Of Schism, Chapter 3
CHAP. III. The ſeveral ſorts of Schiſme.
§. 1. THus much hath been neceſſarily premiſed for the true notion of Schiſme, taken from the origination of the word, as that includes, in the neuter ſenſe, a receſſion, or departure, in the reciprocal, a ſeparating, or dividing himſelf.
§. 2. It is now time to proceed and inquire how many ſorts there are of this ſchiſme in the Eccleſiaſtical ſenſe, or by how many waies the guilt of this ſin of the fleſh may be contracted.
§. 3. In which inquiry it will be firſt neceſſary to conſider, wherein Eccleſiaſtical unity conſiſts, viz: Unity Eccleſiaſtical wherein it conſiſts.in the preſerving all thoſe relations, wherein each member of the whole Church of Chriſt is concerned one towards another: Theſe relations are either of ſubordination (paternal on one ſide, and filial on the other,) or of equality (fraternal. Unity of Members ſubordinate.) The unity of thoſe members that are ſubordinate one to the other, conſiſts in the conſtant due ſubjection, and obedience of all inferiors to all their lawful ſuperiors, and in due exerciſe of authority in the ſuperiors toward all committed to their charge:Of fellow brethren. And the unity of the fellow brethren in the performance of all mutual duties of juſtice and charity toward one another.
§. 4. The former.Of the former ſort is the foreign, obedience to the Rulers of the Church, Heb. 13.17. and back again the foreign, due feeding, i. e. governing the flock of God among them, 1 Pet. 5.2. And becauſe there be (under the King or Emperor, or ſupreme power, to whom all are ſubject in any his dominions) many poſſible links in that ſubordination, Patriarchs, Metropolitans, Biſhops, Preſbyters, Deacons, and the brethren, or congregation, the unity muſt be made up of the due ſubordination, and Chriſtian i. e. charitative exerciſe of power in all theſe.
§. 5. The later.Of the later ſort there are as many branches, as there are varieties of equalities. The brethren or believers in every congregation, i. e. all beſide the Governors of the Church (however unequal in other reſpects) are in this reſpect equalized, and comprehended all under the one title of foreign the younger, 1 Pet. 5.5. And this whether we reſpect all other fellow-members of the ſame, or whether of any other congregation, whether Pariſh, or City, or Dioceſe, or Province, or Nation, of the Weſt, of the Eaſt, of the whole Chriſtian world, as farre as each member is qualified to exerciſe any fraternal duty toward them. So again the ſeveral Deacons, or Presbyters of any Dioceſe, the ſeveral Biſhops of any Province, the ſeveral Metropolitans of any Nation, the ſeveral Primates or Patriarchs one with another (as the ſeveral Apoſtles) over the whole world, are each of them to be looked on as equals to all others of the ſame ſort; And proportionably (and together with the Paſtors) the flocks, the ſeveral communities, or congregations of Chriſtian men conſidered in complexo, the Pariſhes, Dioceſes, Provinces, Nations, Climes of the whole Chriſtian world. And according to theſe ſo many equalities, there are, or ought to be ſo many ſorts of unities, ſo many Relations of that mutual fraternal charity, which Chriſt came to plant in his Church.
§. 6. Communion.Having ſeen what the unity is (to which Communion ſuperadds no more but the relation of external aſſociation, whether by aſſembling for the worſhip of God in the ſame place, where the matter is capable of it, or whether by letters communicatory, by which we may maintain external Communion with thoſe which are moſt diſtant from us) It will be eaſie to diſcern what Schiſme is, viz: the breach of that Ʋnity (and Communion) and what be the ſorts or ſpecies of it▪ either thoſe that offend againſt the ſubordination which Chriſt hath by himſelf, and his Apoſtles ſetled in his Church, or thoſe that offend againſt the mutual charity, which he left among his diſciples.
