The Tabernacle of God with Men, Chapter 4
CHAP. IV. The third Inſtruction. To the people of the Church it belongs by divine right to chuſe their Officers.
THat Chriſt hath appointed Officers in his Church for the adminiſtration of the Word, Sacraments and Diſcipline, we need not prove; The confirmation of this Propoſition, that the choyce of Officers is the peoples right, makes not a little for the due ſetling the Church. For this, I ſhall do three things, 1. Point to the Scriptures teaching this truth. 2. Adde ſome reaſons according to Scripture. 3. Give in the teſtimonies, firſt of the Primitive, then of the reformed Churches.
1. For the Scriptures, Acts 1.15. with 23. The Diſciples go as farre as is poſſible for man to have an hand in chuſing an Apoſtle, who muſt have his commiſſion immediately from God; they appoint two, and give forth lots, Acts 6.3, 4, 5. The whole multitude chuſe their Deacons, and preſent them to the Apoſtles for Ordination, Acts 14.23. It is ſaid of Paul and Barnabas when they had ordained Elders to the Churches; the word tranſlated ordained, ſignifies ſolemnely to appoint to office upon the peoples vote or choyce, or ſuffrage: So Stephen in his Treaſure of the Greek tongue renders it to make or create by ſuffrage. See Calvin and Beza afterwards.
2. For reaſons 1. The Officers are given for the good of the Church, Epheſ. 4, 11, 12. therefore ſhe may in a certaine and ordinary way procure them, which yet in many caſes ſhe cannot do, if ſhe have not right to chuſe them. 2. They are given to the Church, 1 Cor. 3.21, 22. therefore ſhe hath a right to call them to her ſelfe: If ſhe depended upon either Magiſtrate or Patron, or any other for a right to call her Officers, they were then rather given to them on whom ſhe ſhould ſo depend, then to her. 3. Otherwiſe the Church, ſc. the company of Beſeevers ſhould be in a worſe condition then any Society as to the ſetling of her ſelfe in her beſt ſtate; no people without rulers over them and Officers for their good but may ſettle ſuch among themſelves, as the experience of all Common-wealths ſhews 4. In this choyce of the faithfull is laid the foundation of greater love betwixt the people and their Officers, and ſo the miniſtry of the Officers becomes more fruitfull. 5. The faithful are to hear the true Teachers, to ſhun the falſe, to try the ſpirits, which imports 1. Morall ability for chuſing; 2. A right of chuſing or applying themſelves to the true Miniſters; add to theſe, Chriſtian practiſe and experience; what faithfull ſoule makes any ſcruple of leaving a faithleſſe and unedifying Miniſter at home, to go abroad for enjoying a faithfull and edifying miniſtry? which yet might not be allowed if Chriſtians had not a right to chuſe their own Officers.
3. For teſtimonies, 1. Of the ancient Church, Cyprian who lived a great light of the Church, about 240 yeares more or leſſe after Chriſt, is plentifull herein.
As in the Scripture teſtimonies it appears, ſo in thoſe times according to the Scriptures, and ſo in the reformed Churches, Ordination of Officers ſucceeded their Election. Hence Cyprian to the Presbyters, Deacons and all the people, in the Ordination of miniſters [Moſt dear brethren, we are alwayes wont to adviſe with you, and to weigh the manners and merits of every one by Common Counſel] Epiſt. 33. according to Pamelius Edition at the beginning.
Cyprian to the people, to avoid the faction of Feliciſſimus and five Presbyters ſiding with him; ſpeaking of them Epiſt. 40.
They mindfull of their conſpiracy, —againſt my Epiſcopacy, (Epiſcopacy diſtinct from Presbytery had then place in the Church, though of a far purer ſtamp then our Prelacy▪) nay againſt your ſuffrage, (or Election by vote,) and the judgement of God, renew their old oppoſition, &c. he juſtifies his own ſtanding by the peoples choice of him; to the ſame purpoſe upon the occaſion he ſpeaks Epiſt. 55.
Cyprian to Antonianus a brother, about Cornelius choſen Biſhop of Rome by the people and the miniſtery. And Novatian ſeeking to make himſelfe Biſhop, Cornelius is thus juſtified; that he was made Biſhop by the judgement of God and Chriſt; by the Teſtimony of almoſt all the miniſtery, by the vote or ſuffrage of the people then preſent, &c. Here was the miniſters teſtimony, but the choice the peoples. Epiſt. 52. the ſame Cornelius he juſtifies againſt Novatian, and that with the concurrent judgement of a councel aſſembled upon the ſame ground, the ſuffrage of the miniſtry and people. Epiſt 67.
Cyprian to the miniſtry of Spaine. Cyprian with his fellow-Biſhops aſſembled, praiſeth the miniſtry and people of Spaine; that they had by lawful Election placed Sabinus and Felix in ſtead of Baſilides and Martial, lapſed Biſhops; we have here moſt pregnant teſtimonies and proofes of the peoples right in chuſing.
