Historical Defense of the Reformation, Part 4 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV.
An Anſwer to the Objections of the Author of the Prejudices about the Call of the Firſt Reformers, and the Validity of our Baptiſm.
THere Remains nothing at preſent but to give a Satiſfactory Anſwer to ſome Objections that the Author of the Prejudices has made againſt the Call of the firſt Reformers, which may all be reduced to this, to wit, Whether it was Ordinary or Extraordinary, or whether it was neither the one nor the other. Their Miniſters, ſays he, are divided upon this point into two different Judgments, which Prejud. Chap. 4. pag. 87.ſome have Ʋnited together, to make up a Third Compoſed of thoſe two. Some diſtinctly ſay that the miſſion of their Miniſters is Extraordinary, others that it is Ordinary, and others that it is Extraordinary and Ordinary both together. But as this laſt Opinion includes the two others, ſo it deſtroys it ſelf in deſtroying them. So that properly it will be only neceſſary to examine in particular the two firſt Opinions.
It is in the firſt place very remarkable, that the Author of the Prejudices, after having raiſed the Queſtion, as he has done, whether the firſt Reformers were Thieves and Robbers, Tyrants, Rebels, Falſe Paſtors and Sacrilegious Ʋſurpers of the Authority of Jeſus Chriſt; he has reduced all his proof of it to wrangling about thoſe Qualities, of Ordinary or Extraordinary, that be given to their Call. From thoſe high words it ſeemed to have lain upon him to have ſhewn us that that Call was deſtroyed and annihilated without any Return, and that he ſhould at leaſt have brought us what would have wholly overthrown the firſt and Reſource.Natural Foundations upon which we eſtabliſh it. But, Thanks be to God, that is not done, and the choller of the Author of the Prejudices is turned upon thoſe Titles that we give to the Call of the firſt Reformers he does not further concern himſelf to know directly whether it is good and Lawful, but meerly to know whether it is Ordinary or Extraordinary, or whether it be neither the one nor the other. Moreover it is certain that to decide even this laſt Queſtion, it is very ill done to begin with the ſetting aſide the Sentiment of thoſe who hold that it is Ordinary and Extraordinary both together. For as thoſe Terms of Ordinary and Extraordinary are Ambiguous, and that by reaſon of their Ambiguity, it may be ſo that a Call that is Ordinary in one reſpect, ſhall be Extraordinary in another, ſo to ſet aſide thoſe who would have that of the firſt Reformers to be Ordinary and Extraordinary both together, is to ſet aſide thoſe who would clear that Ambiguity; it is deſignedly to ſhut up the diſpute in Equivocal Propoſitions, to give way to the making a long diſcourſe to no purpoſe, it is in a word to imitate thoſe who propoſe nothing elſe to themſelves but how to caſt duſt in the Eyes, and to ſuſpend the Judgments of their Readers, in removing far from them the clear Knowledge of things. It is therefore neceſſary for the Author of the Prejudices to redreſs that, and becauſe that thoſe two Sentiments, one of which carries this with it, that that Call is Extraordinary, and the other that it was Ordinary, do not encounter one another at the bottom, it is neceſſary to ſhew in what reſpects both the one and the other may be ſaid. To this Effect, I ſhall firſt ſay a Word of the Miniſtry of the firſt Reformers, and then afterwards I ſhall ſpeak of their Call.
As to their Miniſtry, it is true that it is not Extraordinary nor newly Inſtituted, but the ſame that the Apoſtles eſtabliſhed at firſt for the Preſervation and Propagation of the Church, which was preſerved in the Latin Church down to the Age of our Fathers in reſpect of all that was abſolutely Eſſential to it, and which ſhall alſo ſubſiſt unto the end of the World, as I have explained in the foregoing Chapter. We may ſay notwithſtanding, that the Reformation in which they were employed was an Extraordinary Function of their Office. For however they did not need either a new Right or a new Miniſtry for that, ſince every Paſtor is bound to labour to Reform that which regards his Flock, when it is neceſſary that he ſhould do it, yet ſuch a Reformation as they made, is not a thing that ſhould be done alwayes. So that in that Reſpect their Miniſtry had ſomething Extraordinary, to wit, in as much as their Flocks had an Extraordinary need of their help to drive back thoſe Errors and Superſtitions which had got ground, as a veſſel that is ready to be Shipwrackt has an Extraordinary need of the Aſſiſtance of thoſe who Steer it, to avoid that intire deſtruction wherewith it is threatned. But beſides this we may ſay alſo that it had this of Extraordinary in it, that though it was yet the ſame Goſpel Miniſtry which had till then ſubſiſted in the Latin Church, in reſpect of all its Eſſentials, yet they put it into another State then that wherein it was for many Ages before, as having purged and freed it from all the Corruptions that diſgraced it, and as thoſe things are called Extraordinary that are not wont to be ſeen, and which are not ſo often done, that Change of the Form or State that happened to the Miniſtry, after its having for ſo long a time appeared to the eyes of the people quite otherwiſe then they ſaw it then, may very well be called Extraordinary.