§. 7. The branches of Schiſme as it is an offence againſt Subordination.For the firſt of theſe, thoſe that offend againſt the due ſubordination, they are poſſibly of as many ſorts as there be diſtinct links in the ſubordination. As firſt thoſe brethren or people, which reject the miniſterie of the Deacons, or Presbyters in any thing wherein they are ordained, and appointed by the Biſhop, (and as long as they continue in obedience to him) and of their own accord break off, and ſeparate from them,Schiſm againſt the Deacons or Presbyters. refuſe to live regularly under them, they are by the Antient Church of Chriſt adjudged and looked on as Schiſmaticks; So Ignatius the holy Biſhop, (and Apoſtolical perſon) and Martyr of Antioch, in Ep: ad Trall: admoniſhing them to beware of the poyſon of ſeducers, i. e. the Schiſmaticks of thoſe times, he directs them this one way to doe it, foreign— foreign, This ye ſhall doe, ſaith he, if ye be not puffed up, and if ye be not ſeparated from God, from Chriſt, from the Biſhop — He that continues within the ſept is pure, He that doth ought without the Biſhop and Presbyterie and Deacon, is not of a pure conſcience, accounting all that live out of this obedience to be ſo far infected and defiled with ſchiſme. So again in the former part of the ſame Epiſtle, foreign foreign, Let all revere the Deacons as the miniſters of Jeſus Chriſt, and in like manner the Biſhop as Jeſus Chriſt the ſon of the Father, the Presbyters as the Senate of God and College of Apoſtles, without theſe it is not called a Church. Where every particular Church being adminiſtred by theſe, no man is farther deemed a member of the Church, then he lives regularly within this obedience: And the ſame is the importance of his exhortation to the Philippians, foreign, Obſerve the Biſhop, and the Presbyters, and the Deacons, intimating this to be the only way of preſerving unity againſt ſchiſme, as appears by that which had gone before, foreign— foreign, There is one altar (or ſept) as there is one Biſhop together with his Presbyters and Deacons, and the living in union with, obedience to theſe, is the only way to doe, whatſoever ye doe, according to the will of God. Where this ſubordination being looked on, as that which is placed in the Church by God, it is both ſchiſme and impiety not to continue regularly under it; And ſo in the inſcription of that Epiſtle, foreign, He ſalutes them in the blood of Chriſt, eſpecially if they be at one with their Biſhop, and the Presbyters with him, as alſo the Deacons deſigned by the appointment of Jeſus Chriſt, looking upon all as Schiſmaticks, that were not ſo. Thus again in his Epiſtle to the Epheſians, he admoniſheth them to obey the Biſhop, and Presbyters foreign with an undivided minde, making the diſobedience an act of ſchiſm or diviſion in any; And ſo generally throughout all thoſe Epiſtles.
§. 8. Againſt the Biſhop.In like manner; if we aſcend to the next higher link, that of the Biſhop, to whom both Presbyters and Deacons, as well as the brethren, or people, are obliged to live in obedience, the withdrawing or denying this obedience in any of theſe will certainly fall under this guilt. So the ſame holy Ignatius in Ep: ad Smyr: foreign, Let no man without the Biſhop doe any of thoſe things which belong to the Church. foreign, Wherever the Biſhop appears, there let the multitude be, foreign, he that doth any thing without the privity of the Biſhop, ſerves the Devil; the title by which thoſe foule Gnoſtick hereticks and ſchiſmaticks (the foreign, the troublers and dividers of the Church) were ſignified. So in the proceſſe of that Epiſtle, having mentioned obedience to their Biſhop, as a neceſſary requiſite to their ſanctification, ſuppoſing the contrary to be an act of pollution, i. e. of the poyſon of the ſchiſmaticks, and again admoniſhing them as of their duty (foreign) to concurre with the ſentence of their Biſhop, he adds, that he that doth not ſo (expreſſed by not being within the altar or ſept) foreign, falls ſhort of the bread of God, is an excommunicate perſon, being rendred ſuch by this act of diviſion from the Biſhop. So in the Epiſtle to the Magneſians, ſpeaking of thoſe that act without the Biſhop (foreign) foreign, ſaith he, foreign, theſe ſeem not to him to be men of a good conſcience (the phraſe by which he oft expreſſes Schiſmaticks, whoſe minde and conſcience was defiled by the poyſon of the Gnoſticks at that time) becauſe they aſſembled not according to that order and eſtabliſhment which was ſetled in the Church. And again, as Chriſt did nothing without his Father (foreign) being united to him, or all one with his Father, foreign— ſo neither muſt ye doe any thing without the Biſhop, foreign, but aſſemble together and have but one prayer common to you all, where the living out of this regular obedience