Answer to the Animadversions on the Dissertations, Treatise · Chapter 5

Answer to the Animadversions on the Dissertations · Treatise · Chapter 5

p. 108CHAP. V.

Of the plurality of Elders in Clements Epiſtle.

Sect. 1.

The difference betwixt Ignatius and Clement in the enumeration of Officers in the Church. Clements Epiſtle to the Churches of Achaia. (foreign.) Pauls Epiſtles to thoſe. Metropolitical Churches in the Apoſtles times. Anſwer to a charge concerning Grotius.

Num. 1. IN the next place, this digreſſion concerning the power of the people being abſolved, I am called back againe to Ignatius, and in him to that of his aſſerting the three Orders in the Church, which is thought fit to be conſidered a while by comparing it with Clements doctrine in this matter; who is acknowledged to name but two. And then his charge againſt Ignatius and againſt me is thus managed.

2. To returne then, it is evident that in the time of Clement there were but two ſorts of Officers in the Church, Biſhops and Deacons, whereas the Epiſtles of Ignatius doe preciſely in every place, where any mention is p. 109made of them, as there is upon occaſions, and upon none at all, inſiſt on three orders diſtinct in name and things. With Clement it is not ſo. Thoſe whom he calls Biſhops in one place, the very ſame perſons he immediately calls Presbyters, (after the example of Paul, Act. 20, 28 and Tit. 1. 5. 7.) and plainly aſſerts, Epiſcopacie to be the office of Presbyters, foreign, ſaith he, foreign, viz. Becauſe they were in no danger to be caſt from their Epiſcopacie. And whereasth fault which he rep…oves in the Chu…ch of Corinth, is their diviſion, and wan… of due ſubjection to their ſpirituall Governors, according to the order which Chriſt hath appointed in all the Churches of the Saints, he affirmes plainly, that thoſe Governours were the Presbyters of the Church, foreign (ſaith he) foreign. And in all places throughout the whole Epiſtie, w…iting (foreign) to that particular Church of Corinth, the Saints dwelling there, walking in the order and fellowſhip of the Goſpell, where he treats of theſe thi…gs, he ſtill intimates a plurality of Presbyters in the Church, (as the…e may, nay there ought to be in every ſingle Congregation, Act 20 28.) without the leaſt intimation of any ſingular perſon promoted upon any acc…unt whatever above his follows. So in the adviſe given to the perſons who occaſioned the diviſion before mentioned; foreign. Had there been a ſingular Biſhop at Corinth, much more a Met opolitan, ſuch as our Doctor ſpeaks him to have been, it had been impoſſible that he ſhould be thus paſſed by in ſilence.

But the Doctor gives you a double anſwer to this obſervation, with the ſeverall parts, whe…eof I doubt not but that he makes himſelf me…y, if he can ſuppoſe that any men are ſo wedded to his dictates, as to give them entertainment; for indeed they are plainly jocular But learned men muſt have leave ſometimes to exerciſe their …anſies, and ſo ſport themſelves with their owne imaginations.

1. Then, For the mention that is made of the many Presbyters in the Church of Corinth, to whom Clement in the name of the Church of Rome, exhorts to give all due reſpect, honour, obedience. He tells you that by the Church of Corinth, all the Churches of Achaia are meant and intended. The Epiſtle is directed onelyonly foreign, without the leaſt intimation of any other Chu…ch o… Churches. The difference it is written about was occaſioned by one or two perſons in that Church onelyonly; it is that Church alone that is exhorted to order, and due ſubjection to their Elders, from the beginning to the end of the Epiſtle, there is not one word, ap… or …ittle, to intima…e the deſignation of it to any Church or Churches, beyond the ſingle Church of Corinth, or that they p. 110had any concernement in the difference ſpoken to. The Fabrick of afterages lyes ſo cloſe to the Doctors imagination, that there is no entrance for the true frame of the Primitive Church of Chriſt, and therefore every thing muſt be wreſted and apportioned to the conceit of ſuch an Epiſcopacie as he hath entertained. Whereas he ought to crop off both head and heels of his owne imagination, and the Epiſcopacy of the later dayes, which he too dearly affects, he chooſeth rather to ſtretch and torture the antient Government of the Church, that it may ſeem to anſwer the frame preſently contended for. But let us a little attend to the Doctors learned arguments, whereby he endeavours to make good his aſſertion.

1. He tels you, that Corinth was the chiefe City of Achaia, the Metropolis (in a politicall ſenſe and acceptation of the word) of Greece, where the Proconſull had his reſidence, Diſſ. 5. cap. 2. Sect. 3. Let us grant this to our Learned Doctor, leſt we finde nothing to gratifie him withall; and what then will follow? Hence, ſaith he, it will follow (Sect. 4.) that this Epiſtle which was ſent, Eccleſiae foreign, non ad unius Civitatis Eccleſiam, ſed ad omnes totius Achatae: Chriſtianos, per ſingulas civitates & regiones, ſub Epiſcopis aut Praefectis ſuis ubique collocatas miſſa exiſtimetur: But pray Doctor, why ſo? We poore creatures, who are not ſo ſharpe ſighted, as to diſcerne a Metropolitan Arch-Biſhop at Corinth, of whom all the Biſhops in Greece were dependant, nor can finde any inſtituted Church in the Scripture, or in Clement, of one denomination, beyond a ſingle Congregation, cannot but thinke, that all the ſtrength of this conſecta…y, from the inſinuation of ſuch a ſtate of things in the Church of God, is nothing but a pure begging of the thing in queſtion, which will never be granted upon ſuch c…mes.

Yea, but he addes, Sect. 5. that Paul wrote his Epiſtle not onelyonly to the Church of Corinth, but alſo to all the Churches of Achaia, therefore Clement did ſo alſo. At firſt view this argument ſeems not very concluſive, yea, appears indeed very ridiculous; the inforcement of it, which inſues, may perhaps give new life and vigour to it: How then is it proved that Paul wrote not onelyonly to the Church of Corinth, but to all them in Achaia alſo? why ſaith he in the 2 Ep. 1. Chap 1. ver. it is ſo expreſt: he writes, foreign. Very good! It is indiſpurably evident, that Paul wrote his ſecond Epiſtle to the Church of Corinth, and all the reſt of Achaia, for he expreſſely affirmes himſelfe ſo to doe, and for the firſt Epiſtle it is directed not only to the Church of Corinth, 1. Ch. 2. v. but alſo, foreign, that is, ſaith our Doctor, in the whole region of Achaia. So indeed ſayes the Doctors great friend Grotius, to whom he is beholding for more than one rare notion. I ſay it not in any way of any reproach to the Doctor, onelyonly I cannot but thinke his carefull warding of himſelfe againſt the thoughts of men, that he ſhould be beholding to Grotius, doth p. 111exceedingly unbecome the Doctors gravity, and ſelfe-denyall. This is complained of by ſome who have tried it in reference to his late Comment on the Revelation. And in this Differtation he is put by his owne thoughts (I will not ſay guil…y) to an Apologie, cap. 1. Sect. 24. Quâ in re ſuffra▪ gium ſuum tu…ſſe H…gonem Grotium, foreign …x Annotationibus, po…, nuper …ditis, & poſtquam haec omn a Typographo tranſcrip…a eſſent, cur… perlectis edoctum gratulor. Let not the Rea…er thinke that Doctor Ham: had tranſmitted his papers full of ra…e conjectures to the Prin…e…, before G…us his Annotations on the Revelation were publiſhed, but onelyonly before he had read them. The Doctor little think…s what a flye this is in his pot of Oyntment, nor how undecent with all impartiall men, ſuch Apologies, ſubſervient to a frame o… ſpirit in bondag… a mans owne eſteeme and reputation, appeare to be: but let this paſſe: and let the Saints that call upon the name of Jeſus Chriſt in every place, be the Saints in every part of A…a, though the Epiſtle it ſelfe (written indeed upon occaſion tak…n from the Church of Corinth, y…) was given by inſpiration from God, for the uſe not onelyonly of all Saints in the whole world, at that time wherein it was written, but of all thoſe who were to believe in any part or place of the world, to the end thereof: although the aſſertion of it be not built on any tolerable conj…cture, but may be rejected with the ſame facility wherewith it is tendred; what now will …ence enſu…? why hence it follows, that Clement alſo wrote his Epiſtle to all the Churches in A…haia. Very good, Paul writing an Epiſtle intituled chiefly to the Corinthians, expreſly and foreign directs i… to all the Saints or Churches of Achaia, yea, to all that call upon the name of God in every place, ſo that his Epiſtle being of Catholick concernment, is not to be con…ined to the Church of Corinth onelyonly, although moſt of …e particular things mentioned in that Epiſtle related onelyonly to that particular Church; Therefore Clement directing his Epiſtle to the Church of Corinth onelyonly, not on… mentioning nor inſinua…ing an intention of extending it to any other, handling in it onelyonly the peculiar concernment of that Church, and a difference about one or two perſons therein, m…ſt be ſuppoſed to have w…i…en to all the Churches of Achaia. And if ſuch arguments as theſe will not prove Epiſcopacy to be of Apoſtolicall conſtitution, what will prevaile with men ſo to eſteeme it? Si Pergama dextrâ defendi poſsent, etiam hac de…enſa faiſſent. And this is the …auſe of naming many Elders or Presbyters in one Church: For my part I ſuppoſe the Doctor might more probably have adhered to a former conjecture of his Diſſert. 4. cap. 10. Sect. 9. concerning two ſundry different Churches, where were diſtinct Office…s in the ſame City, Primò (ſaith he) reſpondeo▪ non uſquequaque verum eſt, quod pro conceſſo fumitur, quamvis enim in unâ Eccleſiâ aut …, plures ſimul Epiſcopi nunquam fuerint (pray except them mentioned, Act. 20. 28. and thoſe Act. 14. 23.) nihil tamen …are, quin in eadem civitate duo aliquando …us di…erminati fuerint. He might (I ſay) with p. 112more ſhew of probability have abode by this obſervation, than to have rambled over all Greece, to relieve himſelfe againſt his adverſaries. But yet neither would this ſuffice. What uſe may or will be made of this conceſſion ſhall elſewhere be manifeſted.

3. That which is extended to this length in this part of the Prefacers diſcourſe, may briefly be ſumm'd up into theſe four heads; 1. a briefe touch of the difference betwixt Clemens and Ignatius, the one mentioning but two, the other three Orders in the Church: 2. His aſſerting the Biſhops mentioned in Clemens to be bare Preſbyters, concluding that from the number of them, many in that … Church of Corinth; 3. a taking notice of a firſt anſwer of mine to that argument, and indeavouring to invalidate it; 4. a reproach of my vaine-glory in borrowing notions from Grotius, and being unwilling to be thought to doe ſo. Which laſt, though it hang looſe from the matter in hand, being perfectly extrinſecall to our Controverſie, whether about Ignatius Epiſtles or Epiſcopacie, (becauſe 'tis certaine that one that hath received help from Grotius, is not for that the more likely to be in the wrong, or to be unable to maintaine his aſſertions; and becauſe he that hath faults in his manners, the vaine-glorious and ingratefull, may yet by ſo good a guide as Grotius, fall upon ſome truth) yet I ſhall afterward punctually reply to, and diſpatch that alſo, and ſhew how little happy the Prefacer is in all his acts of ſeverity. But as the order and the rule before me directs, I muſt begin with the more materiall parts.

