſider it in three Reſpects: 1. In Reſpect of the things themſelves that are taught and practiſed in it. 2. In Reſpect of the Body, that is to ſay, the Society where it is exerciſed. 3. In Reſpect of the Perſons who exerciſe it in that Society. In Regard of the firſt, the Miniſtry of the Jews, the Pagans, the Mahometans is Wicked and Sacrilegious, becauſe the things that are taught there are Impious. In the Second, the Miniſtry of the Donatiſts and Luciferians, which was good and Chriſtian in it ſelf, becauſe there was taught and practiſed nothing ill in it, yet it was notwithſtanding Vitious, becauſe it was exerciſed in Schiſmatical Societies, which had no right to have a Miniſtry apart, and to live in aState of Separation. For the Third, the Miniſtry of an Intruder, an Uſurper, a Simoniack, howſoever good it be in it ſelf, however it be ſet up in a Lawfull Society, that is to ſay, in the true Church, yet it is notwithſtanding bad and Unlawfull, through the Defect of his Perſonal Call.
4. In the Fourth Place, we muſt here before we go any further, make Uſe of the ſame Diſtinction, upon this Subject of the Miniſtry, that we have uſed in the Preceding Chapter upon the Subject of the Church, I mean, that we ought to place a great Difference between that which makes the Eſſence of the Miniſtry, and that which belongs only to its State. For that which is Eſſential to the Goſpel Miniſtry cannot be changed ſo as to make another Miniſtry, and by Conſequence a Falſe, Sacrilegious, and Criminal Miniſtry, ſince there can be but one alone, good and Lawful; and on the contrary, the Eſſence of a Miniſtry remaining the ſame and Intire, it muſt needs be ſaid that it is the ſame Miniſtry, though as to what Reſpects its State it ſhould have received a Change. The Eſſence of the Goſpel Miniſtry Conſiſts in the teaching the ſaving Chriſtian Truth, without excluding any Article that is neceſſary to the Subſiſtance of the True Faith, Piety and Holineſs, in diſpenſing the true Sacraments that Jeſus Chriſt has Eſtabliſhed in his Church, and in guiding the People in ſuch a manner as helps to preſerve the Religious Society, or which at leaſt does not abſolutely deſtroy it. Its State is either good or bad; the Good State is then when there is ſuch a Purity in the Miniſtry that only Chriſtian Truths are taught there, and wherein thoſe are taught in all their Force and Natural Beauty with all the Diligence and Care that men aſſiſted by the Grace of God are capable of, and when the Sacraments alſo are purely adminiſtred according to the Inſtitution of Jeſus Chriſt without Addition or Diminution, and with all the Decency, Modeſty, Simplicity, Gravity, Circumſpection, that thoſe Myſteries of the Chriſtian Religion require, ſo that God may be Glorified, and his Kingdom more and more eſtabliſhed in the Hearts of men, and when further the Church is Governed by Juſt, Wiſe, Prudent, Charitable and well Executed Laws, after a way that does not deſtroy but Edify. In Fine, that Good Conſiſts alſo in this, that thoſe who Exerciſe this Miniſtry receive it by Juſt and Lawful waies, that are proper to draw the Bleſſing of God upon them and their Labours, and that they behave themſelves worthily, quitting themſelves with a good Conſcience in the Charge Committed to them. The bad Eſtate of the Church, on the contrary, is then when that Miniſtry is found to be mingled with Errours and Superſtitions, when the Sacraments are Altered and Corrupted, when the Government of it is worldly, or unjuſt, or Tyrannical, or Confuſed, when thoſe who fill up that Miniſtry, take it by ill, ſcandalous, and unlawfull wayes, and behave themſelves unworthily in it. The Good State of the Miniſtry is a thing that is the moſt to be wiſhed for in the World, and moſt proper to preſerve the Faith, Piety, Holineſs, Peace, Comfort, and Publick Rejoicing in the Church; and the bad State is the moſt to be feared of any thing in the World, and that which we ought to Labour the moſt to Remedy. Nevertheleſs we are not to think that the Miniſtry may not yet Subſiſt in that bad State, as our Bodily Life does not ceaſe to Subſiſt in the midſt of Languiſhing, and heaps of Diſeaſes.
5. In the fifth place, we ought Carefully to diſtinguiſh the Miniſtry conſidered preciſely in it ſelf, and the ſame Miniſtry in as much as it is Occupied or poſſeſſed by perſons who are Inveſted in it, or if you will, we ought to diſtinguiſh the Miniſtry and the Miniſters, for there is a very great Difference between the one and the other; as in a civil Society there is a great difference between the Magiſtracy and the Magiſtrate; The Magiſtracy is an Office, the Magiſtrate is a Perſon who poſſeſſes that Office, the Office remains allwayes, the perſons are changed by Death or otherwiſe. This Diſtinction is not hard to be conceived, but it is nevertheleſs of very great Uſe in the Matter we are upon. For the Miniſtry Conſidered in its ſelf is of an immediatly Divine Eſtabliſhment; Whereas the Perſons that are raiſed to it, are raiſed thither by means of men, and if their Call be divine, as it is in Effect, it is no otherwiſe then mediately ſo; for they are men who call them to it, although they do it by the Authority of God. It is then certain that when God has eſtabliſhed the Miniſtry, he has not only eſtabliſhed all that which it ought to have Eſſential to it, but he has alſo Eſtabliſhed it, de Jure and de facto in a good State; I mean, he has not only laid an Obligation upon Miniſters faithfully to diſcharge all the Functions of ſo great a Charge, but that he has even choſen Perſons who have moſt faithfully acquitted themſelves of it. But it has not been alwayes the ſame in thoſe who have been called by men, for as humane Judgments are ſo ſhort-ſighted, that they cannot pierce through the Hearts of men, and as they are mixed with a great many Imperfections, the Miniſtry may be Committed to perſons who are Inſenſibly Corrupted, either through their Ignorance or through other Inclinations yet more Criminal then Ignorance, and it is from that humane Intervention that the bad State of the Miniſtry proceeds. If God would alwayes ſend them immediately, as he did his Apoſtles and Evangeliſts, there would be ſome ground to believe, that it would never be remote from its firſt Inſtitution; but ſince they are men that ſend them, no one can deny, that it cannot be Corrupted through that Channel, for God has never promiſed any thing to the contrary in that matter. God has not promiſed that he would accompany thoſe Elections and Humane Calls with an Infallible Spirit, that ſhould give them all a happy Succeſs; and beſides that the experience of all the Ages paſt Contradicts it, Jeſus Chriſt himſelf ſeems purpoſely to have forbidden ſuch a raſh Imagination; for although he knew the Heart, and the thoughts of it, yet nevertheleſs he would have a Judas added to the Number of his firſt Diſciples, and he permitted that a Nicholas, who was afterwards the Head of the Sect of the Nicolaitans, ſhould have a part in the Election that the Church made of her firſt Deacons, to give us to underſtand that it was not his intention actually to hinder the Miniſtry from ever falling into very bad hands.
6. We muſt note in the ſixth place, That although the Church and the Ordinary Miniſtry which we ſpeak of, are two things naturally joyned together,—yet it is not the Church that depend▪s upon the Miniſtry, but it is the Miniſtry on the contrary that depends upon the Church. For the Ordinary Paſtors were not Eſtabliſhed but when the Church was firſt formed, and when care was taken for its Preſervation and Propagation, ſo that naturally it preceded Paſtors. The Church was produc'd at firſt by the Extraordinary Miniſtry of the Apoſtles; the firſt thing which they propounded was not to make Ordinary Paſtors, but true Beleivers. They called men to the Knowledge of Jeſus Chriſt, they aſſembled them together, they united them in a Society, before they provided for the upholding of that Society in ſetting up an Ordinary Miniſtry in the midſt of it. They firſt took care for the birth of the New Creature, and after they procured it Breaſts to nouriſh it: Therefore it is that the Ordinary Miniſters were called Paſtors, in reference to Shepheards who fed and led their Flocks. They were called Presbyters or Elders, with reference to the Senators among the Jews; they were called Biſhops, that is Overſeers, or Super-Intendants, by an Alluſion to the Super-Intendants of Victuals among the Greeks, who were called Biſhops alſo. But the Shepheards ſuppoſe their Flocks, the Choſen Senators among the people ſuppoſe the people, the Super-Intendants or Overſeers ſuppoſe thoſe over whom they gave a right of Super-Intendance and Inſpection. The Ordinary Miniſters therefore ſuppoſe the Church, and not the Church the Miniſters; ſhe is not, becauſe they are, but they on the contrary becauſe ſhe is; ſhe does not own her being to them, but they theirs to her. This Truth will yet appear more clearly, if we ſet before their eyes, what I have already ſaid in the firſt Chapter of this Fourth Part, That the Ordinary Miniſtry is not abſolutely neceſſary to the being of a Church, but that it is only neceſſary to its well being, and to hinder it from falling into Ruine. For when the Faithful ſhould have no Paſtors, they would yet be joyned together in a Society, ſince it is Grace and Faith that unite▪s them, and not the Miniſtry. And as in the Civil Society it is the Nature and not the Magiſtrate that unites men, and that after men are united in a Society, the Magiſtrate is made, by reaſon of Order, and by the neceſſity of the preſervation of that Society; ſo that it is the Society that makes the Magiſtrate, and not the Magiſtrate the Society: So here it is the ſame; The Faith and Grace Aſſemble men into a Religous Society, they are thoſe things that make the Church, and afterward the Miniſtry ariſes by reaſon of Order, and to help the preſervation of the Church, and ſo naturally it is the Church that produces the Ordinary Miniſtry, and not the Ordinary Miniſtry that produces the Church. The Church was the Fruit of the Extraordinary Miniſtry of the Apoſtles and Evangeliſts, that Miniſtry produc'd it at firſt, and not only produc'd it, but it has always ſince made uſe of that means or that ſource for its ſubſiſtence; and we may truly ſay that it yet produces it, and that it will produce it unto the end of the World, for it is the Faith that makes and alwayes will make the Church; and it is the Miniſtry of the Apoſtles which makes and will always make the Faith. It is their voice that calls Chriſtians together at this day, it is their word that Aſſembles them, and their Teaching that unites them. It is certain that the Miniſtry of the Apoſtles was ſingular, that is to ſay, only tyed to their perſons without ſucceſſion, without Communication, without Propagation; but it ought not to be thought that it was alſo as Tranſitory a Miniſtry as that of other men, for it is perpetual in the Church; Death has not ſhut their Mouths as it has the others, they ſpeak, they inſtruct, they inceſſantly ſpread abroad the Faith, Piety and Holineſs among the Souls of Chriſtians; and there is not another Fountain from whence thoſe Vertues can deſcend, but from them. If any demand of us what is that perpetual Voice that we aſcribe to them? We anſwer, That it is the Doctrine of the New Teſtament, where they have ſet down all the Efficacy of their Miniſtry, and the whole vertue of that Word which gave a Being to the Church. There it is that their True Chair and their Apoſtolick See is, there is the Center of the Chriſtian Unity, there it is that they inceſſantly call men, and join them into a Society; every other Voice beſides theirs is falſe and ſuppoſititious, it is from theirs alone that the Church proceeds; and becauſe to Aſſemble with thoſe is to Aſſemble with Jeſus Chriſt, we may very well ſay, that not to Aſſemble with them, is to diſperſe inſtead of Aſſembling. But as to the Ordinary Miniſtry of the Paſtors, we cannot ſay the ſame thing, it is not their Voice, as it is diſtinct from that of the Apoſtles, that begets the Faith, that Aſſembles Chriſtians into a Society, or that produces the Church; they are no more but meer diſpenſers of the Word of the Apoſtles, or if you will, External Inſtruments to make us the better underſtand their Voice. They are not, not only, the Ordinary Paſtors who gave a Being to the Church at firſt, but yet further at this day to ſpeak properly, it is not their word that produces the Faith in thoſe who had it not before; for that which confirms it in thoſe who have it, and that which produces it in thoſe who have it not, is the word of the Apoſtles themſelves, to whom we muſt go for conduct, if we would have good ſucceſs. They are then to ſpeak properly no more than thoſe External Guides that God has Eſtabliſhed in the Church to lead men to the Scripture, and even ſuch Guides as cannot hinder us from going thither of our ſelves if we will, and it is the Scripture, the voice of the Apoſtles, or to ſay better the voice of Jeſus Chriſt, that ſpeaks by the Apoſtles, that does all. There is therefore a great difference between thoſe two ſorts of Miniſters, the one preceded the Church, the other follows it; the one is immediately Communicated by God, and the other is Communicated by means of men; the one has an Independent and Soveraign Authority and Infallibility on its ſide, and the other is expoſed to Vices, Diſorders, Errours and humane weakneſſes; Inferior, and depending on the Church; the one is every way Divine, and the other is partly Divine and partly Humane.