to the Biſhop, is the contrary to union and communion, and ſo is formally ſchiſme. And to the Philadelphians, foreign, as many as are God's and Chriſt's, are with the Biſhop, excluding them from the unity of Chriſt's body who are thus ſeparated from the Biſhop; And in the ſame Epiſtle ſpeaking of the repentance of ſchiſmaticks, and hereticks, and God's pardon offered to ſuch, the *foreign.condition of that pardon, and foreign of the ſyncerity of that repentance, is, foreign, if they return to the unity of God and ſenate of the Biſhop. So frequently in S. Cyprian, the ſchiſme eſpecially of the five Presbyters of Faeliciſſimus his faction, Ep: 40. appears to conſiſt in their diſobedience to, and breaking off from their †Contra Epiſcopatum meum &c. Ep. 40. Hi tribuebant, ne concordarent cum Epiſcopo ſuo-Ibid. contra ſacerdotium Dei partionem ruptae fraternitatis armare voluiſſe.proper Biſhop, and cauſing others to doe ſo; and De Ʋnit: Eccl: the Schiſmatick is deſcribed to be filius impius qui contemptis Epiſcopis & Dei ſacerdotibus derelictis conſtituere audet aliud altare, an impious ſon, which having contemned the Biſhops, and (which is all one) forſaken the Prieſts of God, dares conſtitute another altar; and Ep: 76. qui ſchiſma faciunt & relicto Epiſcopo alium ſibi foris Pſeudo-epiſcopum conſtituunt, the ſchiſmaticks are they that having left their Biſhop ſet up for themſelves abroad another falſe Biſhop, and all their adherents are involved in the ſame guilt, qui ſe ſchiſmaticis contra Praepoſitos & ſacerdotes irreligioſâ temeritate miſcuerunt, who joyn with the ſchiſmaticks againſt their Biſhops, and Ep: 65. Hi ſunt conatus ſchiſmaticorum— ut ſibi placeant, ut Praepoſitum ſuperbo tumore contemnant, Theſe are the endevours of ſchiſmaticks, that they may pleaſe themſelves, and proudly contemn their Biſhop, and Ep: 69. Ʋnum ſcire debes— ſi quis cum Epiſcopo non ſit, in Eccleſiâ non eſſe, One thing you are to know that he that is not with the Biſhop, is not in the Church, the Church being there by him defined plebs ſacerdoti adunata & Paſtori ſuo grex adhaerens, the people united to the Biſhop, and the flock to their Paſtor.
§. 9.This of a lighter & a groſſer ſort. And as this diſobedience may be of two ſorts, either of a lower, or of a higher kinde, the denying obedience in any particular lawful command of the ſuperior, or the caſting off all obedience together, dethroning them, or ſetting up our ſelves either in their ſteads, or in oppoſition to them (the firſt parallel to the contumacy of the Levites, the ſons of Eliab, Num. 16.12, 14. which ſaid, We will not come up, the ſecond to their rebellion, levelling and equalling themſelves to Moſes and Aaron v. 3. … and both together ſubjecting them firſt to that curſe, of Gods, not accepting their ſacrifice, v. 15. and then to that ſudden exemplary deſtruction, v. 31.) ſo will the Schiſme be alſo a lighter, and a groſſer ſeparation, a defection from the Biſhop, and a rebellion againſt him, the former ordinarily called foreign Schiſme, the latter foreign Sedition, the latter adding very much to the guilt of the former, and uncapable of the alleviating excuſes of ignorance or miſtake (in thinking the commands unlawful, and conſequently the obedience) which may be pretended in the former.
§. 10. Againſt the Metropolitan.From this of Biſhops we may further aſcend to the higher dignity, and authority of Metropolitanes, over Biſhops themſelves, which what it is, will be fit to be examined a while.
§. 11. The original of Metropolitans. In Titus.And the firſt riſe may be taken from Scripture it ſelf, where the Commiſſion which is given to Titus by S. Paul, to ordain Elders, Tit. 1.5. (that is Biſhops v. 7.) in every city of Crete, demonſtrates him to have had Metropolitical authority beſtowed on him; ſo ſaith S. Chryſoſtome (on Tit. 1. Hom. 1.) of Titus, foreign. If he had not been an approved perſon, in whom the Apoſtle had perfect confidence, he would never have committed a whole Iſland to him, never have appointed him to perfect what he had left imperfect, never have intruſted to him the juriſdiction over ſo many Biſhops: And Theodoret in Arg. Ep. ad Tit. That Titus was ordained by S. Paul, foreign, to ordain Biſhops under him for the governing of that whole Province, being a very great one; and Eccl. Hiſt. l. 3. foreign.Euſebius foreign, That Titus had the inſpection of all the Churches in Crete, of which that there was an hundred in number, and Gortyna the Metropolis of them all, appears by Dionyſius biſhop of Corinth about the year of Chriſt 175. who inſcribes an Epiſtle foreign foreign, to the Church about Gortyna, together with the reſt of the Dioceſes in Crete, of all which he mentions and commends Philip their Biſhop, i. e. the Metropolitan, under whom they all were, as appears by Euſebius l. 4. c. foreign.