As for that which regards their Call, it was not Extraordinary, if by that Term they mean that it ſhould have come immediately from God, as that of Moſes and the Antient Prophets, or immediately from Jeſus Chriſt, as that of the Apoſtles, but it was Ordinary, that is to ſay, they received it from God mediately by means of men. It is alſo certain that the manner of receiving their Call, as to the greater part, was the very ſame with that that is moſt Common and uſual in the Church, which is, that they received their Ordination from the hand of thoſe Paſtors who were themſelves in that Office. All that therefore which there was of Extraordinary in their Call, in that reſpect, was, that they rectified it by freeing it from all the Impurity it had, and which came from the Corruption of the men of that Age, and in referring it to its true End, which ſhould be the Purity of Gods Worſhip, and the Salvation of Souls. I acknowledg that in their Adminiſtration they went beyond the intention of thoſe who had conferred their Offices on them, but they did no more in that then they ought; for the Miniſtry which they had received being Gods and the Churches, and not thoſe private mens who Communicated it, they were bound to refer theirs to the greateſt Glory of God and the Edification of his Church, and not to the Wills and Intereſts of the Court of Rome and its Prelates, altho' ir was through their Channel that they had received it. They did well therefore to make uſe of that which they had of good in their Call, to purify that which was bad in it, and they alſo did well to make uſe of it againſt the ill intention of thoſe who had given it them for an ill end, even as thoſe who have received Baptiſm from an Heretical or Schiſmatical Society, are bound by that ſame Baptiſm which they have received from them, to oppoſe themſelves as much as poſſibly they can to that Hereſy or Schiſm, and to make uſe of their very Baptiſm for it, altho' it ſhould be againſt the intention of thoſe who gave it to them. I acknowledge alſo that there were ſome few who received their Call immediately from the Churches hand, I would ſay, the Body of the faithful people; and we may ſay of thoſe, that their Call was extraordinary, in the ſenſe that we call unuſual things Extraordinary, which happen very rarely, and which are done againſt Cuſtom and ordinary practice. For howſoever that thoſe Calls were not unlawfully made, and without Right, as I have proved in the foregoing Chapter, it is notwithſtanding True that it is not, nor ought to be the Common Practice, and that it has no place but in a caſe of abſolute Neceſſity. So alſo in the Church of Rome the Call of Martin V. may be ſaid to be Extraordinary, who was called to the Papacy immediately by the whole Body of the Latin Prelates aſſembled in the Council of Conſtance, and not by the Colledge of Cardinals, as it is ordinarily done.
As to thoſe Miniſters who ſucceeded them, and who received their Ordination from the hands of the firſt Reformers, their Call was without doubt Ordinary, and conformable to the practice of the Antient Church, according to the Idea that the Scripture gives us of it, and all that it can have of Extraordinary conſiſts in this, that in the diſtinction of Biſhops and Presbyters they have not followed them, and it is the Presbytery and not the Biſhop who gives the Ordination, but in that very thing they did nothing remote from that which was practiſed in the Apoſtolick Church, acording to the Idea of it that the Scripture furniſhes us with, ſince Saint Paul ſaith in expreſs terms concerning Timothy, That he had received it by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery. I do not here enter upon the Queſtion, whether that Diſtinction is of Divine or only of Humane Right, I will ſay ſomething to that in the cloſe. I do not ſo much as blame thoſe who obſerve it, as a thing very Antient, and I would not have it made a matter of difference in thoſe places, wherein it is eſtabliſhed, but I ſay where that Diſtinction is not obſerved, as it is not, nor can be amongſt the Proteſtants of this Kingdom, their Call will not ceaſe to be lawful, ſince beſides the Caſe of abſolute neceſſity, which ſufficiently diſpences with that Form, beſides that neither the Biſhop nor the Presbyter are of themſelves any more than Executors of the Will of the Church in that Regard, and not the Maſters of that Call, beſides that I ſay, there is a Formal Text of the Apoſtle that juſtifies the Right that the Church has to give the Impoſition of hands by the Presbytery, which alone is ſufficient to ſtop the mouth of all Contradiction whatſoever.
That being ſo explained, we may eaſily ſee what we ought to anſwer to all thoſe petty Objections of which the Author of the Prejudices has compoſed his fourth and fifth Chapters. Some ſays he, were called to the Miniſtry and made Paſtors only by Lay-men, others were ordained by Prieſts only, and thoſe who had been Prejud. chap. 4. page 78.Ordained by Biſhops lifted themſelves up against their Ordainers, and that Church which had given them their Miſſion. I have ſhewn in the foregoing Chapter, that thoſe who were called by Lay-men, that is to ſay, by the whole Body of the Church, had a ſufficient Call. That which I have alſo ſaid concerning thoſe who received their Ordination from the Presbytery, does not leave any more difficulty, and as to thoſe who reſiſted their own Ordainers, I have ſhewn that they did nothing in all that whereunto their very Office did not bind them.
We may ſee, ſaith he, yet further, by the thirty firſt Article of their Confeſſion of Faith, that it was upon this ſuppoſition of a power given Prejud. chap. 5. page 91.immediately by God to theſe men Extraordinarily ſent to Order the Church a new, that all their pretended Reformation is founded. That Article of our Confeſſion of Faith ſays not, that the Church had abſolutely periſhed, nor that the Miniſtry was intirely extinguiſhed, but that the Church was fallen into Ruine and Deſolation, and that its State was interrupted, which only ſhews that ſhe as well as the Miniſtry under which ſhe was, were both in the greateſt Corruption, and this is that which we alſo hold. It ſays not that God had given an immediate Miſſion to the Reformers, but that God had raiſed them up after an extraordinary manner to order the Church a new. That ſignifies that God by his Providence gave them Extaordinary Gifts to undertake ſo great a Work as that of the Reformation was, and that he accompanied them with his Bleſſing. All that includes neither a new Revelation, nor a new immediate Miſſion, and hinders not, that the Right which they had to employ themſelves in it ſhould not be annexed to their Charge, and that it ſhould not be common not only to all the Paſtors, but even to all Chriſtians, as I have ſhewn in my Second part.