4. And firſt for the difference betwixt Clement and Ignatius, it was farre from being any obſervation of the Prefacers, or uſefull to him againſt us, It is knowne to be a principal ingredient in the foundation, on which I build and aſſert Epiſcopacie, viz. that in the times of the Scriptures and of Clemens, there appear to have been two, and not above two Orders in the Church of Chriſt, Biſhops and Deacons, that theſe Biſhops were promiſcuouſly ſtyled, foreign and foreign, Biſhops and Elders, the nature of each word agreeing, to denote a ſingular Governor, and the uſe of it both in Scripture and Clemens no way inclining to determine it to a number or College of Presbyters in each Church, ruling in Common Councel. p. 113That Saint Paul, Phil. 1. 1. Tit. 1. 5. 7. 1 Tim 3. expreſly ſets downe this courſe, under the two plaine heads of Biſhops and Deacons, that Clemens is as expreſſe, that the Apoſtles at their firſt preaching conſtituted or ordained their firſt converts to be Biſhops and Deacons of thoſe that ſhould after believe, that Epiphanius voucheth it out of the profoundeſt Hiſtories, the antienteſt Records, that while the paucity of Chriſtians was ſuch, as neither to need more than a Biſhop, and his Deacons in each Church, nor to afford much choiſe of perſons for any more, foreign they were contented every where with theſe two; Laſtly, that when the number of believers was greatly increaſed, and ſo permitted and required it, then a ſecond order, under Biſhops, and above Deacons, was erected in each Church by Apoſtles and Apoſtolical men, particularly, as may probably be collected by Saint John in Aſia, toward the end of his dayes, and accordingly that Ignatius's Epiſtles written ſome yeares after John's death, are the firſt that mention that ſecond order.

5. All this in every branch hath been diſtinctly cleared both in the Diſſertations, and ſince in the Vindication of them from the London Aſſemblers, and not one word is here pretended to invalidate any one part of it, any farther, than as it will fall under one of the two following heads of diſcourſe, and therefore I am now to haſten to them. OnelyOnly to be ſ…re to have neglected nothing, that can expect to be conſidered in the leaſt, It is here preſently viſible, 1. how cauſeleſly Ignatius is quarrell'd with, for mentioning the Orders of the Church upon no occaſion, when the deſigne of his Epiſtles being to preſerve truth and peace among the Churches, he had no better and more compendious way to doe it, than by requiring their ſubjection to their Governors, and thereupon he ſo conſtantly inculcates it, and this is a very important occaſion, and that which alwayes makes it very ſeaſonable and pertinent, whenſoever it is done by him.

6. Secondly, How fallaciouſly the diſcourſe proceeds, which ſuppoſeth Clemens to call thoſe Preſbyters (which ought to ſignifie as among us the word now ſignifies, collegues and fellow-rulers in the ſame Church) whom before he had p. 114called Biſhops, adding that he plainly aſſerts Epiſcopacy to be the office of Preſbyters, and that their Spirituall Governors were the Preſbyters of the Church, and a plurality of Preſbyters in the ſame Church, whereas all this while he knowes that Clement ſaith that the Apoſtles inſtituted Biſhops and Deacons in all Cities and Regions, and that theſe are by us cleared to be ſingular Biſhops, and that to prevent contentions, they left a liſt of ſucceſſors to that ſingular office in each Church, and that theſe ſingular Biſhops are oft called foreign Elders, not onelyonly before, but after Clemens, even by thoſe that appeare, and are acknowledged to aſſert the three Orders, and conſequently that Clement may well be allowed to ſtyle them ſo, in whoſe time, for ought appears, there were none of that ſecond order, now vulgarly called Preſbyters, yet erected, either at Rome, from whence or at Corinth, or in all Achaia, to which he wrote this Epiſtle.

7. Thirdly, How infirme a way of arguing it is, to ſay that Clement doth not in the leaſt intimate any ſingular perſon, promoted above his fellows, and that had there been any ſuch at Corinth, it had been impoſſible he ſhould be thus paſs'd by in ſilence, when he knowes that the Apoſtles conſtituting Biſhops and Deacons, and what followes on that account, is by us inſiſted on, and confirmed to be more than an intimation of it, and when the whole purport of the Epiſtle is to preſerve the authority of the Governors of the ſeverall Churches under that Metropolis, whom he knowes we contend and prove to be the ſingular Biſhops, and muſt not forgoe that pretenſion till it be confuted.

8. To proceed to the ſecond head of diſcourſe, his aſſerting the Biſhops mentioned in Clemens to be bare Presbyters.] For this it is certaine, that he makes no tender of any other argument, or appearance of proofe, but onelyonly the mention of foreign (which he renders Presbyters) in the plural, whom therefore he concludes to be many Presbyters in the ſame Church: But 1. foreign Elder, ſignifies Biſhop in Scripture, in Clemens, in Polycarpe, in thoſe of the Antients after them, that are knowne to aſſert the ſingular Biſhop above p. 115Presbyters in each Church. And this having been ſaid and cleared in the Diſſert: is not, in the leaſt, attempted to be diſproved by him.

9. Secondly, Theſe many Elders are not all (or more than one) ſaid or intimated by Clement to be in one City. For the Epiſtle, as was ſhewed in the Diſſert: is, I ſuppoſe, moſt certainly, may have been addreſt by Clement, not to the ſingle Church of that one City of Corinth but to the Churches of all Achaia or Greece, of which Corinth was the chiefe, being the Metropolis.

10. That it was not ſo, is barely ſaid, but largely proved in that place, Diſſert: 5. cap. 2. firſt from the title of the Epiſtle, foreign, where it is on each part the foreign, or whole province, as of Rome, ſo of Corinth, the Region and territory that belonged to either of thoſe Metropoles, which in that age was called foreign, or the adjacent region, expreſt by Ignatius, by foreign, the place of the region of the Romans, by Polycarpe in the ſame kind, ſpeaking of Phili…pi, foreign, the Church adjoyning or belonging to Philippi, and by **Lib. 4. foreign.Euſebius foreign, the Province belonging to Corinth, of which Dionyſius was Biſhop or Metropolitan.

11. Secondly, this was proved by the analogie held between this Epiſtle of Clemens, and the Epiſtle of Saint Paul, inſcribed to the Corinthians; For I demand, was not this Epiſtle of Clement written to the ſame Church or Churches, to whom Saint Paul's two Epistles had been addreſſed; That it was, is more than probable by the Common title; and other Characters in the Epiſtle it ſelfe incline to it. As that he refers them to the Epiſtles of Saint Paul written to them, and that upon the like occaſion of diviſions and factions, ſo early crept in among them. So pag. 61. foreign—Take, ſaith he, the Epiſtle of Saint Paul, conſider what he ſaith to you p. 116in the beginning of his preaching to you, certainely it was by inspiration from God, that he wrote to you concerning himſelfe and Cephas, and Apollos, becauſe that then ye had partialities and inclinations to one more than to another, but that partiality brought leſſe ſinne unto you—Here ſtill it is the ſame [foreign, you] that before, and now were guilty of this ſinne of carnality, admiration of perſon, faction, and now at length ſedition, and ſo the ſame Churches now and then, to whom theſe Epiſtles on that occaſion were addreſt, and there is no circumſtance producible, that reſtrains one more than the other.

11. Now of the Epiſtles of Paul it is evident they were not confined to the one City of Corinth, but to all the Churches of Achaia, ſo it is ſpecified of the ſecond… of them, 2 Cor. 1. 1. To the Church of God which is at Corinth, with all the Saints which are in all Acha…a: And though this be not expreſly ſaid of or in the firſt Epiſtle, or in this of Clement, yet the relation that one hath to the other, will conclude it of thoſe alſo; and the phraſe, which there we find ſuperadded to the Church of Corinth, 1 Cor. 1. 2. foreign, to all that are called by the name of Chriſt, all Chriſtians, in every place] (and the like forme at the concluſion of this, The Grace of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt be with you, foreign, and with all every where that are called by God] hath in all probability the ſame importance) for that being univerſal, and extended beyond Corinth, muſt not yet be interpreted of all Chriſtians in the world, for that would make each of theſe a Catholick Epiſtle, and would conclude the Apoſtle to have received an Epiſtle from the Catholick Church, to which this returne was made: c. 7. 1. and ſo likewiſe the particular ſins, & ſinners both there and here, to which they apply their exhortations, the in…eſt, the going to Law before heathen judicatures, the ſeditions, &c. doe evidently reſtrain it from that latitude, which two circumſtances being balanced on each ſide, will certainly leave it in the middle, betwixt the one Church of Corinth on the one ſide, and the univerſal Church of the whole world on the other, and ſo leave it commenſurate and applyable to the p. 117foreign all the coasts of Acha…a. Thus when 1. Cor. 3. 5. it is ſaid of Apollos, that he hath watered them, as the Miniſter by which they to whom he wrote believed and ſo in this of Clemens, that they had beene factiouſly inclined to Apollos) it is evident by the ſtory in the Asts, that this belonged not onelyonly to Corinth, but to Achaia indefinitely, Act. 18. he reſolved to go into Achaia, and coming thither he contributed much to thoſe that believed. v. 27.

12 To theſe are added theſe farther indications, that in the Epiſtle to the Romans ſent from Corinth, the ſalutations are ſent from the Churches of Chriſt, in the plural, Rom. 16. 16. mention is made of the Church which is at …enchrea (which is one of theſe Churches) v. 1. ſo what the Apoſtle writes in theſe Epiſtles concerning the collection for Judea, 1 Cor. 16. 1. and 2 Cor c. 8. and 9. evidently belongs to all Achaia. Rom. 15. 26. Macedonia and Achaia have pleaſed to make a certaine contribution, and I know your forwardneſſe, Achaia hath been ready or prepared, 2 Cor. 9. 2. and ſo when c. 1. 9. he had ſaid, when I was preſent among you and wanted, I burthened no man, it f…llowes, v. 10. this boaſting ſhall not be ſhut up againſt me in all the regions of Achaia. Where ſtill [foreign] and [foreign] [you] and [Achaia] are all one, and if that liberty be but allowed in this Epiſtle, the whole difficulty is at an end, for then, as there were many cities and Epiſcop…l ſees in Achaia, the chief of which was Corinth, and what was ſent to that Metropolis was from thence to be communicated, as it belonged to all thoſe others: ſo the Biſhops of each of theſe might very fitly be called by Clement foreign Elders, and not the Elders of that one Church or City of Corinth, but all that related to that Metropolis.