7. From that ſixth Obſervation there ariſes another not leſs important, and that which I have already touched upon in divers places of this Treatiſe, that is, That the Ordinary Miniſtry is a Right that belongs to the True Church, and of which it can never be ſpoiled. The Reaſon of this Truth is taken from the very Nature of the Church. For the Church being a Society that God has call'd together by the Miniſtry of his Apoſtles, and which he yet every day calls together and upholds by the word of his Scriptures, and the uſe of his Sacraments, we muſt neceſſarily ſay that in forming it, he has given it in that very thing that he has formed it a ſufficient, full and entire Right to make uſe of all the means that may help its preſervation and upholding, amongſt which that of the Miniſtry is without doubt moſt conſiderable. That ſame Providence that gives men a Natural Life, and appoints them to preſerve their life by that Food it furniſhes them with, gives them by that very thing a right to employ perſons to gather that food together and to prepare it, to the end they may make uſe of it according to what it is deſigned for; and it would be a great Extravagance to demand of a man what Right he has to prepare himſelf to eat and drink, for he could have nothing more to ſay but that the Nature that gave him life, gave him at the ſame time all the Right that was neceſſary, to provide for the upholding of that life. And, to make uſe of another Example, The ſame Nature, or to ſay better the ſame Providence, that Aſſembles men together in a Civil Society, and ordains them in their ſo uniting together to uphold that Society by a rational Order, does it not give them at the very ſame time and by the ſame Right that Aſſembles them, a Right to have Magiſtrates, to Govern them by, and to make the Laws of that Society to be Executed, to have Judges to decide their differences, to have Remedies for the Healing of Diſeaſes, and Tradesmen for the publick good: And would it not be an abſurdity to demand of a people what Right they had to have Magiſtrates, Judges, Phyſicians, Tradeſmen, Teachers of Commerce, Lawyers, ſince they could not have a fuller and juſter Right than that which is founded upon the reaſon of Order and the Society it ſelf? We need but to apply theſe Examples to the Subject we are upon. The Church is a Body to which God has given a Spiritual Life, and he has ordained it to be preſerved and upheld in the uſe of Myſtical Aliments, of which he himſelf has made a publick Magazine in his Holy Scriptures; it is therefore evident that he has given it by that very thing, a Right to have Miniſters or Paſtors who ſhould prepare thoſe Sacred Aliments, and ſeaſon them for its Spiritual Nouriſhment. The Church is a Religious Society compoſed of divers perſons that God himſelf has Aſſembled to live together, not in Confuſion but in Order, he would have that Society ſubſiſt, he has appointed it to uphold and preſerve it ſelf, he himſelf has ſuggeſted the means; he has then without doubt by that very thing given a Right to have Guides to Govern her, Paſtors to lead them forth into the Heavenly Paſtures of the Scriptures, Miniſters to diſpenſe the Divine Sacraments that he has inſtituted for her, Watch-men and Guides to be careful of her, and to go before her. In a word he who has given Faith, Piety and Chriſtian Holineſs to the Church, has at the ſame time indiſpenſably obliged them to theſe four Duties; one is, to perſevere in the Exerciſe of thoſe Vertues unto the end. The other is, to defend themſelves againſt the Aſſaults and wiles of the Enemy of their Salvation; the third is, to increaſe and ſtrengthen themſelves more and more; and laſtly, to propagate them as much as in them lyes from us down to our Children, and even amongſt Strangers, that is to ſay, among thoſe who are not as yet in that Relation. It follows therefore neceſſarily that that has given the Church a ſufficient full and entire Right for the Miniſtry, ſince the Miniſtry is but a fit and lawful means for all that.
It could not have a Right more lawful than that which is founded upon thoſe indiſpenſable Duties, for in that caſe, it is not only a Right that makes the thing juſt, but it is an obligation that impoſes a neceſſity of it; as in the State, the Right that every one has to learn the Will of the Prince is indiſputable, becauſe it is built upon the obligation that lies upon every one to conform himſelf to it. It is clear then that there could not have been a Right to have Miniſters more lawful than that of a Faithful People, a True Church, ſince it is founded upon thoſe four Duties which I have noted, that are indiſpenſable, and that give not only a Right but an Obligation to have a Miniſtry. But we ought here to take notice of the Fallacy that their Miſſionaries are wont to make, and that the Authour of the Prejudices who has Adopted their Method would have us make with them. For ſee after what manner they argue. Where there is no lawful Miniſtry, there is no True Church: But among the Proteſtants there is no True Church. I ſet aſide the Queſtion, Whether we have or whether we have not a lawful Miniſtry in the ſame ſence that he intends, I will only at preſent conſider his way of Reaſoning, that makes the True Church depend upon a lawful Miniſtry. Admitting that to be a True Church where the Miniſtry is, and denying that to be a True Church where the Miniſtry is not. I ſay that this is a vain, deceitful and illuſory way of Reaſoning; to which I oppoſe this other Argument: Where there is the True Church, there is a Right to a Lawful Miniſtry; But the True Church is among the Proteſtants; Therefore the Right to a Lawful Miniſtry is among the Proteſtants. Of thoſe two ways of arguing it is certain that this latter is the juſteſt and almoſt only juſt, right and natural. For the True Church naturally goes before the Miniſtry; it does not depend upon the Miniſtry, but the Miniſtry on the contrary depends upon it: as in the Civil Society, the Magiſtracy depends upon the Society, and not the Society upon the Magiſtracy: In the Civil Society the firſt thing that muſt be thought on, is, that Nature made men; afterwards we conceive that ſhe Aſſembled and United them together; and laſtly that from that Union that could not ſubſiſt without Order, Maſtiſtracy proceeded. It is the ſame thing in a Religious Society; the firſt thing that Grace did, was to produce Faith in the Hearts of men; after having made them believe, ſhe United them, and form'd a mutual Communion between them; and becauſe their Communion ought not to be without Order and without Government, from thence the Miniſtry aroſe. So that a Lawful Miniſtry is after the True Church, and depending upon it. It is not a Lawful Miniſtry that makes it to be the True Church, for it is ſo by the Truth of its Faith, and it would yet be ſo, when it actually had not any Miniſters; but it is the True Church that makes the Miniſtry to be Lawful, ſince it is from the Truth of a Church, that the Juſtice of its Miniſtry proceeds. The Argument therefore of the Author of the Prejudices involves the Diſpute in a ridiculous Circle, for when he would prove that we are not the True Church becauſe we have not a Lawful Miniſtry, we maintain on the contrary, That we have a Lawful Miniſtry, becauſe we are the True Church. And he cannot ſay that we are the cauſe of the ridiculous Circle, becauſe our way of Reaſoning follows the Order of Nature, and his does not follow it. I omit that his firſt Propoſition, which is, Where there is no Lawful Miniſtry there is no True Church, is Equivocal. For either he underſtands by that Lawful Miniſtry, Miniſters actually Eſtabliſhed, or elſe he means a Right to Eſtabliſh them. If the former, his Propoſition is falſe, for the True Church may be without having actually any Miniſters, that is no ways impoſſible, as I have already ſhewn. And if he means the latter, his Propoſition is not to his purpoſe, for it would maintain that the Society of the Proteſtants has a full and entire Right to ſet up Miniſters for its Government, ſuppoſing that it had the True Faith, as it may appear by what I have ſaid, and as it will appear yet more clearly by the following Obſervation.