They when they had met together, read letters out of Spaine, deſiring their advice; where in anſwer Cyprian with the reſt of the Biſhops, firſt urging of how great … it is that the miniſter or Biſhop be holy, he thus ſpeaks further; Wherefore it behoves that with full diligence and ſincere tryall they be choſen to the miniſtery, who are ſuch as God may heare their Prayers. Neither let the people flatter themſelves as though they might be free from guilt, communicating with a ſinful miniſter or Biſhop, and affording their conſent to the unjuſt and unlawfull Epiſcopacy or miniſtery of him that is ſet over them. A little after, Therefore the people obeying the Lords Commandments, and fearing God, ought to ſeparate themſelves from a ſinful Church ruler, neither mixe themſelves at the ſacrifices of a ſacrilegious Prieſt, foraſmuch as they have the greateſt power, either of chuſing the worthy Prieſts (that was the language of thoſe times for Biſhops or Miniſters,) or refuſing the unworthy, which thing we ſee alſo to deſcend from divine authority, that the Biſhop or Miniſter be choſen, the people being preſent, in the ſight of all, and be approved worthy and fit by publicke judgement and teſtimony, as in Numb. 20.26, 27, 28. adde Levit. 8.3. &c. God commands the Prieſt to be … before the whole Aſſembly; that is, he teacheth and ſheweth that Ordination of Prieſts ought not to be, but with the joynt knowledge of the people aſſiſting, the people being preſent, either that the crimes of the evil may be diſcovered, or that the merits of the good may be declared; and it may be a juſt and lawfull Ordination, which hath been examined by the ſuffrage and judgement of all; he ſtill goes on; which thing afterwards is obſerved according to divine Precepts in the Acts of the Apoſtles, when Peter ſpeaks to the People about ordaining a Biſhop in the place of Judas, Acts 1.15. (Cyprian he underſtands thoſe one hundred and twenty names, the people of the Church, and makes uſe of this place for the peoples Election;) he addes, and we take notice the Apoſtles obſerved this, that not only in the Ordination of Prieſts, (that is Biſhops or Miniſters) but of Deacons alſo, Acts 6.2, 3. which verily was therefore ſo diligently and warily done, the whole people being called together, leſt ſome unworthy ſhould have crept in; &c. he addes that it is moſt diligently to be kept, from divine tradition and Apoſtolicall obſervation, which among them, and almoſt throughout all the Provinces is obſerved, that for the right celebrating Ordinations, all the next Biſhops of the ſame Province meet with that people to whom the Ruler is to be ordained; and the Biſhop being choſen, the people being preſent, &c. —which we find obſerved by you (ſaith he) in the Ordination of Sabinus, that the office of a Biſhop was conferred upon him by the ſuffrage of the whole brotherhood, and the Biſhops who were preſent, Epiſt. 68. This teſtimony is cleare and full for many things worthy our obſervation. 1. That Ordination was after Election. 2. That the people have right of chuſing the higheſt officers in the Church. 3. That they have the greateſt power of chuſing or refuſing. 4. That they have right, and it is their duty to ſeparate themſelves from ſuch as having been placed over them prove wicked. 5. That all this is by divine authority. 6. That they have the ſame right to chuſe all Church-officers. 7. That this is the way to keep out the unworthy; whence we may conclude the people owned for true matter of the Church then, were an underſtanding and holy people. Pamelius in his Annotations upon the place, though no great friend to the peoples power here, yet proves the preſence and ſuffrage of the people for ſome ages after in Africa, Auguſtines Succeſſors ſo choſen; the ſame practice in Greece in Chryſoſtomes times, in Spaine, in France, in Rome, and this cuſtome to have continued till Gregorie the firſt, nay till the times of Charles and Lewis Emperours; the like teſtimony from the firſt times of all immediately ſucceeding the Apoſtles, Clemens Romanus (the ſame who is mentioned Phil. 4.3.) writing an Epiſtle to the Corinthians and taxing a great ſchiſme among them, caſting off ſome of their faithfull miniſters, he tels them it is an unjuſt thing to remove them from their publick miniſtry, who had been placed by the Apoſtles, or after them by excellent men, the whole Church conſenting, or it ſeeming good to the whole Church, &c.