§. 12. In Timothy.What hath been thus ſaid of Titus, is with the ſame evidence of the Text affirmable of Timothy, when being placed by S. Paul at Epheſus the chief Metropolis of Aſia; he had by that means the inſpection of all the Biſhops there, and conſequently is directed both for the ordaining (1 Tim. 3.2.) and exerciſing jurisdiction over them c. 5.1.19. and ſo ſaith S. Chryſoſtome, Hom. 15. in 1. Tim. 5.15.foreign. Tis manifeſt that Timothy was intruſted with more Churches then one, even with a whole nation, that of Aſia, and therefore S. Paul diſcourſes to him of Elders or Biſhops, Photii lib. num. 254.So the Anonymus writer of the Martyrdome of Timothy foreign foreign. The Apoſtle Timothy is ordained by S. Paul, and enthroned Biſhop of the Metropolis of Epheſus, and accordingly is by Theodoret ſtyled foreign the Apoſtle, i. e. chief ruler or Biſhop of the Aſiaticks;Eccl. hiſt. l. foreign and by Euſebius, foreign Biſhop of the Province about Epheſus.
§. 13.In James, &c. The ſame might be ſhew'd of James Biſhop of Jeruſalem, who by that means was evidently Metropolitane of all the cities of all Judea, And even of Syria and Cilicia alſo, if we may argue concludently from the ſending of that Canon to thoſe regions, Act. 15.23. It is likewiſe the affirmation of Agrippa (in Philo) of Jeruſalem, foreign, that it was the Metropolis, not only of one region Judea, but of many more, becauſe of the Colonies it had ſent out, naming foreign, Syria and Cilicia among others. And thereto agrees again (as far as Syria) what we find in the letters of Commiſſion, which Saul had received from the Sanhedrim at Jeruſalem ▪ to the Synagogues of Damaſcus, a city of Syria, as being ſuppoſed under that Metropolis of Judea, Act. 9.1, 2. And accordingly after the deſtruction of Jeruſalem, Tiberias had this privilege, as appears both by the Imperial Code, tit. de Jud. & Caelic. and by Epiphanius, in the hereſie of the Ebionites, who refers all Syria and Cilicia to that Metropolis, in the ſame manner as the Synagogues in Aſsyria and Media to the Sanhedrim in Bagdat, and in all Aegypt to that in Alexandria; But all this doth rather belong to the Jewiſh Form among themſelves and the Jurisdiction of that Great Sanhedrim over their colonies thus far diffuſed, and is not ſo appliable to the Chriſtian Church at Jeruſalem, it being affirmed by Joſeph. de bel. Jud. l. 3. c. …. that Antioch was Metropolis of all Syria, but this by the way.
§. 14. Thus Philippi appears to have been the Metropolis of one part of Macedonia (as Theſſalonica another) foreign, the prime city of a portion, or diviſion, or province of Macedonia, Epiſt. 247.Act. 16.12. and is accordingly ſo ſtyled by Photius the Patriarch of Conſtantinople foreign the city of Philippi being a Metropolis of a Province of the Macedonians, and ſo Epaphroditus their Biſhop in S. Pauls time (as *foreign— Theod. in 1. Tim. 3.1.Theodoret and others reſolve from his being called foreign, their Apoſtle, Phil. 2.25.) had under him many Biſhops, who are accordingly named in the plural Phil. 1.1. and all theſe ſubordinate to him as their Metropolitane.
§. 15. So of the ſeven churches of Aſia, Rev. 2. and 3. it appears (what hath been elſewhere proved) that they were all Metropoles; Of Epheſus it hath been already clear, and S. Chryſoſtome is expreſſe,In Arg. Ep. ad Eph. foreign, Epheſus is a Metropolis of Aſia, and Theod. in Ep. ad Dioſcor. foreign, and in Photius, the Antient writer of the Martyrdome of Timothy (bib. num. 254.) ſaith of S. John ▪ that being returned from his baniſhment foreign he reſided at the Metropolis of the Epheſians. And in Ʋlpian, L. Obſer. D. de Offic. proconſ.the Proconſul under Antoninus being to go to Aſia, was to touch upon foreign, Epheſus one and the chief of the Metropoles of Aſia: and accordingly Act. 19.38. it is ſaid of that city, foreign, the Proconſuls were there, and the Aſſiſes, as in the chief city of that Province, Eccl. hiſt. l. 4. c. foreign.and in Euſebius, Antoninus Pius his Epiſtle concerning the Chriſtians is ſaid to have been read and proclaimed at Epheſus foreign in the common councel or conſeſſus of Aſia, Or. ad Afiat.and in Ariſtides it is ſtyled foreign the common Magazine of Aſia, foreign, whither they applied themſelves for all their wants. All which are evidences that it was a Metropolis (and the chief) of Aſia.