Their Diſcipline, adds he, Ordains▪ that the Prieſts of the Roman Church who upon turning of Calviniſts, ſhould be Elected to Prejud. chap. 5. page 92.the Office of Miniſters ſhould receive a new Impoſition of hands, which ſhews that they ſuppoſe their precedent Miſſion to be Null, and ſo that that which Luther and Zuinglius Received from the Church of Rome ſignify'd nothing, whence it follows, that that which they aſcribe to them can be no other than Extraordinary. There is a great Difference between the Call which was given before the Reformation, and that which is at this day given in the Roman Church ſince thoſe Two Communions are ſeparated. The Former was indeed very much corrupted, but yet nevertheleſs it ſuppoſes the conſent of the whole Latin Church, and it was not given by a Party ſo confirmed in Errour; where the ſecond ſuppoſes no other than the conſent of a Party ſo confirmed in thoſe Errours which we believe to be moſt contrary to the Purity of the Goſpel, which makes the matter ſo that our Society can no more look upon it as a Lawfull Call, in regard of it and its Service. Beſides that when we ſee the Conditions that are neceſſary to a Lawful Call, as Examination, Information of manners, and the like, ſo ill obſerved in the Church of Rome, that Chriſtian Prudence will not ſuffer us to Truſt to her and her Elections, which for the moſt part would be Null, if they were Examin'd according to their own Canons.
Calvin has wrote that God ſet up Apoſtles in his time, or at leaſt, Evangeliſts to draw men from the Party of Antichriſt. I anſwer, Prejug. chap. 5. pag. 92.that Calvin only called the Reformers Apoſtles and Evangeliſts, by ſome kind of reſemblance which they had with the firſt Evangeliſts, in ſome reſpect, not that they brought a new Revelation with them into the World, as the Apoſtles and Evangeliſts did, but becauſe God made uſe of them, to make the light of his Goſpel which was much darkened ſtrike upon the eyes of Men with ſplendor, and they honour thoſe to this day with the Title of Apoſtles who now employ themſelves in making Chriſtianity known to the Nations that are Strangers to it, although they are not immediately ſent from God, and though they have not any new Revelation.
He alleadges in the end, the Diſpute that was between a Proteteſtant named Adrian Saravias and Beza, where Beza ſeems to Prejug. chap. 5. pag. 94.admit of only an Extraordinary Call in the Reformers, I anſwer, That as well Saravias as Beza are particular Authors, who may have had both the one and the other thoughts a little exceſſive about this matter, and it may be may have even diſputed the one againſt the other, without well underſtanding one another. This is that which falls out every day between perſons otherwiſe very learned. Beza rejected the Ordinations of the Church of Rome, not, that he thought the Miniſtry was abſolutely extinct there, nor that they had not there any Right to a Call, but becauſe the Calls of perſons there were made after a very confuſed and corrupted manner without Examination either of Doctrine or manners, by reaſon of which they were moſt frequently given to unworthy perſons, and that inſtead of ordaining them to Preach the Goſpel, they ordain them only to Sacrifice. That concludes that the Ordinary Call which the firſt Reformers received was not purer than that of others, if God had not given them the Grace to rectify it as they did by a juſt and lawful uſe of it, but that does not conclude that ſuch as it was it did not put them into a Right and Obligation to cleanſe it from that ill which it had by that good which remained in it.
The Author of the Prejudices oppoſes further an Article of a National Prejug. chap. 5. pag. 100.Synod held at Gap, Anno 1603. which he ſets down in theſe words, Ʋpon the 31 Article of the Confeſſion of Faith, it having been put to the queſtion whether when they came to Treat of the Call of our Paſtors, they ſhould found the Authority which they had to Reform the Church and to Teach, upon the Call which they had received from the Roman Church: The Aſſembly determined that they ought meerly to referr it to the Article of the Extraordinary Call, by which God extraordinarily and inwardly ſtirr'd them up to their Miniſtry, and not in the leaſt to any thing that remained of that Ordinary Corrupted Call. But ſince he would give himſelf the trouble to look into our National Synods, he ought not to ſtop there, he ought to go on even to that of Rochel, which was held immediately after that of Gap in the year 1607, and there he would have found that that Article having been ſet down differently in ſeveral Copies, and having been altered by the negligence of the Copiers, it was reeſtabliſhed in that Synod, which was drawn into an Act in theſe words: In the 31 Article of the Confeſſion of Faith of the Synod of Gap, wherein mention is made of the firſt Paſtors of the Reformed Churches, theſe words and to [Teach] which are found in ſome Copies, ſhould be raiſed out, and in the place of meerly there ſhould be put, chiefly; and that laſt Clauſe, [And not in the leaſt to any thing that remained of that Ordinary Corrupted Call] ſhould be alſo mended, Rather than to that little which remained of their Ordinary Call. To have made uſe of that Article ſeriouſly, he ought to have done it not in the State wherein the ignorance of the Copiers had put it, but in that wherein a whole Synod had re-eſtabliſhed it. At the bottom it will appear that they there treated only about a Call for the Reformation, and not for the exerciſe of the Ordinary Miniſtry, and the Synod does not, but in ſome reſpects only, deny that that Call for a Reformation, was not founded upon that that the firſt Reformers had received from the