13 This, I may have leave to hope, will be look… on as a …irmer foundation on one ſide, to conclude that the foreign Elders, which is alſo the title of Biſhops, in this Epiſtle, being alſo called Biſhops here (a title which, as is **Diſſert. … c 8. &c …. c. 2. ſect. 2.elſewhere ſhewed at large, as farre as the Scriptures never was applyed to a bare Preſbyter) were the ſeveral Biſhops or ſingular Governors of the many cities of Achaia, than the bare number p. 118or multitude of them, without any other circumſtance to inforce it, will be ſufficient to infer that they were the many Preſbyters in one city.

14. To come therefore to the third thing, the taking notice of this anſwer, and his endeavouring to invalidate it, I ſhall briefly examine whatſoever is ſaid by him in purſuit of that attempt. And his firſt Method is that of the Scoffer, to prepare his reader to look on this anſwer as ridiculous, he doubts not but the Doctor makes himſelfe merry, if he can ſuppoſe any ſo wedded to his dictates, as to give it intertainment, for it is plainly jocular; and againe, I muſt in the ſame Scophick humor, be ſtyled a learned man, ſo to be allowed to excerciſe my phanſie, to sport with my owne imaginations.

15. But 1. truly, Sir, I was neither then nor am now at ſo much vacancy, which might call for sport; If I were, I would finde out more Chriſtian-like divertiſements. 2. I could never think that what was thus confirmed by Arguments (and this had bin done in the Diſſert. on the ſame grounds of probation, which have here been mentioned) could be liable to the cenſure either of Dictates on one ſide, or of jocular, on the other; and 3. If he had been as well able to confute my anſwer, or confirmations of it, as he was to ſcoffe and cry, … cular, &c. he muſt needs have thought it more like a Chriſtian, and a Scholar, and a propugne of truth, to have inſiſted wholly on the former, and omitted the latter. Laſtly, I learn from hence, wherein my crime conſiſted, when I ſaid of one of Blondel's obſervations from Clement, that it was inſtar prodigii; It ſeemes I ſhould have ſaid that it was plainly …ocular, have ſmiled inſtead of wondring, and all had been very well.

16. Having thus anſwered his proeme, I come to his narration: And there truly I finde no one argument of force to countenance or juſtifie his mirth. A cumulus there is, but that will ſignifie nothing, unleſſe ſome one of the particulars, of which it conſiſts, do ſo. And that they cannot do, being by him known to be denied by me, before they are mentioned, and yet no proof added to ſupport them.

p. 11917. As 1. that the Epiſtle is directed to the Church foreign, without the leaſt intimation of any other Church or Churches, and after in the like words, a little varied, that there is not an apex or tittle to intimate the deſignation of it to any but the Church of Corinth.] This is a negative unproved and concluding nothing, whereas it is evident to him, that the very phraſe [foreign] is taken by me for more than an intimation that it was the whole foreign or Province, which he wrote to, and that the conſent betwixt this and S. Paul's Epiſtles intimated them to be addreſt to the ſame, and ſo to the Churches of all Achaia.

18. So 2. when he ſaith the difference it was written about, was occaſioned by one or two perſons in that Church onelyonly, and that it was that Church onelyonly that is exhorted to order and due ſubjection to Elders, that is petitio principii, and that which no way appeares in the Epiſtle, one or more of theſe might be in other Churches of Achaia, and thoſe other Churches might be all exhorted to order and ſubjection to their ſeverall Biſhops.

19. 3. When he falls back ſo ſoon into his firſt Topick again, that of Contumelie [the fabrick of after-ages lies ſo cloſe to the Doctor's imagination, that there is no entrance for the true frame, and therefore every thing muſt be wreſted, &c.] and yet more, that whereas I ought to crop off head and heeles (a phraſe that I have not met with, cropping off heels) I choſe to ſtretch and torture—] 1. It is evident how eaſily this might be retorted, thus, that the fabrick of this laſt part of this laſt age in this Iſland of ours, lies ſo cloſe on my Monitor's imagination, that the frame in Clement's time, of a Church governed by Biſhops, ordeined by the Apoſtles and their ſucceſſors, not by the people or the whole congregation, cannot finde entrance with him. And ſecondly, from the recurring of ſuch kind of Rhetorick as this, ſo ſoon I might very probably conclude, that his whole confidence was placed in this one Topick, which is ordered both to lead the van, and alſo to bring up the reere, to be the reſerve as well as the forlorne hope; And then upon this view of his reply, I deſire it may be indifferently conſidered, p. 120whether my arguments were not as valid to confirme my anſwer as his mirth and repetitions and bare negations without any attempt of proof, were of force to aſſert the contrary.

20. Next he promiſes to attend to my arguments, but cannot hold his countenance againe, they muſt be ſtyled [learned arguments] …orſooth (to have ſpoken as he thought, had been more like a ſerious perſon, that meant to attend to arguments) And the firſt that he attends to is, that Corinth was the Metropolis of Greece, in a politicall ſenſe and acceptation of the word, where the Proconſull had his reſidence, and this he grants, but for my conſectary from thence, that Epiſtle inſcribed to the Church foreign, ſhould be conceived ſent to the Chriſtians of all A…haia] all the ſtrength thereof, ſaith he, from the inſinuatian of ſuch a ſtate of things in the Church of God, is nothing, but a pure begging of the thing in queſtion.

21. But firſt, certainly this cannot be that fallacy called foreign the begging of the queſtion; It is the …erring of that which is there proved both before and after; before, both as that ſignifies long before, and immediately before; long before, viz. Diſſert. 4. c. 5. the erection of Metropoles and Metropolitanes in the Church had been demonſtrated; Immediately before, it had been mentioned as a praecogn…ſcendum, that Corinth was ſuch an one, which if granted, it muſt follow, that there was a Metropolitan Arch-biſhop at Corinth, of whom all the Biſhops in Greece were dependent. So againe this was proved after, by the conſent betwixt this and Paul's E…iſtles; thoſe were written to all the Christians of all Achaia, and then why ſhould not this be reſolved to be ſo written alſo? And how then can the queſtion be here ſaid to be begged by me? If this of Corinth's being a Metropolis in the politicall ſenſe, were not ſufficient to inferr this concluſion, firſt that might then have been ſaid, the conſequence denied, and traill made, what was, or what could be farther ſaid to prove it; but that method was not here thought ſafe, it was eaſier to ſay, the ſtrength of the conſectary is nothing but a pure begging of the queſtion,) which yet I p. 121never heard ſaid of a concluſion, inferred from praemiſſes, and after farther undertaken to be proved; I deſire to conſult Ariſtotle in his diſcourſe of that fallacie, and he ſhall finde it was not foreign, on my ſide a begging of the queſtion, but foreign, on his, a denying the concluſion.

22. This for the forme of his reply; Secondly then, as to the matter of it, I did, and ſtill doe thinke it a concluding argument, which I there uſed; and being briefly ſet downe, 'twill be more explicitely this: An Epiſtle addreſt to a Metropolitical ſee, under the title of the Church adjacent to ſuch a chiefe City or Metropolis, is addreſt to all the Cities and Churches that relate to that Metropolis. But Corinth was ſuch a City, and this Epiſtle was ſo addreſt to it—That Corinth was ſuch a Metropolis was apparent, and is not denyed, as to the politicall acceptation of it; And if it were ſo alſo in the Eccleſiaſtick, there is no farther difficulty; And if my ſuppoſing and not farther proving of this in that place, were the infirme part of the diſcourſe, and begging of the queſtion, I muſt anſwer, that I had no reaſon to expect it ſhould be eſteemed ſo, having long before, on occaſion of the Angels in the Revelation, entre … into a diſcourſe of Metropolitical Cities, and ſhewed, that not onelyonly in the political but Eccleſiaſtical acceptation, there were ſuch in the Apoſtles, and ſo in Clement's time.

23 This was there manifeſted in many inſtances, 1. in Antioch the Metropolis of Syria and Cilicia, and all the Churches of thoſe regions, the foreign of Antioch and dependent on that; Secondly in Rome the Metropolis of the Roman Province, or Ʋrbicarian region; Thirdly, in Alexandria the Metropolis of Egypt, whereupon Marke is ſaid by **Lib. 2. c. … ▪Euſ…bius to have lonſtituted Churches (in the plural) there, all which under the title of ††Ibid. c. … ▪foreign, the province of, or belonging to Alexandria (as here foreign) were by Saint Mark committed to Anianus or Ananias, and the Government adminiſtred by him, all the reſt of the Churches there planted by Mark, relating to this as to the Metropolis. Fourthly, in Gortyna the prime Metropolis of Crete, duplicate page p. 120duplicate page p. 121p. 122the Arch-Biſhop whereof in the Epiſtle of Dionyſius Biſhop of Corinth, Ann: Ch: 175. is ſtyled Biſhop foreign, of the Church adjacent to (i. e. the province of) Gortyna, and of all the reſt in Crete. Fifthly, in Philippi, the Metropolis of one Province of Macedonia, Act. 16. 12. to which purpoſe it is that in the Epiſtle ſaid to be written by Ignatius to them of Tarſus, we finde, foreign, the Churches (in the plural) of the Philippians ſalute you. Sixthly, in the ſeveral Churches of Aſia, mentioned Rev. 1 each of them a Metropolis over ſome other …ities, and Epheſus the prime of all the Proconſular Aſia. And this forme, or this ſtate of things in the Church of God, is there by three Canons of the three great Councels, Nice, Antioch, Epheſus, teſtified to be the ancient primitive, Apoſtolical ſtate.

24. This being then done at large, and thereby the Primitive conſtitution of Metropolitical Churches competently aſſerted, it ſeemed to me ſufficient but to re-mind the Reader, that Corinth was one ſuch Metropolis of Achaia or Greece, and accordingly, that upon that account (in the Eccleſiaſtical as well as Political acceptation) the Epiſtles of Paul inſcribed foreign, to the Corinthians, were meant to all the Churches of Achaia, and not onelyonly to that one of Corinth. And what error I have committed herein, I confeſſe I am not yet able to diſcerne or divine, or what there is behinde that wants farther proof.

25. The onelyonly thing I can yet thinke of, is, that in this Praefacer's judgement, I have not made it ſufficiently appeare by that one evidence of Corinth's being a Metropolis, where the Proconſul of Achaia kept his reſidence, Act. 18 12, 15. (i. e. a Metropolis in the Political acceptation) that it was alſo a Metropolis in the Eccleſiaſtical notitiae, and then it may be fit perhaps farther to adde ſomething to cleare that, and put it out of queſtion, not onelyonly in theſi, that the Church generally thus correſponded with the ſtate, (according to that of Origen, foreign, the Governour of the Church of every City muſt keep conformity to the ruler of thoſe that are in the p. 123City, Contr. Celſ. l. 3.) but alſo in hypotheſi, that ſo it was particularly in this of Corinth.