§. 16. Geogr. l. 5. c. 2. Act. 5.So of Thyatira, ſaith Ptolomee, foreign that it was a Metropolis. Of Philadelphia the Councel of Conſtantinople Sub Menâ foreign the Biſhop of the Metropolis of the Philadelphians of the Province of the Lydians, i. e. in this Lydian or Proconſular Aſia. So Laodicea, Sardis, and Smyrna (together with Epheſus) are ſet down by Plinie as cities in which the Roman Proconſuls kept their Aſſiſes, Nat. Hiſt. l. 5. c. 29.and diſpenſed juſtice to all the neighbouring cities, which is the character of a Metropolis in the civil notion,Ibid. c. 30. and the ſame he alſo affirms elſewhere of Pergamus: And thus the whole number of the ſeven Churches appear each of them, to have been Metropoles, foreign Steph. Byzant. foreign.and accordingly by Ignatius his Epiſtles to the Trallians and Magneſians, (the Chriſtians of two neighbour cities of Lydia on the Banks of Meander, and ſo of this Aſia) and by the mention of their Biſhops Damas and Polybius, it is evident that there were other Epiſcopal Sees in that Aſia, beſide thoſe ſeven named in the Revelation, and thoſe afterward appear to have been ſubject to the Metropolis of Epheſus, which alone of all the ſeven continued till Conſtantin's time, the reſt being deſtroyed.
§. 17. From theſe manifeſt footſteps of Metropolitical power in Scripture, it is eaſie to deſcend through the firſt times, and find the like;In Ignatius. As when Ignatius the Archbiſhop of Antioch (the Primitive Martyr) in his Epiſtle to the Romans ſtyleth himſelf foreign, Paſtor of the Church which was in Syria, that whole region belonging then to that Metropolis of Antioch: Agreeable to which is that of the author of the Epiſtle to the Antiocheni (whoſoever it was) inſcribing it foreign, to the Church of God in Syria, that belongs as a Province to that of Antioch: In the Biſhop of Rome. (what his Province.)So the Epiſtle to the Romans is inſcribed foreign to the Church which hath the Preſidencie in the place of the Region or Province of the Romans, which gives the Biſhop of Rome a Metropolitical power over all other the Biſhops of that Province, the Ʋrbicarian region, as it was ſtyled, and *foreign. Euſeb. Eccl. Hiſt. l. 7. c. foreign. Syn. Sardic. Epiſt. ad Alex. ap. Athan. Apol. 2. foreign. Athan. Epiſt. ad ſolit. vit. agent. Ex Provinciâ Italiae, civ. Med ex Prov. Romanâ, Civitate Portuenſi. Syn. Arelat. 1. in nominibus Synodo praefixis.diſtinguiſhed from the Province of Italy properly ſo called, confined to the ſeven Provinces of the civil jurisdiction of the Vicarius Italiae, and the Eccleſiaſtical of the Archbiſhop of Milan the chief Metropolis thereof. Of the circuit or compaſſe of this Province of the Biſhop of Rome, many learned men have diſcourſed excellently out of the Antient Surveys of the Provinces, particularly that very learned Frenchman ſo rarely skilled, and judicious in Antiquity, Jacobus Leſchaſerius, in his little tract de Region. Suburbic ▪ but none with more evidence of conviction, then our Modeſt countreyman Mr Brerewood, who thus deſcribes the antient jurisdiction of the Biſhop of Rome, that it contained all thoſe Provinces of the Dioceſe of Italy, which the old Lawyers term Suburbicarias, of which there were ten, three Iſlands, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corſica, and the other ſeven in the firm land of Italy, taking up in a manner all the narrow part of it, viz. all Italy Eaſtward, but on the Weſt no farther extended then to the River Magra (the limit of Tuſcanie) toward the Tyrrhene ſea, and to the River Eſino (antiently Aſius) toward the Adriatick Sea. For at that River Eſino met both the Picenum, Suburbicarium, and Annonarium, the former of which belonged to the Prefecture of Rome, of which that city was the Metropolis, And the later, with all the other Provinces in the broader part of Italy (ſeven of them in all) to the Dioceſe of Italy, of which Milan was the Metropolis. Hiſt. Eccl. l. 1· c. 6.Thus Ruffinus in his Paraphraſe rather then tranſlation of the Nicene Canon ſaith, that the Biſhop of Rome was thereby authorized Suburbicariarum Eccleſiarum Sollicitudinem gerere, to take and manage the care of the ſuburbicarian Churches; and there is no reaſon to doubt but that he that lived ſo neer after that Councel, and was of Italy, knew competently what he affirmed of that matter. And it being evident that in all other places the Eccleſiaſtical juriſdictions were proportioned to the temporal of the Lieutenants, and that the Suburbicarian region, and the ſo many and no more provinces in them, pertain'd to the Praefecture of the city of Rome, It muſt follow that theſe were the limits of the Eccleſiaſtical Juriſdiction of that Biſhop alſo. But this by the way, in paſſing.