Church of Rome, howſoever corrupted it was, but it would that it ſhould be chiefly referred to a particular Providence of God, which by Extraordinary Gifts and Talents had raiſed men up for ſo great a work. In effect, although we ſhould acknowledge that in the Church, the rejecting or Reformation of Errours ſhould be the common Right of all Chriſtians, and that that Right would yet more eſpecially belong to the Ordinary Paſtors then to others, by the Obligation of their Charge joyned to that of their Baptiſm, yet we do not fail to acknowledge alſo, that there was ſomething extraordinary in the perſons of the Reformers, to wit, the Gifts, or the admirable Talents which made them fit for that work, and capable of reducing their Right into Act, without which their Right would have been to no purpoſe, as it did remain in divers others unprofitable, who had not the ſame Gifts. But that very thing might gain them the greateſt Authority, and this is that which the Synod would ſay, and which we ſay alſo with it. For we diſtinguiſh three things in the Reformers, from whence there reſults as full and intire a Call to Reform the Church as they can deſire: the one is, The general and common Right that all Chriſtians have to Combat Errours, ſince they are all called to defend the Truth; the other is, a more peculiar Right which they had for the ſame thing in quality of Paſtors, for how impure ſoever their Call was, it would alwayes bind them to have a Care of their Flocks, and to procure Gods Glory; and the third is, the Extraordinary Graces and Light that God had communicated to them, and rendred them thereby fit for that work. But it is this laſt that reduc'd the two others into Act, and therefore they look'd on it there principally when they treated of the Reformation, becauſe if they had never met with this, the two others would have been uſeleſs Rights, and ineffectual Obligations.
After that, it is eaſy to comprehend how the Author of the Prejudices was miſtaken, when under a pretence of that Extraordinary Call, that we Attribute to the firſt Reformers, in reſpect of their Gifts or Talents, he imagines that he can lay it to our charge that we believe that the ordinary Miniſtry was intirely loſt, and that it was renewed by an extraordinary and immediate Call of God. For it is upon that, that with great heat, to very ill purpoſe, he ſpends his reaſonings throughout his whole fifth Chapter, in Allegations of Fathers, and Obſervations to no purpoſe upon the Rights of that pretended immediate Miniſtry. We Anſwer him in a Word, that he only Combats his own Shadow, for we do not hold that the Ordinary Miniſtry eſtabliſhed by the Apoſtles was abſolutely extinct. It is a Good that belongs to the Church, and as the Church has alwayes ſubſiſted by the ſpecial Providence of God, though in a different State, that ſame Providence has alſo made that Good to ſubſiſt alwayes. It is True that it was very ill diſpens'd while it was in the hands of bad Stewards, and that where the Inheritage ſhould have been cultivated, and have brought forth without doubt much fruit, it produced on the contrary abundance of Thorns and Briars. But notwithſtanding the Inheritance was not loſt. The Miniſtry was alwayes preſerved, not only de Jure, in as much as the Church is never loſt, but de facto alſo, for it alwayes had Miniſters, ill choſen indeed, ill called, deſigned to bad uſes, called by very confuſed Calls, but called notwithſtanding, and having a Right ſufficient to make them do their Duty if they would, and if they were capable. So that the good State of the Miniſtry might be very well altered, Corrupted, Interrupted, overthrown, but the Miniſtry was not abſolutely loſt
I will not be afraid even to go further, and to ſay that when it ſhould be true that the Miniſtry ſhould be wholly annihilated, that which notwithſtanding has never hapned, and it may pleaſe God that it never ſhall, it would not be neceſſary that God ſhould renew it by an immediate and every-way Supernatural Miſſion, while there ſhould be two or three of the Faithful in the World, who would be able to Aſſemble together in the Name of Jeſus Chriſt. For the Right of the Miniſtry would alwayes remain in thoſe two or three, and they might confer a Lawful Call upon one of themſelves. If it could even happen that there ſhould not be abſolutely any more Faith upon the Earth, and that Hereſy or Paganiſm or Judaiſm, or Mahumetaniſm ſhould generally overſpread the whole World, without leaving any Truly Faithful in it, which certainly will never come to paſs ſince we have the promiſe of Jeſus Chriſt to the contrary, I ſay in that caſe, Provided, that the Book of the Holy Scripture remained, the *Germe.young Buds of the Church, and that of the Miniſtry, would ſubſiſt even there. The Apoſtles who left it to the world, would yet further call men from thence a ſecond Time to the true Faith, and by that true Faith to the Re-eſtabliſhing of a Chriſtian Society, and by the Re-eſtabliſhing of that Chriſtian Society to that of the Miniſtry, without any abſolute neceſſity of Gods immediately ſending new Apoſtles. One man only who ſhould learn the heavenly Truths contained in that Book, might teach them to others and reduce Chriſtianity to its firſt State, if God would Accompany the word of that man with his Ordinary Bleſſing. Thoſe who are acquainted with Hiſtory are not Ignorant that in the Fourth Century, two young men named the one Edeſius, and the other Frumanius, having been taken on the Theodoret. hiſt lib. 1. cap. 23.Sea and carried Captive to the King of the Indies, converted many perſons to the Chriſtian-Faith in that Country, and that they might make Aſſemblies there, where they might celebrate the Worſhip of God.