26. To which purpoſe it were eaſie to multiply teſtimonies, which put it out of queſtion that Corinth was a Metropolitical Church, and ſo is recorded to be in all the Notitiae, that are extant; But I ſhall content my ſelfe with one teſtimony, that of **Edit. Savi…. Tom. 3▪ p. 343.Saint Chryſoſtome, who asketh this queſtion, foreign—Why writing to the Metropolis, he writes (i. e. expreſſes himſelfe to write) to all by or through that, whereas in other Epiſtles he doth not doe ſo? for writing to the Theſſalonians, he no where addreſſeth it to the Macedonians alſo, and writing to the Epheſians in like manner, he comprehendeth not all Aſia, and the Epiſtle to the Romans was not addreſt alſo to the inhabitants of Italy; but here this he doth, and in the Epiſtle to the Galatians, for there alſo he makes his addreſſe, not to one, or two, or three Cities, but to all every where disperſed, ſaying, Paul an Apoſtle—to the churches of Galatia—where, as Corinth at the time when Saint Paul wrote that Epiſtle, is by him ſuppoſed to be a Metropolis, and ſo Theſſalonica, and Epheſus, and Rome, ſo both in the Epiſtles to the Corinthians, and in that to the Galatians, there were more Cities than one, to whom they were addreſt. And then I ſuppoſe there is a full testimony to all, and more than I undertook to prove from it. At the preſent it ſufficeth, Corinth, ſaith he, was a Metropolis, and that in the Eccleſiaſtick notion, when Saint Paul wrote to it.

27. What the Prefacer farther addes, is for the examining my next proofe or evidence, that Clement's Epiſtle belonged to the Churches of Achaia, and not to Corinth onelyonly, becauſe the Epiſtles of Saint Paul appear to have done ſo. And beſides the ſcoffs and the demurer accuſation about Grotius (which p. 124ſhall anon be conſidered) all that he replyes is, 1. That though St. Pauls being expreſly and foreign directed to the Churches of A…haia, cannot be confined to the Church of Corinth, yet Clement directing his Epistle to the Church of▪ orinth onelyonly, without mention, or inſinuation of any intention to extend it to any other, handling in it the peculiar concernment of that Church, and a difference about one or two perſons therein, cannot be ſuppoſed to be written thus to the Churches of all Achaia. Secondly: That in his opinion I might more probably have adhered to a former conjecture of mine concerning two different Churches, with diſtinct Officers▪ in the ſame City, though this would not ſuffice neither.

28. To theſe I reply. 1. That o… St. Paul's onelyonly one (the ſecond) is expreſly directed to all the Churches of Achaia, and yet the former is without that expreſſe direction, already ſufficiently cleared (and not here denied) to belong to the ſame Churches, and the ſame reaſons hold for this of Clemens, which was written to them, to whom …aul wrote, and not to the Church of Corinth, but foreign to the Church ad acent, the foreign the territorie, that belonged to it. And therefore, ſecondly; That this is more than an inſinuation of an intention to extend …t to thoſe other Churches. Thir…ly: That the concernments of the Epiſtle are no way restrained to the particular Church of Corinth, but by common to the other Churches of Achaia. Fourthly: that the difference, or rather ſedition, doth no way appeare to be peculiar to the Church of that one City: The one or two, if they ſignifie ſtrictly no greater a number than two, might yet as probably be in any one or two other Cities of Greece, as in that one of Corinth And there is no probability of reaſon to conclude, that the Errors about the Reſurrection, &c. had ſpread no farther than that one City.

29. Laſtly, for his opinion that I might more probably have adhered to my former conjecture concerning the two different Aſſemblies of of Jewiſh and Gentile Chriſtians in one citie; All that I need ſay, is, that though I ſtill adhere to that conjecture, as far as ever, and no way feare what he threatens, that any uſe, which I ſhall repent of, will, or ever can be p. 125made of this conceſſion, yet I never thought fit to apply it to this matter, both becauſe here is no need of ſuch aids, (and I may have leave to think the Prefacer would not have ſuggeſted it to me, if there had, and that if he had had any way to wreſt the former hold from me, he would not thus have attempted it by diverſion) and becauſe as I am not ſure that there ever were two ſuch diſtinct Coetus at Corinth under diſtinct Biſhops (onelyonly from the authority of Dionyſius Biſhop of Corinth, that there were two parts of their firſt plantation, one from Paul, another from …eter) ſo if there ever were, yet they might before this time of Clement's writing, be made up into one body, as I know the Jewiſh and Gentile Church at Rome, that had been under different Governours, were now united under Clement.

30. And therefore to conclude this matter. I deſire every man may be allowed liberty to uſe his own arguments and anſwers, and to take his owne time to produce and apply them, and that, till what hath been ſaid, be refuted, I may be permitted to think that the whether foreign or foreign, Biſhops or Elders, in this Epiſtle of …lement are the ſingular Governors of the ſeverall cities of Achaia

31. What he ſaith by the by, of Act. 20. 8. and Act. 14. 23. that thoſe two places muſt be excepted from the univerſall negative. that there were never more Biſhops than one in a city, he cannot but know how little force it hath againſt me, who have manifeſt…d out of Irenaeus, that the foreign Elders or Biſhops …ct. 20. were the Biſhops of Aſia, not of the one city of Epheſ…, and that the Elders ordeined in every Church Act. 14. were the Biſhops ordeined at Lyſtra, Iconium and Antioch, and not any plurality of Preſbyters in one city.

32. Having now done with all the three former particulars, wherein Ignatius and Clement, Epiſcopacy and Preſbyterie were concern'd, there remains onelyonly that which is perſonal to me, in relation to Grotius, but that conſiſting of ſeveral branches, of which it will preſently appear how many, or rather how few of them have any degree either of weight or of truth in them.

p. 12633. The firſt is very light, and unconſiderable, that in interpreting [all in every place] 1 Cor 1. 2. Grotius ſaith the ſame with me. And would not any man believe this aſſertion of the Prefacer, take it on his word, and not think it needfull to examine it, but reſolve it is ſo much the better, and that thereby it ſeems, that I am not ſingular in my imagination: But to ſee the luck of it, having no ſuch idea in my memory, I turn'd to Grotius's Notes on the place, and this is all that they ſay there: Oſtendit vocationem omnibus eſſe communem, ac proinde unum eſſe corpus debere, non tantum unius loci, ſed & omnium locorum, puta Achaiae & Macedoniae, in quâ tum erat Paulus, Eccleſiam. The Apoſtle by the phraſe [all that in every place call on the name of the Lord Jeſus, both theirs and ours] ſhews that vocation is common to all, and conſequently that the Church, not onelyonly of one place, but of all places, to wit of Achaia, and Macedonia, where Paul then was, ought to be one body] From hence truly I was not ſo diligent a reader of that learned mans Annotations, as to make any collection at all, or ſo much as to remember that he had ſaid it, nor was I ever ſo acute, or ſagacious, as from thoſe words to have been able to inferre this concluſion, that the Epiſtle was written to all the Churches of Achaia: For as long as Corinth was in Achaia, there had been perfect truth in Grotius's words, though the Epiſtle had been written only to Corinth, as there is on the other ſide in his mention of Macedonia (where Paul then was) though Paul was not conceived by Grotius to have been in above one City of Macedonia (viz. Philippi) at this time when thus he wrote.

34. The ſecond is, that H. Grotius is my great friend, to whom I am beholding for more than one rare notion. To which I anſwer, that this is ſo far perfect truth, that he is one whoſe memory I exceedingly reverence and value for what he hath written; one from whom I have from my firſt entrance on the conſideration of Divine and Moral learning, received more uſefull notions than I have from any Writer of this last Age, and ſo may any man elſe that is not very much above my pitch, if he read him with a ſincere deſire of knowing and practicing the truth. As for any uncertain conjectures, which p. 127I ſuppoſe the Prefacer means by rare notions, or for any expedients whereby to defend the matter in hand, that of Epiſcopacy, I know not that I received any the leaſt hint or direction from him.

35. The third is, that I ward my ſelf carefully that I may not be thought beholding to Grotius. To which I reply, that I never was ſparing on any occaſion, whether by words or writings to give my teſtimony of my valuing, and my being beholding to him, but eſpecially that I have done this very frequently in my papers that have been publiſht, as I ſhall not need make proof by citations or references to them, and I pretend not either to more gravity or ſelf-denyall, than is perfectly reconcileable with this, how far either of theſe are diſcover'd by the Prefacer, it is not my purpoſe to examine. And whereas it is ſuggeſted as the complaint of ſome that have tryed it in reference to the Comment on the Revelations, this muſt needs be in thoſe men, whoſoever they are, a moſt groundleſſe complaint or quarrel, 1. Becauſe it is moſt certain that Grotius's Book of Notes upon the Revelation, came out after I had penn'd the Annotations on the Revelation, and ſo all that I had to doe, was to ſurvey them as ſoon as they came out, and comparing my Notes with his, to reap what bene t I could from him, but did not, could not receive from him my ſcheme of that Prophecie, or ſeries of my interpretations on the whole, or on any part thereof, ſave only thoſe two Chapters (1. 3. and 17.) whereon he had formerly written.

36. Secondly: Becauſe in the one place which my memory at preſent ſuggeſteth to me, that I borrowed the inter retation from him there I find upon examination, that I have own'd it from him, in that of the two Witneſſes, p 962. … ſay, it is reaſonable to forſake all other conjectures, and pitch upon that which the learned H. Groti hath reſolved on.

37. Laſtly, becauſe I had made my particular and ſolemn acknowledgement to this Learned man, by recommending, next after Chryſoſtome and the Greek Scholiaſts, his admirable Comments and poſthumous Annotations, in which number this on the Revelation was ſpecially comprehended. This is once done in the beginning of the Preface, and again toward the p. 130end of it. And that is the third argument to ſuperſede all force of this charge. And ſo I am ſtill, I ſuppoſe, free from all appearance of having merited any part of this character faſtned on me by him and his other complainers.

38. After I had written thus much, and juſt as this paragraph was tranſcribed, it happens quite above my expectation, that a fourth evidence was offered to me in a Letter from a Learned friend, an account whereof, by tranſcribing ſome few paſſages in it, will a little longer divert the Reader: It is in theſe words.