8. I ſay then in the eighth place, That the Body of the Church, that is to ſay, Properly and Chiefly the Society of the truly Faithful, not only has the Right of the Miniſtry, but that it is alſo that Body that makes a Call Lawful of perſons to that Office. This Truth will be confirmed by what I have already ſhewn, without any further need of new Proofs. But as the Queſtion concerning the true Fountain whence that Call proceeds, is it ſelf alone almoſt all the difference that is between the Church of Rome, and us about this matter, and that moreover it is extreamly Important to the Subject we are upon, It is neceſſary for us to examine it a little more carefully. They cannot then take it ill that I inſiſt a little more largely upon this Obſervation then I have done upon the reſt. To make it as clear as I can poſſibly, I propoſe to Treat of three Queſtions; The firſt ſhall be, To know whether naturally a Call belongs to the Paſtors only, excluding the Laity, or whether it belongs to the whole Body of the Church. The Second, Whether in caſe it belongs to the whole Body of the Church, it can be ſaid that the Church can of it ſelf ſpoil it ſelf of its right, or whether it has loſt it any way that it could be ſuppoſed to have. And the Third, Whether the Body of the Church may confer Calls immediately by it ſelf, or whether the Church is alwayes bound to confer them by means of its Paſtors?
As to the firſt of theſe Queſtions, All the Difficulty it can have, comes only from the falſe Idea of a Call that is ordinarily formed in the Church of Rome. For firſt, They make it a Sacrament properly ſo called, and they name it the Sacrament of Orders. From whence the thought readily ariſes that the Body of the People cannot confer a Sacrament. They Imagine next, That that Sacrament impreſſes a certain Character, which they call an Indelible Character, and which they conceive of as a Phyſical Quality, or an Abſolute Accident, as they ſpeak in the School, and as an Inherent Accident in the Soul of the Miniſter. They perſwade themſelves further that Jeſus Chriſt and his Apoſtles left that Sacrament and that Phyſical Quality in truſt in the hands of the Biſhops to be communicated by none but them. With that they mix a great many Ceremonies, and External Marks, as Unction, and the Shaving which they call the Prieſty Crown. They add to all that, Prieſtly Habits, the Stole, the Alb, the Cope, the Croſs, the Miter, the Rochet, Hood, Pall, &c. They make Myſterious Allegories upon theſe Ceremonies and thoſe Ornaments, they diſtinguiſh thoſe Dignities into divers Orders, they frame a Hierarchy ſet out by the Pompous Titles of Prelats, Primates, Arch-Biſhops, Patriarchs, Cardinals, &c. They write great Books upon all theſe things, and the half of their Divinity is taken up in explaining their Rights, Authority, Priviledges, Immunities, Apoſtolick Grants, Exceptions, &c. What ground is here that all good men ſhould not believe that the Church-men, are at leaſt men of another kind from all others, and that they are no wayes made of the ſame blood, of which Saint Paul ſays, that God has made all Mankind? Notwithſtanding when we examine well that Call, what it is, to form a juſt Idea of it, we ſhall find that properly it is but a Relation that reſults from the Agreement of three Wills, to wit, that of God, that of the Church, and that of the Perſon called; for the conſent of theſe three make all the Eſſence of that Call, and the other things that may be added to it, as Examination, Election, Ordination, are Preambulatory Conditions, or Signs, and External Ceremonies, which more reſpect the Manner of that Call then the Call it ſelf. In Effect, in a Call we can remark but three Intereſts that can engage one to it, that of God, ſince he that is called ought to ſpeak and Act in his Name, that of the Church, that ought to be Inſtructed, Served, and Governed; and that of him who is called, who ought to fulfil the Functions of his Charge, and to Conſecrate his Watchful Diligence, Cares, and Labours to it; from whence it follows, That that Call is ſufficiently formed, when God, the Church, and the Perſon called, come to agree, and we cannot rationally conceive any thing elſe in it. But as to the Will of the called, it does not fall into the Queſtion, for we all acknowledge that no one can be forced to receive the Office of the Miniſtry; and therefore Saint Paul deſcribing the qualities of a Biſhop, begins with the deſire to be a Biſhop; If any man, ſays he, Deſire the Office of a Biſhop, he Deſireth a good Work. We are only then concerned about the two others, to wit, that of God, and that of the Church. As for the Will of the Church, they cannot methinks deny, that naturally it ſhould not be that of the whole Body, and not meerly that of the Paſtors that ought to be required to it. For they are not the Paſtors alone who have an Intereſt in the call of a man, it is generally the whole Body of the Church, it is that which ought to be as I have ſaid, Inſtructed, Served and Governed, it is that that ought to receive the Sacraments from his hands who is called, and that ought to be Comforted and Edified by his Word. Its conſent therefore is neceſſary there, and it is of the Eſſence of the Call that it ſhould intervene. As to the Will of God, both the one and the other of us agree, that it is not any more not made known to men immediately and expreſly, for howſoever we may without doubt referr it to a particular Diſpenſation of his Providence, the qualities, or as they ſpeak, the Extraordinary Talents that ſome perſons have for the exerciſe of that Office, and eſpecially when thoſe Talents are joyned with internal Diſpoſitions, ſecret motions or deſires to employ them in God's Work, and the advancement of his Glory, we affirm that that cannot be enough abſolutely to conclude a Divine Revelation. God has therefore on this occaſion put his Will as a Truſt into mens hands, and that very thing, that he has Inſtituted the Ordinary Miniſtry in the Church, contains a Promiſe to Authoriſe thoſe lawful Calls that they ſhall give to perſons for that Office. We are agreed upon that Point, it concerns us only to know who are left in Truſt with that Will, the Paſtors alone, or the whole Body of the Church. Thoſe of the Roman Communion pretend the former, and we pretend the latter.
To decide this difference, I ſay, That we cannot rationally own any other to be left in truſt with the Will of God in that Reſpect, then the Body to which he himſelf has naturally given the Right of the Miniſtry, for whoſe ſake he has Inſtituted the Miniſtry, and which he has even bound by an indiſpenſable Duty to have Miniſters. That Body I ſay, which has as great an Intereſt in it as that of the Preſervation of its Faith, Piety, and Juſtice, and whoſe conſent ought moreover neceſſarily to Intervene. But that Body is that of the whole Church, and not of the Paſtors only, it is to that, as I have ſhewn before, that the Miniſtry belongs, it is for the ſake of that that God has eſtabliſhed it, it is Indiſpenſably bound to have Miniſters, it has the greateſt Intereſts in it, and it ought even naturally to concur. It is that therefore that God has left his Will in Truſt with, as to thoſe Calls, and by Conſequence it is from that that thoſe Calls ought to proceed, and it would be Abſurd to make them flow from any thing elſe.
We have already frequently ſaid, That the Body of the Viſible Church, as it is upon Earth, is alwayes mingled with the good and bad, with the true Believers, and the Wicked, and that when theſe two Orders of perſons are ſet in Oppoſition, they are the truly Faithful only, that are properly the Church of Jeſus Chriſt; That Church I ſay, which he has appointed to Aſſemble in his Name, to which he has promiſed his Preſence, to which he has given the Keys of his Kingdom, the Power of Binding and Looſing, and in a word, to which he has given the Miniſtry and all the Rights that follow upon it, or go before it; ſo that to be of that Church, it is neceſſary to be a True Believer, and no Body without True Faith can have that Advantage, the Prophane and the Wicked, as juſt, being all naturally Excluded. But it is Evident that the Paſtors may not be of the Number of thoſe true Believers; Experience juſtifies that the greateſt Number may forſake the true Faith; and there is no promiſe of God that that ſhall never happen in Reſpect of all of them. It would then be a great Raſhneſs to make thoſe Paſtors alone Depoſitaries of that Will of God whereof we ſpeak, and which is eſſentially neceſſary to the Call of Perſons, ſince not having any Revelation that promiſes that he will alwayes preſerve the Faithful in their Body, none can be aſſured that ſince the firſt riſe of the Goſpel till this preſent time they have alwayes been, none can be aſſured that it never hapned or that it will never fall out, that that Order may not be wholly fill'd up with, and poſſeſs'd by the worldly and Hypocrites. It would be to depoſite the Will of God in a Body that might ſometimes not be the true Church, and not have the leaſt part in its Intereſts, it would be to derive that Call from a Source that might be wholly cut off from the Church. It would be to make the Validity of the Sacraments, that are a chief means of the Preſervation and Propagation of the City of God to depend on the Inhabitants of Babylon, which Saint Auguſtine ſays, is alwayes mixed with the Inhabitants of Jeruſalem, which would be manifeſtly contrary to the Order of Gods Wiſdom. It is therefore without doubt more conformable to that Wiſdom, to make his Will known, and by Conſequence the Lawful Call of a man, throughout the whole Body of the Church, ſince that howſoever mixed the wicked may be there with the righteous in the ſame External Profeſſion we are notwithſtanding aſſured by the promiſes of God that there will be alwayes ſome true Believers in that External Profeſſion, even until the end of the World, and by Conſequence there will be alwayes the True Church, that very ſame that Jeſus Chriſt has Aſſembled, and to which he has properly given as well the Right of the Miniſtry as all the other Rights of a Religious Society. It is far more juſt, that ſince God has not more immediately by himſelf declared his Will, upon the occaſion of thoſe perſonal Calls, that we ſhould regard that Body which we are certain of that God loves and looks upon as his Family, and as the Spouſe of Jeſus Chriſt his Son, that we look upon it, I ſay, as his Interpreter in that Regard, then to go to ſeek for his Voice, and as I may ſo ſay his Oracle, in a Body whereof we cannot have the ſame certainty that it cannot be, or that it has not even ſometimes been wholly made up of the unjuſt and worldly.