This is that which manifeſtly diſcovers the Injuſtice of the Author of the Prejudices, and other Writers of Controverſy of the Church of Rome, when they demanded Miracles to prove the Call of the firſt Reformers. For while the Scripture remains in the midſt of men, it is not neceſſary to make new miracles to Authorize Miniſters; that Scripture ſufficiently Authoriſes the Church immediately by it ſelf to confer a Call, when its Paſtors forſake it. It would ſufficiently Authoriſe one man alone, whoever he ſhould be, a Lay-man or Clergy-man, to communicate the light of his Faith to others, if he were the only Faithful Perſon that was in the World: it would Authoriſe two or three Faithful, who ſhould find themſelves alone, to Aſſemble together and to provide for the Preſervation and Propagation of their Society, and Miracles would not …be neceſſary for all that, becauſe in all that there would be nothing new there, nothing that might not be included in the Revelation of the Scripture, or drawn from thence by a juſt Conſequence, as it may appear from what I have handled in the foregoing Chapter. Miracles are neceſſary to thoſe who preach new Doctrines, and thoſe which are not of antient Revelation, and which beſides have not in themſelves any Character of Truth ſuch as the Sacrifice of the Maſs, the Corporal Preſence of Chriſt in the Sacrament, Tranſubſtantiation, Purgatory, Invocation of Saints, Merit of good Works, Adoration of the Hoſt, &c. are. It belongs to thoſe who teach thoſe things to tell us whence they hold them, and ſince they give us them as holding them from Gods hand, it belongs to them to prove them by Miracles, for they cannot prove them otherwiſe, and when they ſhould even have wrought Miracles, or things that ſhould paſs for ſuch, it would belong to us to examine them, ſince Jeſus Chriſt has given us warnings upon that point, which we ought not to neglect.
See here what I had to ſay upon the Fifth Chapter of the Author of the Prejudices. The ſixth wherein he treats further of the ſame matter contains nothing which I have not already ſatisfied. It pretends that the Call of our Firſt Reformers was not Ordinary, under a pretence that ſome few received their Miniſtry from the people, that others were ordain'd by meer Prieſts, and that thoſe who had been Ordained by Biſhops, have, ſays he, Anathematiz'd that Church from which they received their Ordination. But as to the firſt, we have ſhewn him that the Calls that are made by a Faithful People, are Juſt and Lawful in a caſe of abſolute neceſſity, that naturally diſpences with Formalities. Beſides that thoſe Calls were very few in number, that they were not followed, that they do not infer any Conſequence againſt the Body of the Paſtors and that even when it ſhould have had any Irregularity, that Irregularity would have been ſufficiently repaired by the hand of Fellowſhip, which the other Paſtors have given thoſe who were ſo called, and by the conſent that the whole Body of that Society gave to their Calls. We ought not for that to leave off holding them for Ordinary, although in that Reſpect they ſhould be remote from the Common Practice, no more or leſs then they in the Church of Rome to leave off holding the Call of Pope Martin V. and that of divers other Popes for Ordinary, although they were not made according to the accuſtomed Prejug. chap. 6. pag. 129.Forms. I demand of their Miniſters, ſays the Author of the Prejudices, ſome Paſſages of Scripture that clearly give Lay-men a Right to ordain Miniſters in any caſe. That demand is but a vain wrangling, for when the Scripture recommends to the Faithful the taking diligent heed to the Preſervation and Confirmation of their Faith, and to propagate it to their Children, it gives them clearly enough by that very thing a ſufficient Right, to make uſe of all the means that are proper for that, and that are naturally appointed to it. But every one knows that the Miniſtry is one of thoſe means, whence it follows that the Obligation that the Scripture layes upon the Faithful people in that reſpect, includes that of creating it ſelf its Paſtors, when it is not poſſible that they ſhould have them otherwiſe; for that he that ordains the end, ordains alſo by conſequence the means that are naturally appointed for that end. When the Scripture commands that all things be done with Order in the Church, it gives by that very thing clearly enough a ſufficient Right to the Church to make its Paſtors, when it has none, and when it can have none but by that way, ſince it is clear that Paſtors belong to that Order. In fine, when the Scripture teaches that the Faithful people have a Right to chuſe their Paſtors, it teaches clearly enough by that very thing, that they have alſo a Right themſelves to inſtal them in their Office in a caſe of neceſſity, for that Call conſiſting much more Eſſentially in Election than in Inſtallation, which is but a Formality, there is no reaſon to believe that God would have given the people a Right to have choſen their Paſtors, and to have made them be inſtall'd by other Paſtors, and that he has not given them at the ſame time that of inſtalling them themſelves, when it cannot be done otherwiſe, ſince naturally that which we have a Right to do by another, we have a Right to do by our ſelves.