Sir, I have ſeen a Preface of Mr. Owen's before his Anſwer to Mr. John Goodwin touching Perſeverance, and I doubt not but you have ſeen it, or w…ll ſee it before this Paper comes to you; ſo I will take no trouble to render to you any thing more of that Digreſſion, which he spends upon you, than to give you notice that I obſerve amongſt the many reproaches, wherewith he endeavours to load you, in the 17. and 18. pages, he tells men, That there are many that complain of your ſecret vain glory, in ſeeking to diſclaim the direction from H. Grot… in reference to your Comment on the Revelation This charge, I ſuppoſe, reflect; upon the very cloſe of your Praemonition concerning the Interpretation of the Apocalypſe, viz. (Among which number I now alſo find the moſt learned Hugo Grotius, in thoſe poſthumous Notes of his on the Apocalypſe lately publiſhed.] It ſeems thoſe many complainers ſuspect, that (for the main delineation of your work on that Prophecie) you took it from Grotius, though you doe pretend, that without any other light going before you, you derived it from the light ſhining in the Prophecie it ſelf. Ʋnleſſe you think it more fit for you to contemn than to vindicate your ſelf from that asperſion, ſure you want not ſufficient evidence to reprove that ſurmiſe. I doubt not but you communicated your thoughts concerning that Prophecie to ſeverall friends, whom you judged proper to be conſulted in ſuch a matter: Amongſt others, I am ſure you acquainted Mr. John D. with the firſt draught of your Interpretation, who thereupon told you, That when he and I converſed together, which was in the year 1645. I had in ſome diſcourſes declared my opinion concerning that p. 129Prophecie to what times it referred, and that he found a great concurrence in your opinion and mine, which relation of his moved you to write to me, and require of me to communicate my thoughts to you about the ſcope of that Prophecie; and this your Letter was dated Octob. 9. 1648. To which deſire I forthwith payd a due reſpect, and in ſuch manner, as I was able, gave you a ſcheme of my thoughts on that Prophecie, and then ſoon after my anſwer ſent to you, I received a ſecond Letter from you, in which you ſaid [That which you have now ſent me is the laying down of all the very grounds, which I have laid down for the interpreting the Apocalypſe, and unleſſe it be in one little particular, the concurrence is exactly the ſame for the interpretation of the ſeveral parts.] And then you proceeded in that Letter to give mee the ſumme of every part of the Prophecie, which is the exact ſumme of your interpretation which is publiſhed: And this ſecond Letter was dated Decemb. 18. 1648. I have thus punctually ſet down the times, becauſe it is very likely that you cannot with ſo much eaſe diſtinguiſh the times as may clear you perfectly from that calumnie, if you think fit to take any notice thereof at all.

All that I ſhall adde to this ſeaſonable aſſiſtance of my ill memorie, is but this, that Grotius's Notes were not publiſhed till the year 16…0. And ſo much above what … intended in anſwer to that ſuggeſtion.

39. The fourth thing is, that which is concluded from mine own Apologie, as he is pleaſed to call it, Diſſert. 5. c. 1. ſect. 24. where I ſaid, that I was glad to find by Grotius's Annotations on the Revelation (read haſtily by me after the Diſſertations were finiſht and tranſcribed for the Printer) that he was of my opinion concerning a Gentile and a Jewiſh congregation of Chriſtians in the ſame city. How I offended in this, or why this ſhould be ſtyled an Apologie, or what I ſhould have ſaid in any ſyllable otherwiſe than I did, I confeſſe I cannot imagine. This onelyonly I know, that it was perfect truth, what there I ſaid, that that whole diſcourſe, about the two ſorts of Aſſemblies and Biſhops, in every branch of it was made before his Annotations either were read by me, or publiſht, that if I had had his authority to have voucht for the whole obſervation, p. 130I ſhould moſt gladly have own'd it, and counted it my intereſt to doe ſo, that I might not be blamed for the ſingularity of the obſervation by thoſe, who were otherwiſe minded: That as it was, I was glad I had his ſuffrage, and accordingly expreſſed I was ſo.

40. And now truly I am very little concern'd in the gloſs, which, quite contrary to my expectation, I find put upon it, were it not my duty to avert the ſuſpition of a vice, and the ill example conſequent to it, I ſhould never have diſturbed the fly, which he tels me, this hath let into my pot of ointment. The Prefacer ſhould have had my free leave to have ſaid this, and much more (ſo long as it was ſo far from truth) againſt me, without my making any word of ſolemn reply to it. As it is, I am not ill pleaſed, that I am now at an end of it.

Sect. 2.

A digreſſion concerning ſome jealouſies spread of Hugo Grotius.

1. YEt becauſe I will be as little in the debt of that learned man Hugo Grotius, as I may, and becauſe I have the occaſion offer'd, which ſuggeſts it my duty to make ſome return of gratitude to ſo good a friend of mine, as I am told he is, I ſhall doe it in a way, which ſeems to me moſt proper at this time.

2. This very pious, learned, judicious man hath of late among many fallen under a very unhappy fate, being moſt unjuſtly calumniated, ſometimes as a Socinian, ſometimes as a Papiſt, and as if he had learnt to reconcile Contradictories, or the moſt diſtant extreames, ſometimes as both of them together.

3. For that of his being a Socinian, three things are vulgarly made uſe of, to infuſe that jealouſie into mens minds: 1. Some parcels of a Letter of his to Crellius. 2. Some relations of what paſt from him at his death. 3. Some paſſages in his Annotations. Of theſe it may ſuffice to ſay briefly, that p. 131the collection, which is made from the firſt, and the whole of the ſecond, is perfect calumnie and forgery, the third an injuſtice in the publiſher.

4. For the firſt of them, having ſeen above 20. years ſince, foreign, fragments or excerpta of a letter of his to Crellius (on occaſion of that mans defenſe of Socinus, againſt his excellent book De ſatisfactione Chriſti) wherein there were many civilities and commendations of what was any way commendable in the Socinian writings, and finding that this was lookt on as an indication of his judgement, very favourable to that ſect, that inſtead of replying to his confutation, he returned nothing but words of kindneſſe and eſteeme to him and his whole tribe, and having then commodity to make a more particular inquirie into the truth of that whole matter, I accordingly made uſe of it, and had this account from that l…arned man, which as well as my memory will afford, I will ſet downe intirely, 1. that upon the Survey of Crellius's book againſt him, he found there was but one thing of any weight, which ſeemed to ſtand in force againſt him, and to exact any reply from him, and that was about foreign, vicaria ſatisfactio, one mans laying downe his life for another, the innocent to reſcue the nocent: Secondly, that after the publication of his Book, De Satisfactione, but withall long before Crellius's reply, he had taken that one particular into more ſerious conſideration, and in his book, De Jure Belli ac Pacis, ſet downe his thoughts on that ſubject more exactly, I thinke it was l. 2. c. 21. Thirdly, that to that diſcourſe he remitted him, being of opinion, that he needed not adde any more in relation to that Controverſie, as it lay betwixt them, joyning as appears by the Excerpta, many paſſages of civility and commendations, which he thought du… to them in one reſpect, their profeſt deſire to advance the practice of vertue and Chriſtian life. And this account of this letter gives it a quite different and diſtant appearance, from that which the fragments, all of one ſort, taken alone, out of this conjunction had given it.

5. For the ſecond, concerning ſome words which are reported (variouſly) to have paſt from him at his death, they will be p. 132evidenced to be either totally falſified, or fouly miſtaken and diſtorted from the true meaning of them, by the account given of his ſickneſſe and laſt paſſages, by John Quiſtorpius, Doctor of Divinity, and Paſtor of the chiefe Church in Roſt…ch, who aſſiſted him in his laſt tryall. His Letter being already in Print, in Doctor Cauſabone's little Booke intituled (as I remember) De Ʋſu verborum, I muſt not here ſet it downe, but referre the Reader to that view of it, where he will finde no other words of his but theſe; when the Doctor wiſhed he had been to converſe with him in health, his anſwer was, it a Deo viſum eſt, thus God hath pleaſed to diſpoſe of it; when he mentioned confeſſion of ſinnes, and the example of the Publican, he interpoſed, Ego ille ſum Publicanus, I am that Publican; when he remitted him to Chriſt, without whom there is no Salvation, he replyed, In ſolo Chriſto omnis ſpes mea repoſita eſt, In Chriſt onelyonly all my hope is repoſed. When he uſed the prayer beginning Herr Jeſu wahrer Menſch und Got, &c. he folded his hands and followed him in a low voice; when he asked him at the end whether he underſtood, he anſwered, probè intellexi, I underſtood it well; when upon reciting ſome ſeaſonable texts of Scripture, he askt-againe whether he underſtood him, his laſt words were, Vocem tuā audio, ſed quae ſingula dicas difficulter intelligo, I hear your voice, but doe not eaſily underſtand every word you ſay. And having ſaid ſo, he became Speechleſſe. This bare recitall of his noviſſima, is a ſufficient confutation of all the uncharitable relations that are made of them.

6, Laſtly, then for the paſſages in the Annotations, it may ſuffice to remember that they are in his poſthuma, thoſe which have been publiſht ſince his death, thoſe eſpecially on the Epiſtles, of which it is evident, that they had never been formed by him, or fitted for the publick, but were put together by ſome body elſe, after his death, who finding many things in his adverſaria, throwne into Paper bookes as he had at any time occaſion, either from his reading of Scripture or others writings (it being ordinary for every man to note, not onelyonly what he approves, but what he diſlikes, and what he thinkes matter of farther conſideration) hath, as he thought fit, made p. 133a body of Annotations, and publiſht them under his name. Many indications of the truth of this I might produce, having elſewhere mentioned ſome. I ſhall onelyonly adde one, Col. 1. 16. where the Apoſtle ſaith [by him all things were created that are in Heaven—] the Annotation publiſht under Grotius's name, hath theſe words, Rectius eſt; foreign, hic interpretari, ordinata ſunt, novum quendam ſtatum ſunt conſecuta, the righter interpreting of [were created] is, were ordered, obteined a new kinde of ſtate, and ſo in the end, All things were created by him] the Scholion is, Intellige omnia quae ad novam creationem pertinent, Ʋnderſtand all things which belong to the New Creation.

7. Which explications as they more than ſavour of the Socinian leaven, not willing to permit Chriſt there to be ſaid the Creater of Angels, but referring all to the New Creation (as the Socinians generally doe, and accordingly interpret. In principio, Joh. 1. 1. In principio Evangelii, In the beginning of the Goſpel) ſo they are expreſly contrary to the words of Grotius, as we know they were publiſht by him on Jo…. 1. 3. where on thoſe words [without him was nothing made that was made] the nothing, ſaith he, is put to take away all exception, Id autem ideo factum, ut in iis, quae per verbum ſunt condita, intelligerentur etiam ea quae conspicua nobis nen ſunt, Col. 1. 16. This was done, that among theſe things that were created by the word, may be underſtood alſo thoſe things that are not ſeen, citing this very place to that ſenſe, Col. 1. 16. which in the poſt humous Annotations, is interpreted in ſuch a contrariety both to this former note, and to the writings laſt publiſhed by him before his death, that nothing can be more diſcernibly injurious to him.

8. By this the Reader may obſerve and judge of others, and conſider how unequall we are likely to be to dead men, if we judge of their opinions by all that is after death publiſhed under their names. Witneſſe alſo his Book, De Poteſtate Regis …irca ſacra, which being written by him in his younger dayes, but never approved by him to be publiſht in his life, but purpoſely ſuppreſt, onelyonly ſome Copies ſtolne out in Manuſcri…ts from him in which forme I read it many yeares ſince) 'tis p. 134now againſt his conſent (and in many things diſtant from his ſenſe expreſt in later writings) publiſht, as if it had been fully allow'd by him. But this by the way.