They will ſay it may be, that it would not be better if thoſe Calls ſhould proceed from the Body of the Church, although they might be certain that God alwayes preſerves the truly Faithful there; ſince the wicked moſt frequently prevail there over the Good, that they would make themſelves Maſters of thoſe Calls, and that they could neither more nor leſs Communicate them to the wicked and the worldly, then if there were no Believers in the Church. I Anſwer, That it is true, that whether thoſe Calls come from the Paſtors only, or whether they proceed from the Body of the Church, we could have no certainty that they ſhould be well made as to the choice of Perſons, for God has not promiſed his Faithful Ones even when they ſhall be a greater number then the worldly, that they ſhall alwayes make good Elections, they may without doubt be deceived in that reſpect, although there may be a greater Likely hood that thoſe Elections ſhould be more juſt, when they ſhould be made by a Body in which one is aſſured that there are allwayes True Believers, then when they ſhould be made by a more particular Body whereof one cannot have the ſame Aſſurance. But not to ſtay upon that, I ſay that my Argument Reſpects not the goodneſs of that Election, but the Validity of the Call in it ſelf whether it be conferred upon a good man, or whether on a wicked, for the Call of a wicked man ought not to ceaſe to be good, although the Choice ſhould be illmade. My meaning then is, that if the Call proceed only from the Body of the Paſtors, without the conſent of the whole Church Intervening, after whatſoever manner, it may be ſo brought about, as that it may proceed from a Body of impious and Prophane Perſons, who ſhould all be really Separated from the Church, and who would have no part in its Intereſts; ſo that it would be to make the Divine Authority that ought to accompany that Call, and the Validity of the Actions of the Miniſtry, to depend on a Body of wicked men, and to make the Enemies of God the fit Depoſitaries of his Will, which to me ſeems no wayes conformable to the Order of his Wiſdom, eſpecially when there is another Body where we know that he alwayes preſerves and upholds his Faithful.
But they will ſay yet further, If your arguing took place, it would take away from the Paſtors all the Functions of their Miniſtry to give them to the Body of the Church. The Paſtors would have no more any Right, either to Preach, or to Adminiſter the Sacraments, or to Govern the Church, or to cenſure, or to ſuſpend, or to Excommunicate. For it we ſay that that Call would not depend upon them, under a pretence that we have not any Certainty that God preſerves and will alwayes Preſerve True Believers amongſt them, we muſt ſay the ſame, that the Government of the Church, Preaching, the Adminiſtration of the Sacraments, and the Exerciſe of Diſcipline could not be committed to them, ſince we have not any more Certainty for thoſe things, that there ſhould be any truly Faithful among them, then we have upon the matter of that Call; ſo that all muſt be overthrown if that Reaſon take place. I anſwer, That the Donatiſts heretofore fell into that Extravagance to imagine that the Preaching of the Goſpel, the Sacraments, and the other Actual Functions of the Miniſtry ought to be performed by Holy Paſtors, to become good and valid, and not by the Wicked; ſo that being moreover Prejudiced with this thought, that the whole Body of thoſe Paſtors who retained Communion with Caecilianus were fallen off from their Righteouſneſs and become Wicked, they held that there was not any more a Church in the World beſides the Party of Donatus. But Saint Auguſtine ſhew'd them that their Principle was falſe; and it is worthy the noting by what Way he made them ſee the falſneſs of their Opinion, for it was neither by telling them that the Body of the Paſtors when they all became Wicked failed not to be the Church of Jeſus Chriſt, nor in holding that Jeſus Chriſt having at firſt put the Miniſtry into the hands of the Paſtors, it muſt neceſſarily follow by that very thing, that he was bound to preſerve their Righteouſneſs, or at leaſt alwayes to preſerve the truly juſt and Faithful Perſons in their Body, and thoſe who ſhould make the Sacraments to all the reſt. He ſays nothing of all that, but he had recourſe to the Body of the Church, and he ſays, that the Sacraments are not the Paſtors, nor the Power of the Keys, nor that of Binding and Looſing, nor any of the Functions of their Miniſtry, but that all that belongs to the Church; that it is that that Baptiſes when the Paſtors Baptiſe, that it is that that binds when the Paſtors bind, and that looſes when they looſe; and that it is to her that Jeſus Chriſt has given all thoſe Rights. But what will you ſay he underſtands by that Church? The Truly Faithful, whatſoever they be, the Wheat of God, the good Seed, the good Fiſh, as they are called; in a word, the Juſt, the Children of God, in Excluſion of the Worldly. It is from that Fountain that the Validity of the Sacraments is drawn, and the other Functions of the Miniſtry, and not from the Body of the Paſtors. I ſay then, the ſame thing. All that which the Body of the Paſtors does, it does in the name of the Church, and by Conſequence in the name of Jeſus Chriſt, for the Name of Jeſus Chriſt is in the Name of the Church, it is the Church that preaches by them, that adminiſter the Sacraments by them, that governs by them, that cenſures, that ſuſpends, that abſolves, that Excommunicates by them, they are only its Miniſters and the Diſpenſers of its rights. Whether then they be wicked, whether they be Prophane or Impious, that hurts their own Perſons, but it does not hurt their Functions, becauſe their Functions are not their own, but the Churches.
Furthermore, that Hypotheſis of St. Auguſtine concerning the ſource from whence the Validity of the Action of the Miniſtry proceeds, furniſhes us with another Argument which to me ſeems Demonſtrative not only from the Authority of that Father, but from the Nature of the thing it ſelf. For it is evident that we ought to refer that Call to the ſame Body to which God originally gave the Power of the Keys, and which is exerciſed by the Paſtors, ſo that the Paſtors are no more but the Diſpenſers of its Rights. As that which makes Baptiſm, the Communion, the Government, and the Acts of Diſcipline good and valid, is not becauſe they proceed from the Paſtors only, but becauſe they proceed from the Body of the Church. So the ſame muſt be ſaid, that, that which makes a Call good, valid, and lawful, is, becauſe it comes from the Church, that is to ſay, from the truly Faithful. But it is certain that it is properly the Body of the Faithful that has received Originally the Power of the Keys, that is exerciſed by the Paſtors, and upon which the Validity of all the Actions of the Miniſtry depends, as being done in the Name and Authority of the whole Body, and by Conſequence it is to that we muſt refer that Call.
If I had a mind here to ſet down all the paſſages of St. Auguſtine when he eſtabliſhes this Truth, I ſhould engage my ſelf in an exceſſive Tediouſneſs. It ſhall ſuffice to ſet down ſome few that may clearly let us ſee what his Doctrine was upon this matter. Judas ſays he, Repreſented the Body of the wicked, and Saint Peter repreſented the Body of the good, the Body of the Church; I ſay The Body of the Aug. Tract 5… in Joan.Church, but the Church which conſiſts in the good: For if St. Peter had not repreſented that Church, our Lord would not have ſaid to him, I give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatſoever thou ſhalt bind on Earth ſhall be bound in Heaven, and whatſoever thou ſhalt looſe on Earth ſhall be looſed in Heaven. For if that had been ſaid but to St. Peter only, the Church does not do it. But if it be done in the Church, to wit, that the things that are bound on Earth are bound in Heaven, and that thoſe which are looſed on Earth are looſed in Heaven, in as much as he which the Church Excommunicates, is Excommunicated in Heaven, and he to whom the Church is Reconciled is Reconciled in Heaven, ſince that I ſay is done in the Church, it follows that St. Peter receiving the Keys repreſented the Holy Chvrch. And as the good who are in the Church, were repreſented in the perſon of St Peter, ſo the wicked who are in the Church, were repreſented in the perſon of Judas, and it is to thoſe that Jeſus Chriſt ſaid, Me you have not always. And further, after having deſcribed the Church of the Truly Faithful, in theſe Terms, God has ſent his Tract 124. in Joann.Son into the World to the end that thoſe who believe in him ſhould by the laver of Regeneration be looſed from their Sins, as well Original as Actual, and that being delivered from Everlaſting Damnation they ſhould live in Faith, Hope and Charity, as Pilgrims in this World, amidſt Temptations, and Labours, and amidſt the Corporal and Spiritual Conſolations of God, walking in Chriſt Jeſus, who is their way. But becauſe in that very way in which they walk they are not free from thoſe Sins that ariſe through the Infirmity of this Life, he has appointed them the ſaving Remedy of Alms, to help their prayers which he has commanded them to make; Forgive our Treſpaſſes, as we forgive them that Treſpaſs againſt us. After, I ſay, having deſcribed the Church of the Juſt in that manner, he adds, This is that which makes the Church bleſſed in Hope in this miſerable life, and it is this Church that Saint Peter repreſented by the primacy of his Apoſtleſhip, Nam Eccleſiae gerebat figurata generalitate perſonam. If you look upon Saint Peter in himſelf, he was but a man by Nature, a Chriſtian by Grace, and the first of the Apoſtles by the ſuper-abundance of Grace. But when Jeſus Chriſt ſaid to him, I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatſoever thou ſhalt bind on Earth ſhall be bound in Heaven, and whatſoever thou ſhalt looſe on Earth ſhall be looſed in Heaven, he Repreſented the whole Body of the Church, that Church I ſay which in that Age was moved with divers Temptations, as by ſo many Storms, Torrents and Tempeſts, and which yet does not fall into ruine, becauſe it is founded upon the Rock, from which Saint Peter took his Name. I ſay that Saint Peter took his Name from it, for as the Name of Chriſtian is derived from Chriſt, and not that of Chriſt from that of Chriſtian, ſo that of Saint Peter, is derived from the Rock, and not that of the Rock from the Name of St. Peter, and therefore Jeſus Chriſt ſaid to him, Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church. For Saint Peter having made this Confeſſion, Thou art the Chriſt the Son of the living God, our Lord told him that he would build his Church upon that Rock which he had confeſſed. For that Rock was Jeſus Chriſt, upon which Saint Peter himſelf is built, according to what is ſaid, No man can lay other Foundation then what is already laid, which is Jeſus Chriſt. It is that Church therefore that was founded upon Jeſus Chriſt which received from him in the Perſon of Saint Peter, the Keys of that Kingdom, that is to ſay, the Power of binding and looſing. In the ſame ſenſe he Aug. in Pſal. 108.