As to thoſe who were ordained by meer Prieſts, can the Author of the Prejudices be ignorant that the Diſtinction of a Biſhop and a Prieſt or Miniſter, as if they had two differing Offices, is not only a thing that they cannot prove out of the Scripture, but that even contradicts the expreſs words of the Scripture, where Biſhops and Prieſts are the names of one and the ſame Office, from whence it follows that the Prieſts having by their firſt Inſtitution a Right to confer Ordination, that Right cannot be taken from them by meerly humane Rules. Can the Author of the Prejudices be ignorant that Saint Jerome, Hilary the Deacon, and after them Hincmar, wrote formarly touching the Unity, or as they ſpeak the Identity of a Prieſt and a Biſhop in the beginning of the Church, and about the firſt riſe of that diſtinction which was afterwards made of them into two different charges? Can he be ignorant that Saint Auguſtine himſelf, writing to Saint Jerome, refers that difference not to the firſt Inſtitution of the Miniſtry, but meerly to an Eccleſiaſtical uſe. Although, ſays he, that by different Terms of honour the cuſtom of the Church has now brought in the Epiſcopacy to be above the Prieſthood, yet Augustine is in many things beneath Jerome? Can he be ignorant that ſome Fathers Teach us that the Ordination of a Prieſt and a Biſhop are but one and the ſame Ordination, and not two, which diſtinctly ſhews that they are but one and the ſame Office? And as to the right of making Ordinations, can the Author of the Prejudices deny that Saint Paul ſpeaks of the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery? Can he deny that the Prieſts did not heretofore ordain, as well as the Biſhops? Does not Eutychius Patriarch of Alexandria relate that Saint Mark ſetting up Ananias to be Patriarch of that ſame Church of Alexandria, eſtabliſhed alſo twelve Prieſts with him, to the end ſays he, that when the See ſhould be vacant, it ſhould be filled by one of them, and that the Eleven that remain'd ſhould lay their hands on him and bleſs and create the Patriarch; and that afterwards they ſhould chuſe another man and make him a Prieſt in the place of him who ſhould be choſen Patriarch, and that by that means the number of Twelve might remain always compleat? And does not Saint Jerome, more Antient then Eutychius ſay to the ſame ſence, that at Alexandria down from Saint Mark the Evangeliſt unto Heraclius and Dionyſius Biſhops, the Prieſts alwayes took out one from among themſelves whom they ſet in the higheſt Seat and called him Biſhop, after the ſame manner, ſays he as an Army makes an Emperour, or as if the Deacons ſhould chuſe one out of themſelves and call him their Arch-Deacon? Does not Caſſian relate the ſtory of a certain young man named Daniel, who liv'd among the Monks of Egypt about the year 420. and who was firſt made Deacon, and in the end Prieſt by his Abbot called Paphnutius, who was himſelf but a Prieſt? Does not Baronius himſelf ſay after Anaſtaſius, that after the Death of Pope Vigilius in the year 555. Pelagius his Succeſſor received his Ordination at the hands of two Biſhops and a Prieſt of Oſtia named Andrew? Which ſhews that even then the Prieſts were not wholly excluded the Right of Ordination. They were not yet abſolutely ſo in the ſeventh Century, ſince we learn from Bede's Hiſtory, That the Monks and Prieſts of the Iſle of Jovan in Scotland not only ordained Prieſts among them, but even Biſhops alſo, and that they ſent them into England, and that thoſe Biſhops were under their Abbot, who was himſelf but a meer Prieſt.
It is therefore a Right that is naturally belonging to the Prieſts and of which they cannot be deprived by humane Conſtitution, and Orders, which cannot hinder that Right from alwayes remaining annexed to their Office, and that they may not reducs it into Act when the neceſſity of the Church requires it. In effect, William Biſhop of Paris has made no ſcruple to ſay according to his Hypotheſis, That if there were no more but three meer Prieſts in the World, one of them muſt needs conſecrate the other to be a Biſhop and the other to be an Arch-Biſhop. And to ſpeak my own Thoughts freely, it ſeems to me, that that firm opinion of the abſolute neceſſity of Epiſcopacy, that goes ſo high as to own no Church, or Call, or Miniſtry, or Sacraments, or Salvation in the World, where there are no Epiſcopal Ordinations, although there ſhould be the True Faith, the True Doctrine and Piety there, and which would that all Religion ſhould depend on a Formality, and even on a Formality that we have ſhewn to be of no other than Humane Inſtitution, that Opinion I ſay cannot be lookt on otherwiſe then as the very worſt character and mark of the higheſt Hypocricy, a piece of Phariſaiſm throughout, that ſtrains at a Gnat when it ſwallows a Camel, and I cannot avoid having at leaſt a contempt of thoſe kind of thoughts, and a compaſſion for thoſe who fill their heads with them.
