An Apology for the Discipline of the Ancient Church, Part 1 · Section 3
SECT. III. The Letter.
NExt you begin to enlarge upon your diſtinction: and move firſt, That ſome others (especially ſuch of yours whom it may more nearly concern to be well ſeene and skill'd therein) may have made known unto their ſouls by your (that is my) ſelf (how and where you ſhall ſee cauſe and think fit) that the firt viſible Church, &c.
This motion I embrace, and it ſhall be perform'd. But whom you note out by ſuch of yours I know not. If you meane thoſe of my own Order, I know many of them as well if not better ſeene and skill'd in theſe things already than my ſelf, ſo that this were operam & oleum perdere, however they ſhall have notice of it. But if you meane of the common ſort, it hath been ſo often inculcated by me into them, that to do it again is actum agere.
Yet by the way, give me leave to intimate, that I am not pleaſed with the phraſe [Such of yours] for it ſeemes to me to be diſtinctive, and among Proteſtants I never liked theſe pronowns, Yours and Ours, they border too near upon ſeparation, which I would not have amongſt us, who are all one in Chriſt Jeſus.Phil. 3.15. We may in ſome things think otherwiſe, and yet belong to the ſame fold. God in his good time will reveale the Truth; away then with theſe termes of diſtance Yours and Ours. Now I proceed with your words.
The Letter.
The firſt viſible Church which was conſtituted by the wiſe Builder thereof was a Domeſtical Church, being outwardly guided and governed by the firſt borne of the family, who were types and ſhadowes of Chriſt Jeſus in the ſeveral houſes of profeſſing Saints: and did continue from Adam and Abels dayes to the time of Moſes and Aarons pilgrimage in the wilderneſſe of Sin: as doth plainly appear to all that do deliberately weigh both what is expreſt, and what is neceſſarily implyed in Gen. 4.4. compared with Exod. 12.7.
Anſwer.
IN the ſubſtance I agree with you; But I pray take it not ill, that I cleare up ſome expreſſions that may be miſtaken.
1. You ſay the firſt viſible Church is Domeſtical, and did ſo continue from Adam to Moſes. That at firſt the diſcipline and government of the Church began and continued in certaine families, cannot be doubted, but that it ſo continued till Moſes dayes, is not eaſie to conceive, becauſe as families multiplied, there muſt be a multiplication of theſe Chu…ches, as there was of houſes, whence it will follow that every eldeſt ſonne muſt be King and Prieſt in his own houſe; and then what will become of the prerogative of the firſt-borne,Gen. 27.29. who during life was to be Lord over his brethren?
Better therefore I conceive it is to ſay, that this reglement was Paternal, and that all the ſeveral families were to depend on him durante vitâ, both for inſtruction and diſcipline. For while the firſt father liv'd, he was, 1. a Prophet to teach. 2. A Prieſt foreign, to ſacrifice, intercede, to bleſſe and give thanks. 3. A Prince to rule and puniſh. Thus Adam as a common father guided the Church for nine hundred and thirty years. Seth the ſonne of Adam was his fathers aſſiſtant for five hundred years, and taught his children who were then the Church to call on the name of the Lord,Gen. 4. and continued that charge one hundred and twelve years after his fathers death. Enoſh did the like to Seth, and all the heirs of the promiſe to the fathers. God alwayes ſtirring up the ſpirits of ſome excellent men to preach in his Church, while their fathers yet liv'd and guided the number of the faithfull; as for example, Enoch that propheſied three hundred years,Gen. 5.22. 2 Pet. 2.5. Gen. 5.27. firſt under Adam, and after under Seth, in whoſe dayes he was tranſlated. So Noah a preacher of righteouſneſſe began under Enoch, and held on for ſix deſcents, till the year the flood came, the very year his grandfather Methuſalem died. I would call theſe then extraordinary and immediate Prophets, raiſed up by God to inſtruct his Church during the time of their fathers principality and prieſthood.
Noah after his grandfather Methuſalems death govern'd the Church for three hundred and fifty years, and left the reglement to Sem, who ſucceeding his father in the Covenant, and adopted into the dignity of the firſt-borne, govern'd the Church one hundred fifty and two years after his father, even till Abraham was dead, Iſaac dimme, and Jacob fifty two years old, and therefore might be the Melchizedech, Gen. 14. Heb. 7.the Prieſt of the moſt high God. The next that ſucceeded Sem was Jacob by Gods eſpecial choiſe too, Eſau having ſold his birth-right. As for Abraham and Iſaac, they could not lay claime to the…e rights of primogeniture, Sem being yet alive. Call'd indeed Abraham was, and promiſed to inherit it, but poſſeſſed of he was not, becauſe Sem out-lived him, he therefore is called a King, and the Prieſt of the moſt high God. In Jacob this primogeniture was eſtated, among whoſe ſonnes God divided the honours and dignities of Sem, 1 Chron. 5.1.appointing the Scepter and ſeed to Judah, the Prieſthood to Levi, the double portion to Joſeph, which never were again conjoyned in any but in Chriſt Jeſus the onelyonly Prieſt that ever ſucceeded according to the order of Melchizedech.