§. 18.In Alexandria. Eccl. Hiſt. l. 2. c. foreign. So when of S. Mark it is affirm'd out of the anc…ent records by Euſebius, that he foreign, firſt conſtituted Churches (in the plural) in Alexandria, and under the title of foreign, the Province of Alexandria, put them all into the hands of Anianus in the 8th of Nero, Ibid. c. foreign.it is evident that Alexandria was a Metropolitical, or Patriarchal See to which all Aegypt did belong.
§. 19.In S. Cyprian. So S. Cyprian the Biſhop of Carthage, to which the whole Province of Africk pertained, is by the Councel of Conſtantinople in Trullo, Can. 2. called foreign, the Archbiſhop of the Region of Africk, And accordingly he often mentions the many Biſhops in his Province, Ʋniverſis vel in noſtrâ Provinciâ — to all the Biſhops in our Province—Ep. 40. And Latiùs fuſa eſt noſtra Provincia, habet etiam Numidiam & Mauritanias duas ſibi cohaerentes. Our Province is extended farther, hath Numidia and the two Mauritania's annexed to it, Ep. 45. in each of which there being a Church and conſequently a Biſhop in every city (as foreign Act. 14.23. is all one with foreign in every city Act. 16.4.) they were all ſubject to this Metropolitane.
§. 20. The ſubjection of Biſhops to Archbiſhops.By all this, and much more which might be added, it is manifeſt, that as the ſeveral Biſhops had Praefecture over their ſeveral Churches, and the Preſbyters▪ Deacons, and people under them, ſuch as could not be caſt off by any without the guilt and brand of Schiſme, So the Biſhops themſelves of the ordinary, inferior cities (for the preſerving of unity, and many other good uſes) were ſubjected to the higher power of Archbiſhops or Metropolitanes.
§. 21. Of Archbiſhops to Primates, &c.Nay we muſt yet aſcend one degree higher from this of Arch-Biſhops or Metropolitanes, to that ſupreme of Primates or Patriarchs, the diviſion of which is thus cleared in the diviſion and Notitia of the Roman Empire. (Original of Primates.)Conſtantine the Great inſtituted four Praefecti Praetorio, two in the Eaſt, as many in the Weſt; Of the Weſtern, one at Rome, another at Triers, this laſt then called Praefectus Praetorio Galliarum. Theſe Praefects had their ſeveral Vicarii, who in their power, and name judged the Provinces, As for example, The Praefectus Praetorio placed at Triers had three Vicarii, or Lieutenants, one placed at Triers, a ſecond at Lions, a third at Vienna, from the greatneſſe of whoſe authority, and the reſort of all other cities and Provinces to them for juſtice ſprang the ſplendor, and dignity of thoſe cities where they reſided, and the dependence of large Provinces and many other cities on each of them. This whole circuit which was thus ſubject to, or dependent on any ſuch Lieutenant, was by the Greeks called foreign, and the ſtyle devolving from the civil to the Eccleſiaſtical diviſions, as the former both of cities, and of Territories, and of Metropoles or Mother cities (the chief in every Province) had done the Biſhop being anſwerable to the Defenſor civitatis, and the Archbiſhop to the Praeſident in every Province, from thence it came that every ſuch Metropolis which was the ſeat of any Vicarius or Lieutenant General, was (over and above foreign foreign) called foreign and foreign, and the Biſhop thereof Primas, foreign, Patriarcha, a Primate, Exarch, or Patriarch, and all that foreign (which is larger then a Province, the joynt adminiſtration of many Provinces, with the ſeveral Metropoles, and Metroplitanes contained in it) was ſubjected to him.Eccl. Hiſt. l. 5. c. foreign. Thus S. Irenaeus being Biſhop of Lyons, is by Euſebius affirm'd foreign, to have the over ſight or Government of the Provinces of France, either thoſe only that were under that Primate, or perhaps of all France, Ibid. c. d.of which Lyons was then in the Eccleſiaſtical account the firſt Exarchate; for ſo ſaith the ſame Euſebius, foreign, Lyons, and Vienna (but firſt Lyons) were famouſly known to be beyond all others in thoſe parts, the principal Metropoles of France. And again foreign, theſe were the moſt ſplendid illuſtrious Churches there. To which firſt times I conceive belongs that verſe of Guilielmus Brito in Philippeide. Et Lugdunenſis, quo Gallia tota ſolebat, Ʋt fama eſt, Primate regi— placing all France under the Primate of Lyons, or affirming it from tradition (ut fama eſt) that it was wont antiently to be ſo placed, which was not well underſtood or taken notice of by the learned Joſ. Scaliger, In Notit. Galliae p. 8…2.when he affirms it nuperum & novitium, & ex beneficio Romani Pontificis indultum, a privilege lately granted to the Biſhop of Lyons by the Pope, quod Primatem ſeſe vocari gaudeat, that he calls himſelf Primate, which privilege, if not title, did ſo long ſince belong to Irenaeus the Biſhop of that Dioceſe.