I come now to that which the Author of the Prejudices propounds, That if the Church of Rome were ſo corrupted as we hold, its Calls could not be lawful, from whence it follows that our Firſt Reformers, who had received their Ordination from the Hands of the Biſhops of that Church, had received no other Call than what was Null, and Unlawful. But we have anſwered him already, that although the Latin Church before the Reformation was very much corrupted, the Eſſence of the Miniſtry did not fail to be preſerved in it, and that though its Calls were very [rude] and confuſed, yet they did not ceaſe to be Calls and to be lawful ones, in proportion to that Good which remain'd in that Society wherein God yet kept the Truly Faithful. The Foundation of the Chriſtian Doctrine yet remaining there with its Efficacy, which was found in ſome perſons, the Miniſtry, and by conſequence their Calls, were yet lawful in that reſpect, and the firſt Reformers, who referred thoſe which they received to their right and lawful uſe, in freeing them from that impurity which they had they were by that means rectifyed, purifyed, and freed from that ill which they had. It is to no purpoſe that he alleadges the Authority of ſome Antients who ſeem to have held Ordinations made by Hereticks Null, for he cannot deny that the common Opinion of the Church was not contrary to it, that all that ought to be held for good and lawful, that was good and lawful in it ſelf, vvhichwhich the Heretical or Schiſmatical Society held, and to be approved rather than denyed. This is vvhat Saint Auguſtine expreſly Auguſt. de Bapt. contr. Donat. lib. 3 ſub finem.teaches. Not only, ſays he, our Fathers vvho lived before Cyprian and Agrippin, but thoſe alſo vvho lived ſince, have obſerved that vvholſome Cuſtom of approving and not denying all that vvhichwhich they have found to be Divine and Lavvful that Hereticks and Schiſmaticks preſerv'd intire, and of rejecting that vvhichwhich they beheld to be forreign and erroneous among them. Let the Author of the Prejudices read what that Father has vvrote not only in his ovvn name, but in the Name of the vvhole Church, againſt Parmenio and the other Donatiſts, vvho ſaid that Baptiſm truly remained among Hereticks, but not the Right to Adminiſter Baptiſm, and he will find that Saint Auguſtine ſtrongly maintains that the Right of Ordination, upon which that of adminiſtring Baptiſm depends, remains even among Hereticks and Schiſmaticks, in reſpect of all that good that remains there. I have ſaid elſewhere, that in the Confuſions of Arianiſm divers Ordinations made by Arian Biſhops were not held to be Null. In effect that of Meletius ordained by the Eudoxians, who had it diſputed for ſome time, by ſome few, vvas at laſt generally acknovvledged to be lavvful, and that of Faelix Biſhops of Rome, vvhichwhich vvas alſo made by the Arians vvas never called in queſtion, both the one and the other purifying their Miniſtry by returning to the Orthodox Faith.
I ſhould have ſhut up this Chapter, and vvith it this vvork, if I did not further think my ſelf bound to anſvver that great and ſolemn defiance of the Author of the Prejudices about the validity of my Baptiſm, not that I pretend to vie vvith him in his manner of diſputing, but meerly becauſe I believe that I have been very vvell baptiſed. I do not fear, ſays he, openly to maintain to Monſieur Claude, That remaining in the Principles of his ſect, he neither has nor can have any rational aſſurance of the Prejug. chap. 17. pag. 422.validity of the Baptiſm which is adminiſtred and approved in their Communion. That by conſequence he does not know whether he is Baptiſed, or whether any Calviniſt ever was. That all the certainty he can pretend to have is raſh and ill grounded: That it can be no other than a certainty of Fancy and Humour and not of Knowledge and Truth, and that he can never have a rational one but in ſincerely acknowledging the falſeneſs of the Principles of his Religion, and in rendring that deference and ſubmiſſion to the Catholick Church which he ows it. I ſpeak to him purpoſely after this manner to engage him the more to clear out this matter to us. It was not neceſſary for that to ſpeak to me after that manner, for he very well knows that I have all the readineſs in the World to content him. A word is enough without any heat and Elevation of voice to make me obey. What does he then deſire I ſhould do? To ſhew him, he adds, what he has to do, and what that proof ought neceſſarily to include, I Page 4 24.beſeech him to note that the validity of the Baptiſm of the Calviniſts depends upon four Principles. Let him blot out the word Beſeech, which agrees neither with the manner in which he ſpeaks to me, nor with that wherewith I deſire to obey him. Firſt, as they were all Baptiſed in their Infancy, they muſt, to the end they may be certain that their Baptiſm was good, be aſſured, that the Baptiſm of Infants be good, and that the Anabaptiſts who deny it are in an Errour. Secondly, as they were all Baptiſed by Sprinkling & not by Immerſion, they cannot further be aſſured of the validity of their Baptiſm, unleſs they know certainly that Baptiſm by ſprinkling is good, and that Immerſion is not neceſſary, In the third place, as they all proceeded either mediately or immediately from the Catholick Church, which they ſo loudly accuſe of Hereſy and Idolatry, it neceſſarily follows, that they were all Baptiſed either mediately or immediately by Hereticks. They cannot therefore have rational Certainty of their being Baptiſed, unleſs at leaſt they are aſſured, That the Baptiſm which they received in an Heretical Communion is good, or that that which is adminiſtred by a man not Baptiſed, does not fail to be good. In fine, the Calveniſts being perſwaded on one ſide that Baptiſm adminiſtred by Lay-men is Null and of no effect, and on the other, that the Catholick Prieſts and Biſhops are falſe Prieſts and falſe Biſhops, yet notwithſtanding as they derive their Baptiſm from thoſe falſe Prieſts and falſe Biſhops, they muſt needs ſhew us by the Scripture the agreement of theſe opinions, and that they can prove by clear and expreſs paſſages out of it, that although the Call of the Catholick Prieſts ſhould be Null and Ʋnlawful, they have yet nevertheleſs that Power of Baptiſing which the Laity has not.
See here therefore what I have to do; but I need to ſay but a word to each point. I ſay then as to the firſt, That when the Scripture has ſaid, Be Baptiſed every one of you in the Name of Acts 2. 38, 39.Jeſus Chriſt, for the Promiſe is to you, and to your Children, and to all that are a far off, even as many as the Lord our God ſhall call, it has clearly eſtabliſhed Infant Baptiſm. For ſince Baptiſm ought to be given to them to whom the promiſe is made, and that that is made to our Children as well as to us, it ought to be given not only to us, but to our Children. So that without going any further, I have in that reſpect all the Certainty that I can reaſonably deſire.