By whom the Church was after Jacobs and Joſephs deceaſe governed in Egypt, is not ſo certaine, but very probable it is, that it was done by the fathers and heads of the twelve tribes, over which I conceive Judah was the chief,Gen. 49.8. according to the tenor of Jacobs bleſſing, Thy fathers children ſhall bow down before thee. The ſumme of this is, that when the people of God increaſed and multiplyed into a Nation, and diverſe Nations for ought we know, as before the flood they did, and when after the flood they did the like, it is not ſo proper to call it a Domeſtical Church that was ſo farre extended. And if the inſtruction thereof was Domeſtical becauſe every father was to teach his houſhold and off-ſpring: yet the government thereof was Paternal; He that was ſet over the reſt being to be a father to the reſt, and to performe all Natural, Civil, and Eccleſiaſtical offices to them, and they again to do all duties to him by which they are bound by the fifth Command, Honour thy father.
2. Your next words are, that this Domeſtical Church was guided and governed by the firſt-borne of the family]. But this muſt be underſtood with a graine of ſalt; for this though for the moſt part, yet is not alwayes true; for what will you ſay to Abel who was younger then Cain? to Sem younger brother to Japheth? as Junius intimates in his notes, Gen. 5.32. and proves, chap. 10. verſe 21. which is therefore thus dubiouſly rendered by our Tranſlatours. Unto Shem alſo the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children borne. What will you ſay to Jacob? to Ruben when his primogeniture was loſt? Neceſſary then it is, that you limit your words, that they carry this ſenſe. God did conſecrate the firſt-borne of the family, as holy to himſelf, to be Prieſt in his Church, and increaſed their dignity with this princely prerogative, that they ſhould be Lords over their brethren, and honoured by their mothers children, as ſucceeding their fathers in the government and prieſthood; unleſſe they were rejected from that honour by Gods ſecret counſels or manifeſt judgements, and others named by God himſelf to ſuſtaine that charge. Thus the clauſe is clear, and true.
3. Againe you ſay that theſe were types and ſhadowes of Chriſt Jeſus in the ſeveral houſes of profeſſing Saints]. What then is every profeſſing Saint a King, a Prieſt, a Prophet in his own houſe? This I dare not aſſent to, and I hope you will not; there were no more words to be made of a Presbyterial Church if this were true: for every man might officiate at home, and need not ſubject himſelf to any Presbytery; he might baptize, adminiſter the Sacrament, &c. being authoriz'd by this Type. I ſhould rather then ſay that theſe were types and ſhadowes of Chriſt Jeſus who is the King, Prieſt, and Prophet in his Church, and yet executes all theſe offices for her good and ſalvation, then make them types of profeſſors in their ſeveral houſes, who nor may nor can ex officio undertake theſe functions. It follows,
4. As doth plainly appear to all that do deliberately weigh what is expreſſed, and what is neceſſarily implyed in Gen. 4.4. Exod. 12.7.
Theſe texts I have deliberately weighed, and finde not in them, neither expreſſed, nor yet neceſſarily implyed what you produce them for; In Gen. 4.4. I reade, that Abel brought the firſtlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had reſpect to Abel and to his offering; but can any man either expreſſely or by neceſſary implication ever prove from hence, that the firſt viſible Church was a domeſtical Church, or that it was governed by the firſt-borne of the family? that they were types and ſhadows of Chriſt Jeſus in the ſeveral houſes of profeſſing Saints? Or that this Church did continue from Adam and Abels dayes to the time of Moſes and Aarons pilgrimage in the wilderneſſe? That Abel ſacrificed to God, that the offering he brought was of the beſt, that God reſpects, loves, and is reconciled to the perſon before he accepts his gift and ſervice, may eaſily be collected from hence. But I cannot diſcerne which way to deduce from this text any of the former propoſitions. This text you compare with Exod. 12.7. When I thus reade, and they ſhall take of the blood, and ſtrike it on the two ſide poſts, and on the upper door poſt of the houſes wherein they ſhall eate it: An injunction I finde here concerning the uſe of the blood of the Paſchal Lamb, but not a ſyllable that can be drawne to your purpoſe. But the beſt is that what you ſay for the ſubſtance, is ſo clear in the book of Geneſis, that no man need queſtion it. Let the miſtake be but notified, and we agree, and therefore I proceed.