9. Next then for the charge of Popery that is fallen upon him, it is evident from whence that flows, either from his profeſt oppoſition to many doctrines of ſome Reformers, Zuinglius, and Calvin, &c. Or from his Annotations on Caſſander, and the Debates with Rivet, conſequent thereto, the Votuns pro Pace and Diſcuſſio.

10. For the former of theſe 'tis ſufficiently known what conteſts there were, and at length how profeſt the diviſions betwixt the Remonſtrant and Contraremonſtrant, and it is confeſt that he maintain'd (all his time) the Remonſtrants party, **Diſq…iſ…an Pelagiana ſint dogm. &c.vindicating it from all charge, whether of Pelagianiſm, or Semipelagianiſm, which was by the oppoſers objected to it, and preſſing the favourers of the Doctrine of Irrespective Decrees with the odious conſequences of making ††Appendix to de Antichriſto.God the author and favourer of ſin, and frequently expreſſing his ſenſe of the evil influences that ſome of thoſe Doctrines were experimented to have on mens lives; and by theſe meanes it is not ſtrange that he ſhould fall under great displeaſure from thoſe, who having eſpouſed the opinion of irreſpective decrees, did not onelyonly publiſh it as the truth, and truth of God, but farther aſſerted the queſtioning of it to be injurious to God's free Grace, and his eternal Election, and conſequently retain'd no ordinary patience for, or charitie to oppoſers.

11. But then ſtill this is no medium to inferre that charge. The Doctrines, which he thus maintained, were neither branches nor characters of Popery, but aſſerted by ſome of the firſt, and moſt learned and pious Reformers. Witneſſe the writings of Hemingius in his Opuſcula (moſt of which are on theſe ſubjects) whereas on the contrary ſide, Zuinglius and others, who maintained the rigid way of irreſpective decrees, and infuſed them into ſome of this Nation of ours, are truly ſaid by an **D… Jackſons Book 10. ch. 49excellent Writer of ours to have had it firſt from ſome antient Romiſh Schoolmen, and ſo to have had as much (or more) of that guilt adherent to them, as can be charged on their oppoſers.

p. 13512. The truth is, theſe (or the like to them) have been matters controverted in all times, and in theſe latter dayes the controverſies inflamed, and the doctrines warmly maintained on both ſides by the Lutherans againſt the Calviniſts, who are yet no more Papiſts than they, and by the Papiſts among themſelves, witneſſe the continual diſputes between the Jeſuits and the Dominicans, and at this time between the Moliniſts and Janſenians, the parties for a long time ſo equally balanced, that the Popes have thought it prudent to wave defining on either ſide, till this laſt year Innocentius X. upon the inſtance of the French King hath made a deciſion of them.

13. So that from hence to found the jealouſie, to affirm him a Papiſt becauſe he was not a Contraremonſtrant, is but the old method of ſpeaking all that is ill of thoſe, who differ from our opinions in any thing, as the Dutch man in his rage calls his horſe an Arminian, becauſe he doth not goe as hee would have him. And this is all that can ſoberly be concluded from ſuch ſuggeſtions, that they are diſpleaſed and paſſionate that thus ſpeak.

14. As for the Annotations on Caſſander, &c. and the conſequent vindications of himſelf againſt Rivet, thoſe have with ſome colour been deemed more favourable toward Popery; but yet, I ſuppoſe will be capable of benigne interpretations, if they be read with theſe few cautions or remembrances.

15. 1. That they were deſigned to ſhew a way to peace, whenſoever mens minds on both ſides ſhould be piouſly affected to it. Secondly, that he did not hope for this temper in this age, the humour on both ſides being ſo turgent, and extreamly cont…ary to it, and the controverſie debated on both ſides by thoſe, qui aterna cupiunt eſſe diſſidia, ſaith he, who deſire to eternize, and not compoſe contentions, and therefore makes his appeal to poſterity, when this paroxiſme ſhall be over, Judicet …qua poſteritas, ad quam maxime provoco.

16. Thirdly: That for the chief uſurpations of the Pa…acie, he leaves it to Chriſtian Princes to joyn together to vindicate their own rights, and reduce the Pope ad Canones, to that temper which the antient Canons allow and require of him, a…d if that will not be done, to reform every one within their own dominions.

p. 13617. Fourthly: That what he ſaith in favour of ſome Popiſh doctrines, above what ſome other learned Proteſtants have ſaid, is not ſo much by way of aſſertion or justification of them, as to ſhew what reaſons they may juſtly be thought to proceed upon, and ſo not to be ſo irrational or impious as they are ordinarily accounted, and this onelyonly in order to the peace of the Chriſtian world, that we may have as much charitie to others, and not as high animoſities, live with all men as ſweetly, and amicably, and peaceably, and not as bitterly as is poſſible, accounting the Wars, and Seditions, and Diviſions, and Rebellions, that are raiſed, and managed upon the account of Religion, far greater and more ſcandalous unchriſtian evils, than are the errors of ſome Romiſh doctrines, eſpecially as they are maintain'd by the more ſober and moderate men among them, Caſſander, Picherel, &c.

18. Fifthly: What he ſaith in his Diſcuſſio of a conjunction of Proteſtants with thoſe that adhere to the Biſhop of Rome, is Page 255.no farther to be extended than his words extend it. 1. That there is not any other viſible way to the end there mention'd by him, of acquiring or preſerving univerſal unity. 2. That this is to be done not crudely, by returning to them as they are, ſubmitting our necks to our former y…ke, but by taking away at once the diviſion, and the cauſes of it, on which ſide ſoever; adding onelyonly in the third place, that the bare Primacie of the Biſhop of Rome ſecundùm Canones, ſuch as the antient Canons allow of (which hath nothing of ſupreme univerſal power or authority in it) is none of thoſe cauſes, nor conſequently neceſſary to be excluded in the foreign, citing that as the confeſſion of that excellent perſon Phil. Melancthon.

19. So that in effect that whole ſpeech of his, which is ſo ſolemnly vouched by **Page 167.Mr. Knot, and lookt on ſo jealouſly by many of us, is no more than this, that ſuch a Primacie of the Biſhop of Rome, as the antient Canons allow'd him, were, for ſo glorious an end, as is the regaining the peace of Chriſtendome, very reaſonably to be afforded him, nay abſolutely neceſſary to be yielded him, whenſoever any ſuch Catholick union ſhall be attempted, which as it had been the expreſſe opinion p. 137of Melancthon, one of the firſt and wiſeſt Reformers, ſo it is far from any deſign of eſtabliſhing the uſurpations of the Papacie, or any of their falſe doctrines attending them, but onelyonly deſigned as an expedient for the reſtoring the peace of the whole Chriſtian world, which every diſciple of Chriſt is ſo paſſionately required to contend and pray for.

20. So that, in a word, ſetting aſide the prudential conſideration and queſtion, as whether it were not a hopeleſſe deſigne that Grotius ingaged himſelf in, expreſſing deſires of an univerſal reconciliation, when there was ſo little hope on either ſide, that the extream parties would remit ſo much, as to meet in the middle point (to which alſo the expreſſing of his no hopes of it at this time, and the making his appeal to more impartial poſterity, is a ſatis…orie anſwer) all that this very learned man was guilty of in this matter, was but this, his paſſionate deſire of the unitie of the Church in the bands of peace and truth, and a full diſlike of all uncharitable diſtempers, and impio…s doctrines (whether thoſe which he deemed deſtructive to the practice of all Christian virtue, or which had a particularity of ill in…luence toward the undermining of Government, and publick peace) whereſoever he met with them.

21. All which notwithſtanding, the temper of that learned man was known to be ſuch, as rendred him in a ſpecial manner a lover and admirer of the frame and moderation obſerved in our Church of England, as it ſtood (ſhaken, but not caſt down) in his life time, deſiring earneſtly to live himſelfe in the Communion of it, and to ſee it copied out by the reſt of the world.

22. And ſo much for this large digreſſion, which if it be no neceſſary return to the Prefacer, may yet tend to the ſatisfaction of ſome others, and to the vindicating the memory of that Learned man.

p. 138Sect. 3.

Of foreign in Clemens. How many Orders there were in Corinth at the writing this Epiſtle. foreign. Metropolitical Churches at the first. Philippi a Metropolis at the firſt, as Canterbury at Auguſtines firſt planting the Faith. The Inſtitution of Preſbyters, when, by what authority. St. Jerome's opinion. The uſe of the word Preſbyters in Scripture. The Biſhops task.

Num. 1. THE Prefacer now proceeds to take notice of a ſecond anſwer of mine to the objection from the plurality of the Elders in Clement, and this yields him alſo matter for many queſtions, and great appearance of triumph. It is managed in theſe words.

2. But the Doctor hath yet another anſwer to this multiplication of Elders, and he mention of them with Deacons with the eminent identity that is between them and Biſhops through the whole Epiſtle, the ſame perſons being unqueſtionably intended in reſpect of the ſame office, by both theſe appelations. Now this ſecond anſwer is founded up on the ſuppoſition of the former (a goodly foundation!) namely, that the Epiſtle under conſideration was written and ſent not to the Church of Corinth onelyonly, but to all the Churches of Achaia, of which Corinth was the Metropolitane.

Now this ſecond anſwer is, that the Elders or Presbyters here mention'd, were properly thoſe whom he calls Biſhops, Dioceſans, men of a third order and rank above Dea…ons and Presbyters in the Church Adminiſtrations and Government: And for thoſe, who are properly called Presbyters, there were then none in the Church. To give colour to this miſrable evaſion, Diſſ. 4. c. 10, 11. He diſcourſeth about the government and ordering of Church affairs by Biſhops and Deacons. In ſome Churches that were ſmall, not yet formed or compleated, nor come to perfection at the firſt planting of them; how well this is accommodated to the Church of Corinth, which Clement calls foreign, and which himſelf would have to be a Metropolitical Church, being confeſſedly great, numerous, furniſhed with great and large gifts and abilities, is ſeen with half an eye. How ill alſo this ſh…ft is accommodated to help in the caſe, for whoſe ſervice it was firſt invented, is no leſſe evident. It was to ſave the ſword of Phil. 1. 1. from the throat of Epiſcopacie he contendeth for: That Epiſtle is directed to the Saints or Church at Philippi with the Biſhops and Deacons. Two things doe here trouble our Doctor: 1. The p. 139mention of more Biſhops than one at Philippi. 2. The knitting together of Biſhops and Deacons, as the onelyonly two orders in the Church, bringing down… Epiſcopacie one degree at leaſt from that height, whereto he would exalt it. For the firſt of theſe he tells you, that Philippi was the Metropolitane Church of the Province of Macedonia, that the reſt of the Churches, which had every one their ſeverall Biſhops (Dioceſan we muſt ſuppoſe) were all compriſed in the mentioning of Philippi: ſo that though the Epiſtle be preciſely… directed foreign, yet the Biſhops that were with them, muſt be ſuppoſed to be the Biſhops of the whole Province of Macedonia, becauſe the Church of Philippi was the Metropolitane. The whole Countrey muſt have been ſuppoſed to be converted (and who that knowes any thing of Antiquity, will diſpute that) and ſo divided with Dioceſans, as England of late was, the Arch-Biſhops ſo being at Philippi: but how came it then to p…ſſe, that here is mention made of Biſhops and Deacons onelyonly, without any word of a third order or ranke of men▪ diſtinct from them called Presbyters or Elders? To this he anſwers ſecondly, that when the Church was firſt planted, before any great number were converted, or any ſit to be made Presbyters, there was onelyonly thoſe two orders inſtituted, Biſhops and Deacons, and ſo that this Church of Philippi ſeems to have been a Metropoliticall Infant. The truth is, if ever the Doctor be put upon reconciling the contradictions of his anſwers one to another, not onelyonly in this, but almoſt in every particular he deals withall (an intanglemen; which he is throwne into, by his bold and groundleſſe conjectures) he will finde it to be as endleſſe as fruitleſſe: but it is not my preſent buſineſſe to interpoſe in his quarrells, either with himſelfe, or Presbyterie. As to the matter under conſideration, I deſire onelyonly to be reſolved in theſe few Queries.