ſays elſewhere, That there are ſome things ſaid to Saint Peter that plainly ſeem properly to belong to him, and which nevertheleſs cannot Nec Tamen habent Illuſtrem Intellectum niſi cum referuntur ad Eccleſiam.be ſo well underſtood, if they are not referred to the Church that Saint Peter repreſented, and of which he was the Figure by that Primacy which he had among the Diſciples, as are, adds he, theſe words, I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; Yet elſewhere, Jeſus Chriſt has given the Keys to his Church, to the end that that which it ſhould bind on Earth ſhould be bound in Heaven, Auguſt. de Doctr. Chr. l. b. 1 cap. 18.and that whatſoever it ſhould looſe ſhould be looſed; that is to ſay, to the end that he that ſhould not believe that his Sins are pardoned in the Church, to him they ſhould not be pardoned, and that on the contrary he who being in the boſom of the Church ſhould beleive that his Sins were pardoned, and who ſhould be reduced by a holy correction, ſhould obtain pardon. It is not Auguſt. de Baptiſ. Contra Donat lib. 7. cap. 51.raſhly, ſays he in another place, that I make two Orders of men. One ſort are ſo much in the Houſe of God, that they are themſelves that Houſe that is built upon a Rock, and that which is called the only Dove, the Spouſe without Spot and Wrinkle, the Incloſed Garden, the hidden Fountain, the Wells of Living Water, the Paradiſe where the Fruit of Apples is. It is this Houſe which has received the Keys and the Power to bind and looſe, and it is this to which he ſaid, That if any would not hearken to it when it Reproved and Corrected, that he ſhould be eſteemed as a Heathen man and a Publican—That Houſe conſiſts in Veſſels of Gold and Silver, in Precious Stones and Incorruptible Wood, and it is to that that Saint Paul ſays, Bear with one another in love, keeping the Ʋnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace; and again, The Temple of God is Holy, which Temple ye are. It Conſiſts in the good, in the Faithful, in the Holy Servants of God ſpread abroad every where, joyned together in a ſpiritual Ʋnity by the Communion of the ſame Sacraments, whether they know one another by ſight, or whether they do not. But as for the others, they are ſo in the Houſe as not at all to belong to the Structure of the Houſe, and they are not in that Society that is Fruitful in Peace and Righteouſneſs. They are as the Chaff amidſt the good Corn, and we cannot deny that they are in the Houſe, ſince the Apoſtle ſays that there are in the Houſe not only Veſſels of Gold and Silver, but Veſſels alſo of Wood and Earth, the one to Honour and the others to Diſhonour. They muſt wilfully ſhut their Eyes that will not acknowledge by theſe Paſſages that it is only to the Church of the Faithful, and not to the Body of the Prelates that that Father refers all the Efficacy and Force of the Actions of the Miniſtry, and all the Power of the Keys. But further if you will, he explains himſelf yet more expreſly in the ſame Book out of which I have taken theſe laſt Words. Hitherto, ſays he, I have methinks clearly enough demonſtrated by the Holy Scriptures and by the Teſtimony of Saint Cyprian, that the Wicked who have Aug. de Bap. contr. Donat lib. 6. cap. 3, & 4.undergone no change in their Natural Eſtate, may both give and receive Baptiſm. Notwithſtanding it is manifeſt that thoſe men do not belong to the Church of God, ſince they are Covetous, Extortioners, Ʋſurers, Envious, Malicious, and Enſlaved by ſuch * Raviſeurslike Vices, for the Church is the only Dove that is modeſt and Chaſt; the Spouſe without Spot and Wrinkle, the Incloſed Garden, the Sealed Fountain, the Paradice full of Fruits, and ſuch other Titles that are given it can be underſtood of none but the Good, the Saints, and the Righteous; that is to ſay, thoſe in whom not only the Operations of the Gifts of God are found, that are common to the good and bad, but who have alſo the inward and Supernatural Grace of the Holy Spirit. It is to thoſe that it is ſaid, Whoſoevers Sins you ſhall remit, they ſhall be remitted; and whoſoever Sins you retain they ſhall be retained. I do not then ſee why we may not ſay that a wicked man may Adminiſter Baptiſm, ſince he may have it, and as he has it to his ruine, he may give it to others alſo to their ruine, not becauſe that that which he gives may be a Pernicious thing, but becauſe that he himſelf who receives it is a wicked man. For when a wicked man gives Baptiſm to a good man who dwelling in the bond of Ʋnity is truly Converted, the wickedneſs of him who gives it is overcome by the goodneſs of the Sacrament and the Faith of him who receives it, and when his Sins are pardoned who is truly Converted to God, they are pardoned to him by thoſe with whom he is joyned by a true Converſion. For the ſame Holy Spirit which was given to the Saints with whom he is united by the bond of Love, is he who pardons them, whether he knows that Body, or whether he knows it not. And ſo when the Sins of any are retained, they are retained by thoſe from whom they are ſeparated by the Difference of their Lives and the Malice of their Hearts, whether they know that Body or whether they do not.
It could not methinks be ſaid either with greater ſtrength or Clearneſs, that all the Efficacy of the Actions of the Miniſtry that the Paſtors Exerciſe, depends not on the Body of the Paſtors, but on the Body of the truly Faithful, and that in Effect they are thoſe who pardon and retain Sins when the Miniſters pardon or retain them. From whence it neceſſarily follows, That if the ſame Actions of the Miniſtry belong to the Society of the Faithful, the Call of the Miniſtry, does ſo alſo with a far greater Reaſon; for if the Power of the Keys, the right of Remitting and Retaining Sins, belongs to the body of the Faithful only, it muſt be every way neceſſary that the Paſtors ſhould hold the exerciſe of that Power, from the body of the Faithful; for if they ſhould not hold it from thence, they would have no Right to exerciſe it, nor could have it elſewhere. And if they ſhould have it elſewhere or that it ſhould belong properly to the body of the Paſtors excluſively from the Simple Faithful, it would be not only not true, but it would be further abſurd to ſay that the body of the Faithful exerciſed that Power by the Paſtors, or that they pardoned and retained Sins, as Saint Auguſtine teaches.
I cannot avoid taking notice here, by the by, of that Ordinary Error whereinto thoſe of the Church of Rome fall, who do not believe that immediate, abſolute and Independent Authority that the Pope aſcribes to himſelf over the whole Church, but who would that the Power of the Keys is given to the whole Body of the Hierarchy, that is to ſay, to thoſe Paſtors who are Prieſts and Biſhops. For to prove their Opinion they do not fail to ſet the Sentiment of St. Auguſtine before us, which plainly, as we have ſeen, ſhews us that the Keys were given to the whole Church; from whence they draw two Concluſions, The one againſt that great Authority that the Pope pretends to, and the other for the Authority of the Biſhops, which they would have to flow immediately from Jeſus Chriſt. But of theſe two Concluſions it is certain that the Firſt is juſt and wholly conforming with the thoughts of that Father, but it is not leſs certain that the ſecond is not; and that, at leaſt without going about to deceive our ſelves willingly, or to cheat the World, we could not ſay, that That Church figured by St. Peter, to which God gave the Power of the Keys, which is exerciſed by the Miniſtry of the Paſtors, ſhould be any other according to Saint Auguſtine, then the Body of the Truly Faithful and Righteous, in oppoſition to the Worldly and the wicked who are mixed with them in the ſame External Profeſſion; and this is in my Judgment ſo clear and evident in the Doctrine of that Father, that they muſt needs be ignorant of it who deny it. It is therefore a manifeſt Illuſion to go about to make uſe of thoſe Paſſages in favour of the Biſhops, for that Church is not the Body of the Hierarchy, but that of the Truly Faithful, whether they be Laymen, or Paſtors, and it is to thoſe only that Saint Auguſtine aſcribes all the Rights and all the Actions of the Miniſtry, as it may appear by what I have related, and by conſequence it is to thoſe that the lawful Call of the Paſtors belongs, and not to the Body or Order of the Hierarchy. For it would be abſurd to derive that Call from any thing elſe, then from that very Church which has received the Power of the Keys, and which is exerciſed in her Name and her Authority by her Miniſters. Toſta us Biſhop of Abyla, ſeems to have acknowledged this Truth conformably to the Principles of Saint Auguſtine, for ſee Toſtat Abulens in Numer cap. 15. queſt. 48. & 49.after what manner he explains himſelf in his Commentaries upon Numbers, upon the ſtory of the man who was brought before the whole Aſſembly of Iſrael, becauſe ſome had found him gathering of Sticks upon the Sabbath Day and put him in Priſon for it. Firſt of all he ſays, That although the Acts of Juriſdiction cannot be exerciſed by the whole Community, yet that Juriſdiction belongs to the whole Community in regard of its Origine and Efficacy, becauſe the Magiſtrates receive their Juriſdiction from it. He adds afterwards, That it is the ſame in the Keys of the Church, that Jeſus Chriſt gave them to the whole Church in the perſon of Saint Peter. And that it is the Church that Communicates them to the Prelats, but which notwithſtanding Communicates them without depriving it ſelf of them, ſo that ſays he, the Church has them and the Prelats have them, but in a different manner; for the Church has them in reſpect of Origine and Vertue, and the Prelats have them only in reſpect of Ʋſe; The Church has them vertually, becauſe ſhe can give them to a Prelate by Election, and ſhe has them Originally alſo. For the Power of a Prelate does not take its origine from it ſelf, but from the Church, by means of the Eelction that it makes of him. The Church that choſe him gives him that Juriſdiction, but as for the Church it receives it from no Body after its having once received it from Jeſus Chriſt. The Church therefore has the Keys Originally and Virtually, and whenever ſhe gives them to a Prelate, ſhe does not give them to him after the manner that ſhe has them, to wit Originally and Virtually, but ſhe gives them him only as to Ʋſe.