§. 22. I ſhall not need inlarge on this ſubject, or ſet down the ſeveral Primates and Dioceſes belonging to them. It is known in the ancient notitiae of the Church, that beſide the three Patriarchs of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch (to which title afterward Conſtantinople, and Jeruſalem were advanced) there were eleven Primates more, there being fourteen Dioceſes, or joynt adminiſtrations of many Provinces (for ſo the word anciently ſignified, not in the modern ſenſe of it, one city and the territory, The Primates power equal to that of the Patriarch.the juriſdiction of an ordinary Biſhop, for which they then uſed foreign) ſeven in the Eaſt, and the Praefecture of the city of Rome, and ſix more in the Weſt, into which the whole Empire was divided. And though the Patriarchs had in Councels the praecedence, or deference in reſpect of place, either becauſe theſe three cities had the honour to diſperſe Chriſtianity in a moſt eminent manner to other cities, and nations, or from the great dignity of the cities themſelves, (*foreign. Concil. Chalced. Can penult. Rome being the ſeat and firſt city of the Empire, and thereupon thus dignified ſaith the Councel of Chalcedon: and Alexandria by †Or. 32. ad Alexandrin. ſee Ariſtid. Or. de Rom. Laud.Dio Chryſoſtome, and others affirmed to be the ſecond, and Antioch the third, ſaith Joſephus) yet it is certain that the power and juriſdiction of Primates, was as great as of Patriarchs, and the Office the ſame (ſee Anacle…us Epiſt. ad Epiſc. Ital. and Gratian Diſt. 99.) and many times in Authors the very titles confounded, as appears by Juſtinian, who commonly gives Primates the names of Patriarchs of the Dioceſes. And if it be now demanded whether there were not anciently ſome Summum Genus, ſome one Supreme either of, or over theſe Patriarchs, I anſwer, that if we reſpect order, or priority of place again, then the Biſhop of Rome had it among the Patriarchs, as the Patriarchs among the Primates, that city of Rome being Lady of the World, and the ſeat of the Empire; But if we reſpect power, And no power but of the Prince above them.or authority, there was none anciently in the Church over that of Primates, and Patriarchs, but only that of the Emperour in the whole Chriſtian World (as of every Soveraign Prince in his Dominions) as may appear by the ancient power, and practice of congregating, or convoking of Councels, Provincial by the Metropolitan, Patriarchal by the Patriarch, or Primate, National by the Prince, for the firſt 1000 years, through the whole Weſt, and General by the *foreign. Socrat. l. 5. Prooem. Ex Superioribus habetur Imperatores Sanctos congregationes Synodales Univerſalium Conciliorum totius Eccleſiae ſemper … ciſſe. Ita ego perluſtrans geſta omnium Univerſalium uſque ad octavum incluſivè Baſiliitempore celebratum verum eſſe r…peri. Cuſan. de concord. Cathol l. 3. c. 16. and c. 13. See S. Hierom in Apol. ad Ruffin. l. 2. where ſpeaking of a pretended Synod, he adds, Quis Imperator hanc Synodum juſſerit congregari?Emperor, when for the conſerving the unity, or taking care for the neceſſities of the Church, thoſe laſt remedies appeared ſeaſonable. But this of General Councels being extraordinary, and ſuch as the Church was without them for the firſt three hundred yeers, and are now morally impoſſible to be had, we need not farther to aſcend to theſe, but content our ſelves with thoſe ſtanding powers in the Church, the uppermoſt of which are Archbiſhops, Primates, and Patriarchs, to whom the Biſhops themſelves are in many things appointed to be ſubject, and this power, and ſubjection, defined, and aſſerted, by the Ancient Canons, The Primitive Power of Primates &c.and the moſt ancient, even immemorial Apoſtolical tradition, and Cuſtome, avouched for it, as may appear Concil. Nicen. 1. Can. 4.6. Concil. Antioch. c. 9.20. Concil. Chalced. C. 19. In the Sixt Nicene Canon, where the juriſdiction of all Aegypt, Lybia and Pentapolis is affirmed to belong to the Patriarch of Alexandria, and order is taken that the foreign or privileges of eminency which belong to the Biſhop of Rome, of Antioch, and Metropolitanes of all other Provinces, ſhall be conſerved intire to them, the Introduction is made in theſe words, foreign Let the Ancient cuſtomes be in force, The very form which S. Ignatius uſeth concerning Apoſtolical cuſtomes which were to be ſolicitouſly retained in the Church, and ſeems there particularly to refer to thoſe orders, which S. Mark had left in Aegypt, Lybia, and Pentapolis, ſubjecting all the Biſhops there to the Patriarch by him conſtituted in Alexandria.