As to the ſecond, I ſay that the Word Baptiſe, equally ſignifying in the Original Tongue to plunge and to waſh, and being uſed divers times in this latter ſence, as it may appear in the Tranſlation of Mons in the ſeventh of Saint Mark, and eleventh of Saint Luke, and there being moreover nothing in the Scripture that preciſely enjoins Immerſion or forbids Aſperſion, it is my part to believe that in the Thoughts of Jeſus Chriſt thoſe two wayes of Baptizing are indifferent, and that ſo much the more as I know the Spirit of the Goſpel is not ſo nice and punctual about forms, or the manners of External Actions, which is proper to Superſtition. So that I have further for that all the Aſſurance that I ought to have.
For the third, being certain as I am by the Promiſes of Jeſus Chriſt, that God has alwayes Preſerved a True Church in the World, that is to ſay, the Truly Faithful howſoever mixt they may have been with the Worldly, I am aſſured alſo that the Baptiſm which was Adminiſtred not only before the Reformation, but ſince, in the Latin Church, and in other Chriſtian-Societies where the Eſſence of Baptiſm remains, is good becauſe that being made in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghoſt, it is the Baptiſm of the True Church, although it be adminiſtred by Perſons filled with Errors and Superſtitions. Baptiſm is not theirs, they are only the Miniſters of it. That Sacrament belongs to God and his Truly Faithful ones, in what Quarter of the World ſoever they be. That ſame Scripture that ſayes, That the Promiſe is made to us and to our Children, and to all that are a far of, even as many as the Lord ſhall call, ſays by a neceſſary Conſequence, that the Seal of that Promiſe, which is Baptiſm, and all the other Rights of the Covenant of Jeſus Chriſt, belongs to us and to our Children, that is to ſay, to the Truly Faithful. The Hereticks who Adminiſter it, do not do it, as a good that belongs to them under that Quality, for in that reſpect nothing belongs to them, but as a good that belongs to the True Church, the Diſpenſation whereof they have, by the part which they have yet with her. For they Baptiſe not by that which divides them from the truly Faithful, but by that which after ſome manner Aſſociates and unites them with them. It is therefore the Baptiſm of the True Church which they give and not that of Hereſy, it is the Church that Baptiſes by them, and in that reſpect they are yet, as I have ſaid, the Diſpenſers of its goods. If the Author of the Prejudices deſires yet further to ſee a greater Number ot proofs drawn from the ſame Scripture that ſhould Eſtabliſh this Truth, he needs but to read what Saint Auguſtine has wrote in his Treatiſe againſt the Epiſtle of Parmenio, and that of Baptiſm againſt the Donatiſts, and he will learn there not to make any more Queſtions of that Nature.
I know not for the reſt, whether he as well as the others of his Communion who ſhall take the pains to read this work, will be ſatisfied. But I dare ſay at leaſt that I have done all that was poſſible for me to do, to ſet before them, without Offence, the Truths that are moſt Important for them to know. It belongs to them to make a ſerious Reflection upon that which I have repreſented to them, and upon the preſent State of Chriſtianity, which the prophaneneſs, Impiety, and Debauchery of mens Minds do every day reduce into an Evident danger of ruine, if we do not bring a Remedy, both on the one and the other ſide. Nevertheleſs inſtead of having in view that grand Intereſt upon which the Glory of God wholly depends, and the Salvation of men, they apply themſelves only to deſtroy us, and their Paſſion prevails to that height, that they do not take heed of making irreparable Breaches in Religion, as that is, of bringing the Uſe and Authority of the Holy Scripture to nothing, provided they can but do us any Miſchief. But although they ſhould do whatſoever they pleas'd, God would alwayes be a Witneſs on our Side that in the Foundation of the Cauſe, that upon which we have Separated from them, is the Love which we have for the Truth, and the Deſire that we have to Work out our own Salvation. And to let them ſee that it is not a falſe Prejudice that Corrupts us, let them go through all the Chriſtian Communions that are in the world, Let them Judg in cold blood, and I am aſſured that they will come to a ſerious Agreement that ours is the pureſt Church, nd the moſt approaching to the Primitive one. Our Opinions are the Fundamental Opinions of Religion, which are great, Solid and Convincing; our Worſhip has nothing that is not Evangelical, for it conſiſts in Prayers to God, in Thanksgivings, in Singing of Pſalms, in Celebration of Faſts, in Humiliation, in Acts of Repentance, in tears and groans, when we are preſt with the thoughts of our Sins and the Wrath of God; our Morals conſiſt more in Exhortations, in Cenſures, in Corrections, in Threatnings on Gods ſide, in Repreſentations of the Motives that bind us to do good Works, then in unprofitable deciſions of Caſes of Conſcience. Our Government is plain, remote from the Formalities of the *Barreau.Bar, founded as much as can be upon good Reaſon, Juſtice and Charity, but very oppoſite to the Maximes of Humane Policy, and eſpecially to Ambition, Covetouſneſs, and Vanity, which we believe to be the Mortal Enemies of Religion. Every one in the World knows that, and yet notwithſtanding the Author of the Prejudices, and all thoſe who with him take falſe lights, have not fail'd to cry out againſt us not only after a very uncharitable but an unchriſtian manner. As for us, we ſhall alwayes pray to God for thoſe who will not Love us, we ſhall bleſs them that Curſe us, but we ſhall alſo with Gamaliel give them this Advice, Take heed that in Tormenting us, you do not fight againſt God, inſtead of fighting with him. Let us pray on both ſides that he would give us his Bleſſing and his Peace, and that he would make us to do his Will.
FINIS.