To this we may add, that ſome Councils of theſe latter Ages, as thoſe of Conſtance and Baſil, ſeem to have acted themſelves upon this Principle when they gave themſelves the Title of Repreſenting the whole Univerſal Church. Ʋniverſalem Eccleſiam Repreſentans. For to what end did they take that ſpecious Title, if they would not acknowledge that the Origine of the Authority of the Prelats or the Paſtors, is in the Body of the whole Society, and that it is from thence that it is tranſmitted to them to exerciſe it in the name of the whole Body?
But that which is moſt conſiderable is, That it appears from the Teſtimony of the Holy Scripture, that the Body of the Church, that is to ſay, the faithful people, in oppoſition to the Paſtors, has taken part from the beginning in the Acts of its proper Government, and particularly in the Calls of Miniſters; which evidently notes, that it is a natural Right that belongs to it. For that when after the Apoſtacy and Tragical Death of Judas, they were to ſubſtitute another Apoſtle in his place, Jeſus Chriſt not having done it immediately by himſelf before his Aſcention, the Hiſtory of the Acts relates, that the whole Church, which then only Conſiſted in an hundred and twenty Perſons, was Aſſembled, Acts 1. v. 15▪and that upon the Propoſal that Saint Peter made to them, they appointed two, upon whom the Lot having been caſt, and falling upon Matthias, with a common conſent he was put into the number of the Apoſtles. They were there about the Call of an Apoſtle, that is to ſay of a Miniſter who ought to come immediately from God, and therefore it was that they caſt the Lot; but becauſe the Church was then formed, and that Jeſus Chriſt being no more corporally preſent upon Earth, thoſe Calls could not be made wholly and immediately by him, men took ſome part in them, for by their Election they limited the Lot to two perſons, and in the end declared by their acquieſence that they look'd upon the Declaration of the Lot, as if it had been the very voice of Jeſus Chriſt. This is all the part that men could take there, but it was not only the Apoſtles who did thoſe two things, it was the whole Body of the Church. The Hiſtory notes that the Aſſembly was about an hundred and twenty perſons, that Saint Peter made a Propoſal to them, that upon that Propoſal of Saint Peter they preſented Two, Joſeph and Matthias, and that the Lot falling upon Matthias, he was numbred with the Eleven Apoſtles by common Agreement, that is to ſay, by the common conſent of all. That evidently ſhews us, that the Body of the Faithful, and not meerly the Body of the Paſtors, is the Right ſource of Calls. The ſame things appear in the Call of the Seven Deacons, for the Story expreſly notes, that the murmuring of the Acts 6.Greeks againſt the Hebrews, falling out, and giving occaſion to the Apoſtles to think of that Call, they called the multitude of the Diſciples, and that when they had made a Propoſal to them, the Aſſembly approved of it, and that in the end they choſe ſeven perſons, whom they preſented to the Apoſtles, who after having prayed to God, laid their hands on them. But that further lets us ſee from whence a Lawful Call proceeds, to wit, from the Body of the Faithful, and not meerly from the Body of the Paſtors, for it was the whole Aſſembly that approved of the Propoſal of the Apoſtles, and that choſe, and not the Apoſtles alone, who did nothing elſe but propoſe and lay their hands on them. This is further juſtified by the Practice of the Apoſtles, which would readily admit the people in the moſt weighty Affairs that reſpected the Government of the Church into their deliberations and Acts, when that might be done without Confuſion. So in the Firſt Council of Jeruſalem, the Queſtion being ventilated whether the Obſervation of the Ceremonies of the Law was neceſſary to the Gentiles, it is ſaid that it pleaſed the Apoſtles and Acts. 16.Elders or Presbyters (for it is the ſame thing) with the whole Church, to ſend to Antioch and write to the Church there. That Letter was in effect written in the name of all, and ſent to all indifferently, The Apoſtles and Elders and Brethren unto the Brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch, and Cyria and Cilicia, and it is expreſlynoted that when Jude and Silas, who were the bearers of that Letter, were arrived at Antioch, they Aſſembled the multitude, that is to ſay the people, and there acquitted themſelves of their Commiſſion; which diſtinctly ſhews that the people then took cognizance of the matters of Religion, and that they interven'd in publick Deliberations. So when Saint Paul would Excommunicate the Inceſtuous perſon of Corinth, he calls the Church to that Action, In the Name of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, when ye are gathered together, and my Spirit, let ſuch a man be delivered unto Satan for 1. Cor. 5.the Deſtruction of the Fleſh, that the Body may be ſaved in the day of the Lord Jeſus, which notes the ſame thing.
Thoſe who have read the writings of Saint Cyprian Biſhop of Carthage, cannot be ignorant that that great Saint governed his Church by the common Suffrages not only of his whole Clergy, but of all his people alſo, and that he conſulted with them in the moſt weighty Affairs, ſince he has declared it himſelf in divers places of his writings. I could not, ſaies he, in one of his Epiſtles to his Clergy, anſwer to that which our Brethren Donatus, Fortunatus, Epiſt 6.Novatus, and Gordius have wrote to me, becauſe I am alone, for from the firſt entrance into my Biſhoprick, I purpoſed to do nothing of my ſelf without your Counſel and the Conſent of my people. So that when the Favour of God ſhall have joyned me again to you, we ſhall treat of all things in common according to what our mutual honour requires of us. In his Tenth Epiſtle, he complains of ſome Prieſts who without ever conſulting others had received thoſe into Communion who in time of Perſecution had abjured Chriſtianity, and he order'd that they ſhould be deprived of their Functons, for ſays he, they muſt give an account of their Actions before us and before the Confeſſors, and before all the people, when God ſhall give us the Favour to let us meet together again. In the Twelfth he writes to the People of his Church, Fratribus in plebe conſiſtentibus, he notes concerning thoſe who had fell in time of Perſecution, and who deſired ro be reſtored to the peace of the Church, That when God ſhould have ſent Peace again to his Flock, and that they ſhould again recover their Aſſemblies, that Affair ſhould be examined in the preſence of the people, and that they ſhould judge of it among themſelves; Tunc, ſays he, Examinabuntur ſingula preſentibus & judicantibus vobis. In the 28th Epiſtle, anſwering his Clergy who had conſulted together concerning ſome Prieſts who had abandoned their Flocks, I could not ſaies he, make my ſelf the ſole Judge of buſineſs. Which ought to be exactly managed, not only with my Collegues but with the whole Body of the people alſo, non tantum cum Collegis meis, ſed et cum plebe univerſa. In the 68th Epiſtle, anſwering as well in his own name, as in the name of divers other Biſhops of Affrica Aſſembled in Council to the Churches of Leon and Aſtorga, on the matter of Baſilides and Martial, Biſhops who had been depoſed for their Crimes: The People, ſays he, who obey the Commandments of the Lord, and who fear God, ought to ſeparate themſelves from a wicked Paſtor, and not to take any part in the Sacrifices of a Sacrilegious Prieſt. Since it is the people who have chiefly the power to Elect thoſe who are worthy, and to reject thoſe who are unworthy. The Divine Authority it ſelf has eſtabliſhed this Law, that the Prieſt ſhould be choſen in the Preſence of the People, before the eyes of all, to the end he ſhould be approved as worthy of the Miniſtry by a publick Judgment and Teſtimony. Therefore it is that God ſaid to Moſes in the Book of Numbers, Thou ſhalt take Aaron thy Brother and his Son Eleazar, and thou ſhalt make them come upon the Mountain in the preſence of all the Aſſembly, thou ſhalt take off Aarons Veſtment and put it upon Eleazar, for Aaron ſhall dye there. He ordained that the Priest ſhould be eſtabliſhed in the preſence of the whole Aſſembly, to teach us that the Ordination of Prieſts ought not to be performed without the Knowledge of the people aſſiſting, to the end that in their preſence the Crimes of the wicked and the Deſerts of the good ſhould be diſcovered, and that ſo the Ordination ſhould be good and lawful when it ſhould be examined by the Suffrages and Judgments of all. We find in the Book of the Acts that the ſame thing was practiced when they were to ordain another Biſhop in the place of Judas. Peter ſtood up in the midſt of the Diſciples, and all the Multitude Aſſembled together into one place. And that was obſerv'd not only in the Ordination of the Biſhops and Prieſts, but it was obſerv'd alſo in that of the Deacons, as it appears from the ſame Book of the Acts, where it is ſaid that the Twelve Apoſtles called together the whole multitude of the Diſciples. Therefore according to Divine Tradition, and the obſervation of the Apoſtles, that Order ought to be diligently preſerved and held, which is alſo obſerv'd among us, and almoſt in all Provinces, that in Order to the making of lawful Ordinations, the nearest Biſhops of a Province ſhould Aſſemble with the people, who ought to ordain a Prelate, and the Biſhop ſhould be choſen in the preſence of the people, who may perfectly know the Life and Converſation of every one. And this is what was done amongſt you in the Ordination of Sabinus our Colleague, for by the Suffrages of all the Brethren, and by the Judgment of the Biſhops who came themſelves to you, after you had wrote, they conferred the Order of Epiſcopacy on him and laid their hands on him in the Room of Baſilides.