1. If there were in the time of Clement no Presbyters in the Churches, not in ſo great and fl…uriſhing a Church as that of Corinth; and if all the places in Scripture, where there is mention of Elders, doe preciſely inten Biſhops, in a diſtinction from them who are Deacons, and not Biſhops alſo, as he aſſerts; when, by whom, by what Authority, were Elders, who are only ſo inferiour to Biſhops, peculiarly ſo termed, inſtituted and appointed in the Churches? And how comes it paſſe that there is ſuch expreſſe mention made of the office of Deacons, and the continuance of it, none at all of Elders, who are acknowledged to be ſuperiour to them, and on whoſe ſhoulders in all their own Churches, lies the great weight and burthen of all Eccleſiaſticall adminiſtration? As we ſay of their Biſhops, ſo ſhall we of any Presbyter, not inſtituted and appointed by the authority of Jeſus Chriſt in the Church, let them goe to the place from whence they came

2. I deſire the Doctor to informe me in what ſenſe he would have me to underſtand him, Diſſ. 2. cap. 20, 21, 22. Where he diſputes that theſe words of Hicrome, Antequam …ludia in Religione fierent, & diceretur in populis, Ego ſum Pauli, ego Cepbae, communi Presbyterorum conſenſu Eccleſia p. 140… be underſtood of the times of the Apoſtles, when … Church of Corinth, when it ſeems that neither … ſuch thing as Presbyters in the … we can … As … Presbyters were Biſhops properly ſo …, who are they ſo, … of whom … … to be a … ſo called. To … I ….

…. … in the Scripture, we … of Church …. This (… Doct…) is that of …, give us … of Chriſt, give us in every Church, Biſhops and Deacons (… than we …) let thoſe Biſhops attend the …, over which they …ching the …, and adminiſt… O …, in and to their …; And I … … all the Comenders for Presbytery in this N…ion, and much … the Independents, that there ſhall be a …end of this quarrel: that they will … with the Doctor, not any living, for the …duction of any … ſo…t of perſons though they ſhould be … Presbyters into Church office and Government. OnelyOnly this I muſt … this ſecond ſort of men … Presbyters, than it doth Biſhops, and that word having been … third …, we deſire leave of the D…ctor and his … if we alſo moſt frequently call them ſo, no wayes declining the other application of Biſhops, ſo that it be applyed to ſignifie the ſecond▪ and not third … of men. But of this … buſineſſe, with the nature, con… and frame of the firſt Churches; and the … m… ſt…k … men have be their owne prejudices been ingaged into, in this d… of them, a … opportunity (if God will) may … long be a…ded.

3. Here firſt I ſhall demand, whence it appeares, that I accommodated a double anſwer to the multiplication of Elders in Clemens, &c. Truly I doe not yet know or remember that I did. This certainly was all (and this can amount (if to any) but to one anſwer, that which we have vindicated already) that the Elders in the Epiſtle of Clemens were all the Biſhops of Achaia. This indeed when it was propoſed, was more diſtinctly ſet down by 4. ſteps or degrees, (but then again thoſe are no more two than foure anſwers) 1. that the Epiſtle was addreſt to the Church, foreign, i. e. to the whole Province; Secondly, that (to make it capable of that title) p. 141Corinth was knowne to be the Metropolis of Achaia. Thirdly, that Saint Paul's Epiſtles to the Corinthians belonged to all the Churches of Achaia, not onelyonly to Corinth, and ſo in any probability Clements was to doe alſo, being written to the ſame, and inſcribed foreign, and therefore Fourthly, that theſe many Elders were the ſingular Biſhops in the ſeverall Cities of Achaia, in each of which, the Apoſtles had inſtituted a Biſhop. And this is all that is there ſaid in that ſecond Chap. of Diſſ 5 And (yet farther) no part of this adapted as an anſwer to that objection of the plurality of Elders (or any other) but as things thought fit to be premiſed concerning that Epiſtle of Cl…, before the taking into conſideration any teſtimony produced out of it.

4. This might ſpare me the paines of f…rther conſidering what is here replyed to this ſuppoſed ſecond anſwer, But I have not hitherto been ſo thriſty, as might now juſtifie any ſuch haſty diſmiſſion of him, I ſhall therefore … di…p…ſe the matter orderly before me, which is a l…ttle diſordered and i…led by the Prefacers haſty handling, and then give anſwer to every appearance of ſcruple mentioned by him.

5. There are two things (to the buſineſſe of …) … ly obſervable in this Epiſtle of …, Firſt, what he ſa…th of the Apoſtles conſtituti… of Biſhops and Deacons at their firſt preaching of the Gospel, and this …lly conſidered, through all Regions and C…s where they preached: without any reſtraining of their ſpeech to the whether Church of Corinth, or Churches of Achaia. This is conſidered in Diſſ. 5. cap. 10. and reference made in the margent to a former diſcourſe, Diſſ. 4. cap. 10. where out of the moſt antient Records it had been cleared, that at the firſt the Apostles had conſtituted no more in every Church, than here were mentioned, a Biſhop and one or more Deacons. And ſo to this … practice of the Apoſtles, it is that that referres, which is here by the Prefacer …iſcalled the colour of this ſecond anſwer (which he farther ſtyles a miſerable evaſion) and ſo evidently it belongs not to the plurality of Elders in Corinth, &c.

6. The ſecond thing there diſcernible is, the plurality of Biſhops (ſtyled alſo foreign Elders) among thoſe to whom p. 142he there writes. And thoſe, ſay I, are the Biſhops of all Achaia, as that is the foreign or Province perteining to that Metropolis.

7. Now theſe things ought thus to have been ſevered, and then having competently vindicated the former of theſe, Chap. 3. Sect. 4. (that there were indeed at the firſt but two orders, ſhewing when the middle order of Preſbyters came in, viz. moſt probably in Saint John's time in Aſia) and ſo **Cap. 5. Sect.lately, as I was required, manifeſted the ſecond, that of the Biſhops of Greece being meant by the foreign, Elders, I might, as I ſaid, have reaſonably been ſpared from being ſo ſpeedily called out againe to the ſame exerciſes.

8. But as it is, I ſhall now attend him, and firſt when he objects, that what was diſcourſed of ſome Churches, ſmall, and not yet formed or compleated at the firſt planting, cannot be accommodated to the Church of Corinth, which Clement calls foreign, moſt firme and antient, and which I affirme to have then been a Metropoliticall Church, being confeſtly great, numerous—To this I anſwer, 1. That I have no where affirmed this Church to be in Clements time ſmall, unformed, &c. nor had any occaſion, or temptation to doe ſo. 2. That I no where accommodate to this Church at that time, what I had before obſerved of the Church indefinitely at the first planting; Theſe two are but effects of the Prefacers haſt, without any foundation in any words of mine. 3. That if I am now asked, whether at this time of Clement's writing there were any more than two orders in Corinth, and the other Cities of Greece, I muſt ſay, as formerly, that though 'tis probable there were none, yet I finde no foundation in this Epiſtle either for denying or affirming it.

9. The chiefe occaſion of writing the Epiſtle was the ſedition againſt the Biſhops, or Governors of the firſt order, on deſigne foreign, to caſt out of their Biſhopricks ſome of thoſe, whom the Apoſtles had placed over them, and either for Prsbyters, the ſecond, or Deacons, the third order, there was no ſuch contention, but only (as ſaith he, the Apoſtles foreſaw) foreign, for the name or dignity of Biſhop, p. 143and ſo there is no occaſion to mention any but their Biſhops, which yet is far from concluding that there were not any other, for Deacons we are ſure there then were, no Biſhop being ever without ſuch.

10. Again, that Biſhops continued to retain the name of foreign, Elders, even after there was a ſecond ſort ordained, whom we now call Preſbyters, hath elſwhere appeared from Polycarp, Papias, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, who certainly lived to ſee them in the Church, and yet call Biſhops foreign and Seniores, and ſo the Biſhops being call'd foreign in Clement, is no indication that there were at that time no ſecond order of Preſbyters in that Church.

11. And yet on the other ſide, Clement's death falling not far from St. John's, which was in the third of Trajan, 'tis as poſſible, and, I confeſſe, to me much more probable, that there might be yet no Preſbyters ordain'd at Corinth, or in the reſt of Achaia, at the time of his writing this Epiſtle. And ſo there lies no obligation on me, whoſe conjectures are wont to bring me ſo little thanks from the Prefacer, to interpoſe them in this matter, where I have ſo little light to ſee by. OnelyOnly I am ſure that the Prefacer's objection here mention'd, would be of no force againſt me, in caſe I ſhould deny that there were then any Presbyters at Corinth, becauſe, as the meaning of foreign, which Clemens affirmes of it can be no more than this, that this Church was founded and eſtabliſht by the Apoſtles themſelves, and ſo was kept upright by them till the time of this ſedition, which **Euſeb. l. 4. c. 22Hegeſippus tels us was foreign, Primus being Biſhop of Corinth, ſo that concludes nothing for their having Presbyters ordain'd among them. And when I ſaid that at the firſt preaching of the Apoſtles, they inſtituted none but Biſhops and Deacons, I never granted, or implyed, or believed, that as ſoon as ever that was done, they inſtituted more, viz. Presbyters alſo.

12. And whereas he phanſies my obſervation to be made of ſome Churches onelyonly, that were ſmall, and not yet formed▪ &c. this is another mistake; for I take Clement's and Epiphanius's words univerſally of all Churches at their firſt planting, p. 144the fuller, as well as the thinner plantations. As at Jeruſalem, where all the Antients tell us there was a Biſhop preſently upon Chriſt's Aſcenſion, and the-number of Believers ſo great, that there were ſeven Deacons inſtituted to attend him, yet neither in Scripture, nor in the Antients finde we any footſteps of this middle order of Presbyters in that Citie, at that time, or ſoon after. And the reaſon is clear, that though in ſome Cities there were more, in ſome fewer converts, and ſo, comparatively to others, the Church at Corinth, and through Achaia might be numerous, both Paul and Peter having labour'd there ſuccesfully, yet for ſome t…me there were not any where ſo many, but that the Biſhop, and his Deacon, or Deacons might be ſufficient for them.