§. 23. So in the 9th Canon of the Councel of Antioch, where foreign, the Biſhop preſiding in the Metropolis, is appointed foreign to undertake the care of the whole Province ▪ (and all the inferior cities, and Biſhops in them) and the Biſhops commanded foreign, it is ſtraight added foreign, according to the ancient Canon of the Fathers, which hath continued in force (from the firſt times alſo unto that Councel) Where if it be demanded what is the importance of foreign, I conceive the word to be beſt explained by Heſychius, foreign (it ſhould doubtleſſe be foreign) and ſo the meaning of the Canon to be, agreeably to the expreſſe words of other Canons, that as any ordinary Biſhop hath full power in his own Church, which he may in all things, wherein that alone is concerned, exerciſe independently from the commands or directions of any, So in any thing of a more forein nature, wherein any other Church is concerned equally with that, and ſo falls not under the ſole cognizance or judgement of either, there the Biſhop of that Church is to do nothing without directions from the Metropolitane, and that is the meaning of foreign, as that is all one with foreign — that no Biſhop muſt do any thing but what belongs particularly to him ratione officii (any thing that another is concerned in, as well as he) without the Metropolitane.
§. 24. Act. 15 Can. 9.So in the Councel of Chalcedon the direction is given for appeals in this order, from the Biſhop to the Metropolitane, from the Metropolitane to the foreign or Primate of the Dioceſe or Province, as where there are more Metropolitanes then one (as was ſhewed of Epheſus in Aſia, foreign. Ulp. Obſer. D. de Offic. Proconſ.and elſewhere frequently) there ſome one is Primate or Patriarch among them, and to him lyes the appeal in the laſt reſort, and from him to no other, ſee Juſtinian Novel. 123. c. 22. and Cod. l. 1. tit. 4. leg. 29. who ſpeaking of this calls it an ancient decree.
§. 25. That which we find in the eighth Canon of the Great Councel of Epheſus, ſhall conclude this matter, when upon ſome claim of the Patriarch of Antioch for an intereſt in the ordaining of the Patriarch of Cyprus, the Biſhops of Cyprus deny his claim, and deduce their privilege of foreign or independence from any forein Biſhop, from the very Apoſtles times, A ſanctis Apoſtolis, ſay they, nunquam poſſunt oſtendere, quòd adfuerit Antiochenus & ordinaverit, vel communicaverit unquam inſulae ordinationis gratiam, neque alius quiſquam, From the very Apoſtles times they can never ſhew that the Patriarch of Antioch or any other was preſent and ordained, or (being abſent) ſent the grace of ordination to this Iſland, but that the Biſhops of Conſtantia, the Metropolis of that Iſland, by name Troilus, Sabinus, and Epiphanius, and all the orthodox Biſhops from the Apoſtles times, ab his qui in Cypro conſtituti ſunt, have been conſtituted and ordained by their own Biſhops of the Iſland, and accordingly they required that they might continue in the ſame manner, Sicut initio à temporibus Apoſtolorum—permanſit Cypriorum Synodus, as they had done from the times of the very Apoſtles, ſtill appealing foreign, to the ancient manner, the ancient cuſtome, the privileges, which from their firſt plantation they had enjoyed, and that from the Apoſtles themſelves: And accordingly that Councel condemned the pretenſion of the Patriarch of Antioch, as that which was foreign, an innovation againſt the Eccleſiaſtical Lawes and Canons of the holy Fathers, and orders not only in behalf of the Cypriots that the Biſhops of their Churches foreign— ſhall continue to enjoy their right inviolate according to the ancient cuſtome, but extended their ſentence to all other Dioceſes in theſe words, foreign, The ſame ſhall be obſerved in all other Dioceſes and Provinces whereſoever, that no Biſhop ſhall lay hold of another Province, which hath not been formerly and from the beginning under their or their Anceſtors power. And again foreign. This holy and Oecumenical Synod hath decreed, that the privileges and rights of every Province ſhall be conſerved pure and inviolate, as they have enjoyed them from the beginning, according to the cuſtome that hath anciently been in force. All deducing this power of Primates over their own Biſhops (and together excluding all forein pretenders) from the Apoſtles and firſt planters of the Churches, and requiring all to remain, as they were firſt thus conſtituted. Wherein as there be many things of uſeful obſervation, which will be more fitly appliable in the progreſſe of this diſcourſe, ſo that which is alone pertinent to this place is only this, that there may be a diſobedience, and irregularity, and ſo a Schiſme, even in the Biſhops in reſpect of their Metropolitanes, and of the authority which they have by Canon and Primitive cuſtome over them, which was therefore to be added to the ſeveral Species of Schiſme ſet down in the former chapters.