See here the firſt Queſtion decided. The ſecond conſiſts in knowing whether we can ſay with any Reaſon that altho' Queſt. 2.thoſe Calls ought naturally to proceed from the whole Body of the Church, as we have juſt before ſhewn, yet that the Church has loſt that Right, and that it is now lawfully deprived of it. That which gives ground for this Difficulty is, that although in the Civil Society the Right of Creating of Magiſtrates ſeems naturally to belong to the whole Body of the Society; yet it fell out that the Order of Nature has been interrupted, for in Monarchical States it is not the people, but the Prince only that confers Offices, and that Right is ſo lawfully in him, that there is no Office that does not depend upon his Nomination. They may therefore pretend that the ſame thing falls out in the Religious Society; from whence it will follow, That it is no more the whole Body of the Church that ought to confer thoſe Calls, but the Body of the Prelates, or if you will the Soveraign Monarch of the Church, who is as they pretend the Pope. But I maintain that that cannot be any ways ſaid. It is not ſo in reſpect of the Religious Society, as it is in that of the Civil. In the Civil, the people may be lawfully deprived of the Right that Nature has given them to Create their Magiſtrates, and to provide for its Government, whether they be done by a voluntary Tranſmiſſion which they themſelves have made to a certain Family, or to a certain Perſon to whoſe Rule they ſubmit themſelves, or whether it come to paſs by a juſt Conqueſt. But theſe ways have no place in the Church, ſhe can neither create nor acknowledge a Soveraign Monarch, in whoſe favour ſhe ſhould deprive her ſelf of her Rights in that regard, to make him an Abſolute Maſter. For being concerned for her own Salvation, which ſhe finds intereſted in the Functions of the Miniſtry, and moreover having no aſſurance, as I have already noted, that he or thoſe in whoſe Favour ſhe ſhould ſtrip her ſelf of her Rights, ſhould themſelves be faithful, it would be viſibly to expoſe her ſelf, to give her ſelf over into the hands of the Palpably Prophane, the Unbelievers, or Hypocrites, to make her Enemies her Lords, and it would be palpably to hazard her Faith and Conſcience, which ſhe could never do without a Criminal negligence, of which ſhe never ought to incur the Guilt. In the Civil Society, where the matter is only about Intereſts, and not about thoſe that concern ones Salvation, nothing hinders but that a people may wholly reſign themſelves to the Cares of a Soveraign Power to Govern them, and it may be moſt frequently advantageous for them to do ſo alſo, to avoid the Evils that ariſe from the thwarting of divers private Intereſts, which may do a prejudice on the publick. But in the Church, or where ones Salvation is concern'd, the Faithful can never without a Crime deprive themſelves, to give it into the hands of another, of that Care that God has Commanded them to have over all the external means they may make uſe of for the procuring of that Salvation, for howſoever their Faith and Piety does not abſolutely depend upon their Paſtors, yet the Functions of the Miniſtry, when they are pure and Holy, are a great help to them for that, and the preſervation of their Faith becomes moſt difficult when the Miniſtry is corrupted. The Church therefore in that reſpect can never be lawfully ſpoiled of its Rights, and he who has given them to it, has not given it the power to quit them, nor to tranſport them to another. As to the way of Conqueſt, every one may ſee that has leſs place in the Church then that of Tranſmiſſion. For that which in the Civil Society makes the Dominion of a Conquerer to be juſt, is, that when he enters into a Society with the people which he has Conquerr'd, he is not bound to repent that he made War with them, nor to ſeek their Favour, or ask their Pardon; ſo that the Fruit of his Conqueſt remains with him, and without renouncing it, he may become the Friend of that People, that is to ſay, be their Lord and their Friend together. But it is otherwiſe in the Church, he who makes War againſt it, cannot enter into its Society to govern it, unleſs he repent of his having treated it as an Enemy, unleſs he Humble himſelf before it, unleſs he beg pardon of God for what he has done, & by conſequence unleſs he renounce all the advantages which he could pretend to by the Right of Arms. If he does not do that, he can never enter into the Church, nor by Conſequence have any part in its Government; and if he does, he has no more Ground to ſay that the Church ſhould belong to him by Conqueſt. It is Evident therefore that the Body of the Faithful can never Lawfully either deprive it ſelf, or be deprived by another, of the Right that naturally belongs to it to provide for its Support, and its own Government, in calling Perſons to the Miniſtry: From whence it follows, That that Call, in order to its being juſt, ought to proceed from the Body of the Church, and that it ought not to proceed from any elſe.
There remains therefore now, nothing but the third Queſtion which is this, viz. Whether the Body of the Church be Queſt. 3.always bound to confer Calls by means of its Paſtors, or whether in ſome Caſe the Body of the Faithful Laity may not confer them immediately? To clear this point, we muſt plainly diſtinguiſh that Call in it ſelf, I would ſay into that which it has of Eſſential, and the way of its being Conferred, that is to ſay the Formalities practiſed in it. That which is Eſſential to it conſiſts in theſe three Conſents which I have noted, that of God, that of the Church, and that of the Perſon called. The way or manner of Conferring conſiſts on one ſide in ſome preambulatory Acts, without which that Call would be very Confuſed and Raſh, and theſe Acts are Inſtruction, Examination, Proof of Doctrine, the Teſtimony, of a good Life and a good Converſation in regard of manners, and on the other ſide in ſome Solemnities or External Ceremonies that ſerve to render that Call more Publick, Majeſtick and more Authentical, as Faſting, Prayer, Exhortation, Benediction, and Impoſition of hands.
As to the Eſſence of a Call, ſince as I have ſhewn, that in ſuppoſing the conſent of the perſon called, the will of God is found included in that of the whole Body of the Church, and that moreover it appears that the ſimple Faithful, whom they Term Lay-men, do not ceaſe to be joyned in a lawful Society, and to make a Body of the Church although they ſhould have no Paſtors, it is evident that thoſe Faithful people are alone ſufficient to make Calls Lawful. When they have Paſtors, they ought immediately to concur with them, and to make Elections in Common, if it may be done without Confuſion, and if it cannot, they ought at leaſt to ratify by their Approbation the Elections that the Paſtors ſhall have made, and when they cannot have any without a viſible danger of diſperſion, it is certain that they may alone and immediately by themſelves confer that Call. For the Call proceeds from the Society, not in as much as it has Paſtors, but in as much as it is a Society, I would ſay, in as much as it is a Body of the Faithful United together in the Communion of Faith, Piety, and Juſtice. It is that Society that naturally makes its Order, it is naturally in as much as it is a Society, put in truſt with the will of God in that reſpect, and the Miſtreſs of its own Conſent. When then it ſhall have no Paſtors the Call it ſhall Communicate will not fail to be full, lawful and ſufficient, and to have all that which is eſſential to it. It is as certain alſo that the Paſtors in the True Church have not naturally any Right to concur to Calls, if they are not Faithful, ſince that if they are not Faithful they are really without that Society, and that the Right of Calls in the True Church can belong only to the Truly Faithful, and not to others. It ought not then to be doubted that a Faithful People alone, and abandoned of all its Miniſters, may make a Call.
But they will ſay, How can it be that Lay-men ſhould make Eccleſiaſtical perſons, and confer a power and an Authority which they have not themſelves? I anſwer, That this Difficulty is null, for it is true, That no one can lawfully give away that which does not belong to him either de jure, or de facto; and it is further true that the Office of the Miniſtry belongs neither de facto, nor de jure, to any private man, nor even to divers private men taken out from the Body. And therefore it is, that not only no private man can thruſt himſelf into the Miniſtry of his own head, but even that a part it ſelf of the Society cannot Lawfully confer a Call, without the conſent of the other, though it have the greateſt number of its ſide. So that we may ſay with Reaſon that there is the Body, in compariſon of the other party. But I ſay that the Miniſtry belongs to the whole Society, not that all the whole Body can Exerciſe immediately all the Acts of it, of it ſelf, but that no one Body can either Preach or Adminiſter the Sacraments, but only becauſe it is its Authority and its conſent which renders thoſe Acts valid, in vertue of the inſtitution that Jeſus Chriſt has made of that Religious Society with all its Rights. From whence it follows, that the Body of the Faithful, howſoever it be compoſed all of Lay-men, does not ceaſe to have the power Lawfully to confer the Miniſtry on a Man, without its being liable to be ſaid, that it confers that on others which it has not it felf; for it is certain that the Miniſtry belongs to it, and that a Call conſiſts but in depoſiting the publick Right into the hands of him who is called, to the end it may be reduced into Act in the Name of the whole Society. But I ſay, that the Faithful people themſelves have a Juſt and lawful Call, to give up that Truſt: For as I have noted already, there is no Call more Lawful then that which is founded not only upon a ſufficient Right, but upon a Duty alſo, and an indiſpenſable Obligation. When the matter is about Societies, there is nothing more abſurd then to imagin, that a whole Body cannot Communicate that which all the parts that compoſe it have not. For if it were ſo, a People could never make a King, which is yet notwithſtanding done in all Elective Kingdoms, and the Church of Rome her ſelf cannot give a reaſon why ſhe makes her Popes, ſince there is not any Pope preſent who ſhould make his Succeſſours. They are all Created by the Colledge of Cardinals, who are not Popes themſelves, ſo that they give that which they have not. They muſt therefore needs ſay, That the Papacy is virtually in the Colledge of the Cardinals, and that that which each one among them has not, they have all together in a Body, otherwiſe they could not Create a Pope with that fulneſs of Power, and that extent of Juriſdiction, which is not in meer Biſhops.
As to what regards the manner of conferring thoſe Calls, they will agree with me that there are things there, that the Body of the People may and ought immediately to do by themſelves, as proof of the purity of Doctrine, Information of manners, Faſting and Prayer; and I will acknowledge that there are others there that ought not to be done but by the Paſtors only, when they have them, as Examination in reſpect of Knowledge, Exhortation, Publick Prayer, Benediction, and laying on of Hands. But in Caſes Extraordinary and of abſolute Neceſſity, the Church not having any Paſtors, and notbeing able to have any without a viſible danger of diſperſion, I ſay that they may and ought to appoint ſome perſons to do thoſe things in their Names. And thoſe of the Church of Rome ought not to think that which I propound ſtrange, ſeeing that they would readily in a Caſe of abſolute Neceſſity, have any ſimple Lay-men, or a ſimple Woman, have the power of Adminiſtring of Baptiſm: Baptiſm is a Sacrament, it is the publick introduction of a man into the Church of God, if therefore according to them, a Sacrament ſo great and auguſt, does not fail of being good and valid, though Adminiſtred by a Layman who has no particular Commiſſion from the Church, if the Church is eſteemed to Baptize by that Lay-man, how much more good and available ſhould the Prayer, Benediction, and laying on of hands, conferred in a Caſe of abſolute neceſſity by a Lay-man, be, ſince that not only it is not a Sacrament properly ſo called, but that further that Lay-man does not Act in that Solemnity in the quality of a meer private man, but as having received the Office and Commiſſion from the whole Body of the Faithful, the whole Body doing it by him, and Authoriſing it by its prefence.