13. So likewiſe the being a Metropolis is no argument that there ſhould be Presbyters by this time conſtituted there; for ſuppoſing, as I doe (and my grounds have been largely ſet down) that the Apoſtles conformed their models to the Governments and forms among the Nations where they came, at their firſt planting the Faith in any region, it muſt follow, that the Church of Corinth, as ſoon as it was formed into a Church, with a Biſhop over it, was alſo a Metropolitan Church, in relation to all other Cities of Greece, which either then did, or ſhould after believe, as Jeruſalem was to all the Cities of Judea, or as Philippi, being a prime Citie, or Metropolis of Macedonia, and the firſt where Paul planted the Faith, was ſtraightway a Metropolitical Church, how few, or how many Chriſtians there were in it, it matters not.

14. And therefore for his change of the ſcene from Corinth and Clement's to Philippi and St. Paul's Epiſtle, it will bring him no advantage. The caſe between them is exactly parallel. There was a foreign, or Province of Macedonia, ſaith St. Luke, of which Philippi was foreign, the Metropolis, juſt as Corinth was of Achaia, and this Citie being the firſt in that region, wherein St. Paul planted the Faith, it was certainly a Metropolitical Church, and Epaphroditus was the Metropolitan of that Province, the firſt day he was Biſhop of it. The truth of which is ſo evident, that the jeere of the [Metropolitical p. 145Infant] might ſeaſonably have been controverted into a more ſerious, and decent expreſſion, there being no reaſon imaginable, why, if the Apoſtles did inſtitute Metropolitical Churches (as here is not one ſerious word of objection againſt all that hath been ſaid to aſſert it) thoſe Churches ſhould not at their firſt inſtitution (call it their infancie if you will) be Metropolitical Churches. For as to that of the whole countries being ſuppoſed to be converted, and divided into Dioceſes, that is not conſequent or neceſſary to my aſſertion; for as Clement ſaith of the Bi…hop and Deacon in each City at the firſt planting of the Faith, that they were conſtituted in relation to them (not onelyonly which did, but expreſly foreign) who ſhould afterward believe, ſo the Church and Biſhop in the Metropolis, when that was firſt converted, might very well be Metropolitical in reſpect of the other Cities of that Province, which ſhould afterward receive the Faith.

15. As we know when Auguſtin came firſt over into England, and preacht the Faith, and converted Chriſtians firſt at Canterbury, Ethelbert's ſeat, and the Metropolis of that Province, he was by being made Biſhop there, made Metropolitan alſo. That ſure was Bede's meaning, when he ſaith of it, lib. 1 c. 27. Venit Arelas & ab Archiepiſcopo ejuſdem civitatis Eth… rio Archiepiſcopus Gen…i Anglorum ordinatus eſt; He came to Arles in France, and by Etherius Archbiſhop of that Citie was ordained Archbiſhop to the Nation of the Engliſh, and if, as a learned Antiquarie thinkes, Bede ſpake after the uſe of his own time, and that the word Archiepiſcopus was not in uſe here then, at Auguſtine's coming hither, yet for the ſubſtance of the thing, wherein I make the inſtance, and all that I contend from thence, there can be no doubt, but that he being at firſt made Biſhop of the Metropolis, was thereby made alſo Metropolitan.

16. As for the diviſions into Dioceſes, how little force that hath againſt all that I have ſaid, or thought in this buſineſſe, whether of Biſhops or Metropolitans, I have ſpoken enough to that in the Vindication to the London Miniſters, c. 1. ſect. 19. and to that I refer the Prefacer.

p. 14617. And ſo ſtill I am free enough from quarrelling with my ſelf in the leaſt, or from being ingaged in any endleſſe labour to reconcile the contradictions of my anſwers, which as farre as my weak underſtanding can reach, are perfectly at agreement with one another. If the labour of ſhewing they are ſo, prove fruitleſſe, I know to whom I am beholding for it, even the Task-maſter whom I have undertaken to obſerve, and in that guiſe of obedience, ſhall now proceed briefly to anſwer every of his queſtions, and I hope there cannot now need many words to doe it.

18. To the firſt, concerning the Inſtitution of the ſecond order, that of Presbyters; for the [when] I anſwer, I know not the yeare, but evidently before the writing of Ignatius's Epiſtles, in Trajan's time, and, in all probability, after the writing all the Bookes of Scripture, and, for ought I can diſcerne, of Clement's Epiſtle, as farre as concerns either Rome, or Corinth.

19. For the [by whom, and by what authority] I anſwer, I think they were firſt inſtituted by St. John in Aſia, before his death, and ſhall adde to my reaſons elſwhere given for it, this farther conſideration, that Ignatius in all his Epiſtles to the Churches of Aſia, Epheſus, Smyrna, Trallis, Magneſia, Philadelphia, makes mention of them, within few years after St. John's death, though in his Epiſtle to the Romans he doth not. And if this be ſo, then alſo it appears by what authority, viz. ſuch as St. John's was, Apostolical. Or if this ſhould not be firmly grounded, as to the perſon of St. John, yet the reaſon why they were not at first inſtituted, as well as Deacons, being but this, becauſe there was no need of them yet, and the power given by the Apoſtles to the firſt Biſhops, being a plenarie power, ſo far that they might communicate to others, what was committed to them, either in whole or in part, and thoſe accordingly, in the force thereof, conſtituting Preſbyters, in partem officii, the authority ſtill, by which they were inſtituted, will be Apoſtolical, and ſo if (as this Prefacer gives order) they be let goe to the place from whence they came, they will not be much hurt, they are but remitted to the ſociety of the Apoſtles and Apoſtolical perſons by this.

p. 14720. To the ſecond, concerning the meaning of my words Diſſ. 2. c. 29, 21. when I ſay that Hierom's words [of Churches being governed by common conſent of Presbyters] are to be underſtood of the times of the Apoſtles, and whether all thoſe Presbyters were Biſhops properly ſo called] I anſwer, that my meaning was, that if Hierome be reconcileable to himſelf, that muſt be his meaning, that in the Apoſtles times the Churches were firſt governed by common conſent of Presbyters, and after, in the Apoſtles times too, upon the riſing of Schiſmes, a Biſhop was every where ſet over them; that according in Hierome's notion all thoſe Presbyters were not Biſhops, but ſuch, as out of whom after, one was choſen in every Church to be a Biſhop.

21. That this was the truth of the fact, I no where expreſt my ſelf to think, but that this was the moſt commodious meaning to be affixt to Hierom's words ad Euagrium, ſo as they might be reconcileable with the many other teſtimonies brought out of him, which concluded it his opinion alſo, that the three orders were of Apoſtolical inſtitution. But if I am now asked my ſenſe expreſly, whether I thinke thus it was, as Hierome (I thinke) conceived it, I anſwer poſitively, that I thinke Hierome was miſtaken in that circumſtance, and that Clemens Romanus, and the Records that Epiphanius citeth, are much a more competent authority for the contrary, that Biſhops were firſt inſtituted, whenſoever any Apoſtle in his travaile planted a Church in any Citie, and retein'd not the Government in his own hands. Yet if by any Record it ſhall be made to appear, that before any ſuch Citie was left by the Apoſtle, and ſo before any Biſhop were inſtituted in it, the Elders, or, as thoſe may ſignifie, the chief believers (a name of age, as well as of power) were truſted by them for ſome ſhort time of their abſence (as I mention'd it there ſect. 20. as a poſſible thing) there will then be ſome ground of St Hierom's miſtake in that circumſtance. But this, I confeſſe, more than yet hath any way appear'd to me, and therefore I am content to part with it as a phanſie, or foreign to help St. Hierome, and not ſo much as a conjecture. And ſo much for his Quaeries.

p. 14822. As for his addition by way of Corollarie to his queſtions, the anſwers to th… qu…ſtions have already perfectly ſuperſede… it: The three orders …ignatius have already appeared to be of Apoſtolical i…ſtitu…, and the very frame of the firſt Churches, though there was no need of the ſecond of them, foreign, at the firſt plantation in every City And it will not be eaſie for any man which hath looked into antient writings to be perſwaded the contrary, It being the univerſal affirmation of all that ſpeak of … Ignatius to St. Hierome, and for many hundred years downward▪ though there be ſome difference in ſome few circumſtances, St. Hierome thinking that Presbyters firſt ruled in common, before the ſingular Biſhop was brought in over them, for the avoiding of Schiſmes) that the three orders were all inſtituted in the Church by the Apoſtles appointment. And if this be the ſad miſtake and prejudice, from which he will ſhortly deliver us, I may have leave to adviſe him the one method of attempting it, that cheaper of ſetting Antiquitie aſide in the delineation and not the more coſtly of profeſſing to make his appeale to it, as in this Preface he hath adventured to doe.

23. One thing he here thinks farther neceſſarie for him to adde, that the Scripture more frequently terms this ſecond ſort of men Elders and Presbyters, than it doth Biſhops, wherein there be but theſe three miſadventures; 1. That this ſecond ſort of men are frequently mention'd in Scripture. 2. That this ſecond ſort of men are ſometimes call'd Biſhops in Scripture. 3. That they are frequently call'd Elders there: No one of which he will ever be able to juſtifie. Let him pleaſe to turn to the Vindication of the Diſſert from the Exceptions of the London Miniſters, cap…. and if againſt what is there ſaid, or before in the Diſſertations, he thinke himſelfe able to evince any one of theſe three propoſitions, I ſhall willingly acknowledge my ſelfe his Diſciple, being alſo ſure, that unleſſe both Biſhops and Elders ſignifie nothing but Piesbyters in every place, their ſignifying moſt frequently ſo, is the giving the queſtion, the yielding the whole cauſe to the Prelatiſt.

p. 14924. As for the taskes of the Biſhops office, and his performance of them, I ſhall willingly grant him my ſuffrage, let them diſcharge them (and I beſee…h all who have any way hindred them, at length to let, and quietly permit them) On condition he will doe this as cheerfully as I, I ſhall never c…ntend with him concerning the nature of the… task, …e it, as he …aith, their attending their particular …, … which they are appointed (the Biſhop of Oxford over that Fl…ck or portion, to which he was, and is a p…inted, and ſo all others in like manner) be it their preaching and adminiſtring the holy Ordinances of the Gospel, in, and to their own flock, and whatſoever elſe of duty and r…ti…e officii belongs to a rightly …onſtituted Biſhop. And let all that have diſturbed this courſe ſo duly ſetled in this Church, and in all the Churches of Chriſt, ſince the Apoſtles planting them, diſcern their error, and return to that peace and unity of the Church, from whence they have ſo cauſeleſly, and unexcuſably departed, and let none be ſo uncharitable as to ſurmiſe, that he which thus exhorts them, hath any other deſign in doing it, than that which alone he profeſſeth to have, their timely, and now, if ever ſeaſonable Reformation.