2. For the Teſtimonies of our Reformers; it is well known to be the doctrine of the reformed Churches generally; I ſhal give an inſtance or two. Calvin upon that word foreign, Acts 14.23. they two ſaith he, viz. Paul and Barnabas created the Elders, but the whole multitude as it was the cuſtome of the Grecians in their Elections, declared with their hands lifted up whom they would have. So the Romane Hiſtorians ſpeak many times; the Conſuls who held the Aſſemblies created new Magiſtrates, for no other reaſon, but becauſe they received the votes, and moderated the people in their choice. Inſtitu. l. 4. c. 3. Sect. 15. Againe Paul and Barnabas are ſaid to chuſe the Elders; do they this as a duty proper to them? nay rather they permit the matter to the votes of all; therefore in ordaining Paſtors the choice of the people was free; but leaſt any thing ſhould be done tumultuouſly, Paul and Barnabas have the leading plaes or rule them as Moderatours; and ſo ought the decree of the Councell of Laodicea to be underſtood, which forbids the choyce to be left to the people. Calv. in Acts 14.23. Beza upon the ſame place, this word (tranſlated, ordained, but ſignifying as formerly we heard, to chuſe by hands lifted up) ariſeth (ſaith he) from the cuſtome of the Grecians, who gave in their votes and ſuffrages with their hands ſtretched out; And the force of this word is to be obſerved, (he ſtill goes on) that we may know Paul and Barnabas did nothing of their owne pleaſure, nor exerciſed any Tyranny in the Church. Then maintaining his owne calling and the calling of the reſt of the Reformers to their miniſtry, Firſt he denies that Ordination or Conſecration by Impoſition of hands to be lawfull, which is uſed among the Papiſts, upon a double ground. 1. Becauſe there was no lawfull choyce before it. 2. Becauſe the Ordainers among them deſerve excommunication, and in theſe two caſes Ordination is void by the Canons they boaſt of. Secondly he layes down the certaine notes of their call, (his owne with the other miniſters of the Reformation,) that they were approved of both for life and doctrine, by the lawfull Teſtimony of their Churches, that they were by them choſen, and laſtly with calling upon the name of God confirmed in their miniſtery.
Bucer. The Holy Ghoſt requires, that they who are ordained to the Holy miniſtery, be firſt tryed and proved, and ſo farre as is poſſible approved to all in the Church; and this he argues from the unfruitfulnes of the miniſtry otherwiſe;—adds; wiſely, and not according to humane wiſedome only, but divine, did Leo Biſhop of Rome write, that no reaſon would admit, that he that ſhould take care of the Church, ſhould not be both proved & deſired by that very Church,—which Paul conſidering, (viz. how much it made for the fruit of his miniſtry,) labours ſo earneſtly to preſerve his love and eſteem among the Corinthians, and to reſtore the ſame among the Galatians. Bucer. of the lawful Ordination of Miniſters, p. 242.
Furthermore great care is to be had of this, that thoſe miniſters may be given to the Churches, whom they may love, eſteem and honour; and that this may be brought to paſſe, no man at all is to be admitted to the ſacred miniſteries of the Church, who is not before religiouſly tryed and approved to the whole Church where he ought to adminiſter, p. 243. p. 244.
In this tryall of thoſe that are preſented to the ſervices of the Church, not only is this to be required who are made fit for thoſe miniſteries by God, but likewiſe that they may be acknowledged, received and accounted ſuch, by the Churches, their tryall is ſo to be ordered and carryed thorough, that it may be knowne and throughly beheld by the whole Church to which any one is to ſerve, who are to be received by them, as given and ſent of the Lord unto them: who are to be refuſed by them, as not given and ſent by the Lord unto them; And then he brings in that of Cyprian formerly mentioned. Epiſt. 68. Let theſe ſuffice for inſtance.
Object. But the people are ignorant, irreligious, and many wayes unfit.
Anſw. 1. For their abilities in learning, for their judgement in the higheſt and myſterious moſt points, and the like, who are to be choſen, they are by learned Miniſters (where it may be) to be tryed. 2. There is a great uſe of the guidance and direction of able and approved Miniſters, for ordering the proceeding in the choice, that it be done with due care and peaceableneſſe. 3. The People of the Church are not to be ſuppoſed ignorant, irreligious, &c. they that are ſo are no true matter of the Church, nor to be owned, as formerly this hath been proved; … this very right and duty of the People addes a further proof, becauſe it belongs to them to chuſe their officers, therefore they muſt not be ſuch a People, and in all theſe teſtimonies we find them ſuppoſed of another ſtampe. 4. Suppoſe that aſſiſtance of miniſters cannot be had, as in caſe God ſhould enlighten with his truth a company of people in the midſt of Rome, might not they by divine charter ſettle among themſelves a miniſtery? In other caſes, when the helpe of miniſters cannot be had, the reaſons formerly given, eſpecially the firſt, ſecond, third and fifth will conclude the Peoples right without them. Otherwiſe this would further enſue after a generall Apoſtacy, as that of the Papacy, though God ſhould enlighten never ſo many People, except withall he ſhould enlighten ſome of their Prieſts, there muſt be an impoſſibility of Church-Reformation. 5. Though ſuch a concurrence of miniſters, where it may be had, is for the help of the Church, as in the reſpects above named, yet may they not deveſt her of this native right, to put upon her any but whom ſhe ſhall chuſe and approve.
It is true, to a wicked People no true matter of the Church, a miniſter may be ſent to preach the Goſpel, though they hate him, (ſo farre from chuſing him;) but it is one thing to be a Preacher to a People, another to be their Paſtor, and ruling elder in way of diſcipline; Only the Saints (viſible) combined, are capable of Paſtorall and diſciplinary intereſt.
Queſt. How is this right of the people preſerved, to be judged by officers of their own chuſing, in the ordinary way of the Claſſis, when the ſentence ſhall be carried againſt an whole Congregation, by officers of other Congregations, never choſen by them? how? was it not fairlier preſerved in the way of primitive Epiſcopacy? All the people chuſing the Biſhop and all the Miniſters. Cyprian Epiſt. 68. ſupr. So Clemens for the Miniſters. Supr.