Tertullian has gone much further then we go upon this matter, For he would, that, where there there ſhould be no Paſtors, every Lay-man ſhould have the power, not only to Baptize, but alſo to Conſecrate the Euchariſt, and to Adminiſter it; and his words ſeem to be grounded upon the very ordinary practice of his Time. Where ſays he, there is no company of Church-men, you offer and Baptize, (he ſpeaks to the Lay-men) and you your ſelves are alone Prieſts to your ſelves. Where there are three perſons, if they ſhould be Lay-men, there is a Church there, for each man lives by his Faith, and God has no reſpect of perſons. I do not pretend to approve of that which he ſays concerning the Euchariſt, that he would have a ſimple Lay-men have the power of Celebrating when there ſhould be no Miniſter, and I acknowledge there is an exceſs in that Propoſition. But it may appear from thence at leaſt that the Right of Conſecrating a Paſtor in a Caſe of abſolute Neceſſity was not then denyed to the whole Body of the Church.
Theſe are the General Obſervations that I had to make upon this matter. It will be now no hard thing to apply them to the Miniſtry of the Proteſtants, and the Perſonal Call of their Miniſters, to make a ſolid Judgment of it. Firſt, then, I ſay, that our Miniſtry conſidered in it ſelf, that is to ſay, with reſpect to the things which we Teach and Practiſe, cannot but be moſt Lawful. For we ſuppoſe here that our Doctrine is the very ſame that Jeſus Chriſt and his Apoſtles Taught, we add nothing to it, we diminiſh nothing from it; the Sacraments that we diſpence are the very ſame that Jeſus Chriſt has inſtituted; and the Government that he has ſet up in the midſt of us, is not remote from that of the Primitive Church according to what it is repreſented to us in the Scripture. If the Author of the Prejudices has any thing to ſay to us upon that Subject, he ought to come to it by way of diſcuſſion, and not by that of Preſcription. But before he forces us to give a Reaſon of our Miniſtry, he would do Juſtly if he would give us Satisfaction concerning his own, which he well knows we deſire; I would ſay, he would do Juſtly, if he would ſhew us what Call he himſelf had at firſt, by the Juſtification of the things that he Teaches: What Right he had to Teach Tranſubſtantiation, the Real Preſence, the Adoration of the Hoſt, the Worſhipping of Creatures, Humane Satisfactions, &c. and Really to Sacrifice the Body of Jeſus Chriſt. If he cannot make it appear that all thoſe things that are in Diſpute between the Church of Rome, and us, are Goſpel-Truths, he can neither prove his Call, nor hinder us from holding it null and unlawfull. For he cannot have any Lawful Call to Teach Errors, nor to perform thoſe Actions of Religion that Jeſus Chriſt never inſtituted, and by conſequence it is from that that he ought to begin, when he would inform us of the Truth of a Call. In Effect all other Inquiries will ſignify nothing, if that does not go before; ſince Piety, Truth, Sound Doctrine, are the neceſſary Foundations to every Lawful Call; and that on the contrary, no Creature can have any Right either to Teach a Lye, or make the People practiſe, or to practiſe it ſelf, a Worſhip contrary to the true ſervice of God, or to celebrate the Sacraments that Jeſus Chriſt has not inſtituted. It belongs therefore to the Author of the Prejudices to tell us how he pretends to avoid that Diſcuſſion, for it is certain that the firſt Queſtion that muſt be decided to make the Validity of a Call clear, is that of the Juſtice of the Miniſtry in it ſelf, that is to ſay, in regard of thoſe things that are taught and practiſed in it, when that Juſtice is in diſpute, as it is between the Church of Rome and us; after which, when that point is once decided, we muſt paſs over to two other Queſtions; the one, whether the body, that is to ſay the Society wherein one is, has it ſelf the Right to have Miniſters, and the other whether the Perſons who exerciſe the Miniſtry therein are well and duly called, as I have ſhewn in my third Obſervation. That firſt Point then being ſuppoſed, to wit, that the things that are taught and practiſed among the Proteſtants are good and Chriſtian, I ſay, that they cannot diſpute with them the Right of their Miniſtry but by accuſing them of a Schiſm like that of the Luciferians or the Donatiſts. But we have ſo clearly ſhewn that if we have Reaſon at the bottom, our Separation from the Church of Rome is juſt, and that ſhe her ſelf is guilty of chiſm, that there is no further ground for that unjuſt Accuſation. They cannot therefore any further conteſt our Miniſtry with us, and in effect if we are true Believers, and if we are juſtly Separated from the Church of Rome, it is Evident that we are Lawfully United among our ſelves in a Religious Society, as I have ſhewn in the firſt Chapter of the Fourth Part. And if we are Lawfully United in a Religious Society, it is not leſs Evident that all the Rights of the Chriſtian Society belong to us, and that in all thoſe Rights that of the Miniſtry is Compriſed, as it appears from my Sixth and Seventh Obſervation. So that our Right to a Miniſtry is indiſputable, ſuppoſing that we have Reaſon in the Foundation, and all that which they propound againſt us will remain null and Fallacious. If we have Reaſon at the bottom, we are the true Church of Jeſus Chriſt; but the true Church of Jeſus Chriſt can never loſe its Rights, ſhe is never deprived of them, and ſhe cannot ſo much as deprive her of them, none can raviſh them from her; they are Rights that cannot be Alienated, they can neither be loſt by the Inundations or Concuſſions of the World, with and by Interruption of Poſſeſſion, or Invaſion of Enemies, as the Inheritances of the World are; and in one word, there where the true Faith and Charity is, there is the true Church, and where there is a true Church, there is the Right to a Miniſtry.
But ſay they, Is the Miniſtry which you have that Antient and perpetual Miniſtry, that Jeſus Chriſt has eſtabliſhed in his Church, or is it a new one? For if it be a new one, it is a falſe and Unlawful Miniſtry, and if it be the Antient and perpetual Miniſtry of the Church, whence comes it to paſs that we do not ſee among you any of the degrees of that Hierarchy which was eſtabliſhed in the Church before your Reformation? I anſwer that our Miniſtry is that Antient and perpetual one that Jeſus Chriſt and his Apoſtles have ſet up in the Church, and if it were a new one we muſt needs have ſet up a new Goſpel, which is a thing ſo remote from the Truth that our moſt paſſionate Adverſaries, except the Author of the Prejudices, would never in my Judgment have us charged with it. But I ſay that we muſt diſtinguiſh of the Eſſence of a Miniſtry from its State, as I have ſhewn in my Fourth Obſervation. Before the Reformation, we grant that the Miniſtry was preſerved in the Latin Church in regard of all that which was Eſſential to it, and it is in that that our Church has Succeeded it, ſo that in that Reſpect they are not two Miniſtries, but only one and the ſame, which we have retained. We preach the ſame Truth that they teach yet, we Adore one and the ſame God the Father Son and Holy-Ghoſt. There is among us a Baptiſm, an Euchariſt, a Government, a Diſcipline, as there was then, but we have not ſucceeded it in that bad and Corrupted State whereinto the Miniſtry was then fallen, we have no more either any Sacrificers of the Body of Jeſus Chriſt, or a Soveraign Monarch of the Church, or Patriarchs, or Cardinals, or Preachers of Indulgences, or Framers of Legends, all that was not any thing of the Eſſence of the Miniſtry, and in having retrenched thoſe kinds of things we have it no more aboliſh'd then a Town is aboliſhed when its exceſſes are retrenched, or then a Houſe is aboliſhed when it is cleanſed, and its ruines repaired.
As to a Perſonal Call, I ſay that we have that Body of the Church which only upon Earth has a Lawful Right to confer it on us. That which our Reformers had, they had from the Church in their days, which did not conſiſt in that Multitude of Prophane Worldly and Superſtitious Perſons which ſwell'd their Aſſemblies then, but in thoſe truly Faithful Perſons who as yet preſerved themſelves pure in the midſt of that Corruption, in that good Corn which as yet grew amidſt the Tares, although it was almoſt Swallowed up by them. It was in thoſe that the Right of the Miniſtry properly and truly reſided, it was thoſe who made as yet that Society any wayes Lawful, and it was from thoſe that the Juſtice of a Call proceeded. I confeſs, that they Communicated it then in a very corrupted State, and after a very impure manner, but God gave our firſt Reformers the Grace to purify theirs by the ſound Doctrine, and to rectify it by a Holy and Lawful Uſe. It is therefore with and by thoſe, that the Body of that Society which is Reformed has conferred that Call upon others, and that the Propagation of the Miniſtry has come down even to us, after the moſt Evangelical manner in the World, on one ſide with Inſtruction, Examination, Proof, Inquiry, and Teſtimony of good manners, as exact as could poſſibly be made, and on the other with publick Prayers, Exhortation, Benediction, laying on of hands, Miſſion, and a particular Tye to a Flock. Behold here what our Call is in Regard of the Body of the Proteſtants. I do not deny that in ſome places of this Kingdom at the beginning of the Reformation there was not ſome Calls which were conferred by the People without a Paſtor, as that of La Riviere was at Paris in the year 1555. Which the Author of the Prejudices has not been wanting to reproach us with. But beſides that theſe are particular Caſes of a very ſmall number, which hath not followed, nor produced any ſetled Cuſtom, and by Conſequence cannot be imputed to the whole Body of the Proteſtants, which has all along elſewhere had Paſtors called by the Ordinary wayes, beſides all that I ſay, I have ſhewn that in a Caſe of Abſolute neceſſity, ſuch as thoſe Flocks were in then, the People may Lawfully make uſe of that Right which God and the Nature of a Chriſtian Society have put into their hands.