An Apology for the Discipline of the Ancient Church, Part 3 · Section 6 · Excerpt 10
The words of the Letter.
ANd as in all other points, ſo in this particular concerning the Elders Pulpit, they are tyed and limited by their Commiſſion to hold conformity with what is upon ſacred Record, as this is, and that not only neceſſarily implyed, but eminently expreſſed in ſeveral Scripture expreſſions, as Nehem. 8.4. Eccleſ. 12.11. 1 Tim. 4.14. Rev. 4.6. & 5.6. & 19.4.
The Reply.
To thoſe Elders you ſpeak of, I finde no Commiſſion granted upon ſacred Record, as I have formerly proved. They who have received a Commiſſion, I grant, are tyed and limited to hold conformity with that which is upon Record in all points; but neither for thoſe nor theſe, do I finde any thing ſo eminently expreſſed about a Pulpit. Oh but it ſeems this Elders Pulpit is a matter of great weight and moment, that there ſhould be ſuch ſeveral Scripture expreſſions about it. And indeed it would make any man wonder that God who gave an expreſſe order in the Mount about the Tabernacle, and alſo a pattern for it, ſhould not then have given a ſpecial direction for the matter and form of this Pulpit alſo, but have left it to the diſcretion of the Jews to erect it of their own heads after the captivity; for then is the firſt time we hear of a Pulpit of wood, and the ſole in all the Scripture.
Nehem. 4.8.The words Nehem. 8.4. are, And Ezra the Scribe ſtood on a Pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpoſe, and beſide him ſtood Mattithiah, and Shemath, and Anajah, and Vehad, and Helkiah, and Maaſeiah on his right hand, and on his left Pedajah, and Miſhae, and Malkiah, and Haſhum. and Haſhbadana, Zechariah, and Meſhullam. The Old Tranſlatour reads thus, Stetit autem Eſdras Scriba ſuper gradum aut turrim ligneam, quam ſecerat ad loquendum, Ver. 1.& ſteterunt juxta eum, &c. Junius and Tremellius thus, Stabat autem Ezra legis peritus in ſuggeſtu ligneo, quem fecerant ad hanc rem, &c. In which paſſage I obſerve many things. Firſt, That this meeting, reading, and interpreting the Law was in the ſtreet that was before the water-gate. Secondly, That here was built for Ezra this Chair of Wood; which whether it were in ſtrict terms a Pulpit or no, is not apparent, in that the Vulgar reads it gradus or turris; Tremellius ſuggeſtus, and ſo it might be a Gallery raiſed to that end, or a little Turret aſcended by ſteps; for ſuggeſtus is locus editior unde ad populum fit concio, foreign. Or if you will needs have it a Pulpit, that you like it nere the better for that name,Varro. Gloſſar. Hadri. Junius. Vitruv. this was at firſt locus ſcenae editior, è quo tibicines & Citharaedi muſicá actione populum demulcebant. Or as it is in Vitruvius, Podij provectior pars, ſeu pergula quaedam. Thirdly, That thoſe who ſtood about this Pulpit on the right and left hand, were all of the Tribe of Levi, as is apparent in many places of this book. Fourthly, That this for ought we know was but once done, and occaſionally by the Jews immediately after the Captivity. Now lay all this together, and you ſhall ſee what it will amount to.
You may be yet to ſeek for your Elders Pulpit, for ought you know, for all this place, except you will place them in a little Turret or Gallery; for ſuch you ſee it may be. And about it the Levites were placed on the right hand, and on the left; and I know you will not allow your Elders to be of the Tribe of Levi. This Pulpit was erected in the ſtreet, and will you take it well that your Conſiſtory be erected there? This was occaſional, whereas yours muſt be; as you ſay, of perpetual obſervation. This was done by the Jews at that time, and will you take out a Jewiſh pattern? God forbid the Chriſtians ſhould imitate the Jews. Remember what for this you before alledge againſt the National Church. Laſtly, this was but a particular caſe, & ex particulari non est ſyllogizari. To collect a neceſſity of obſervance for all future ages from one example of the Jewiſh Church, is an argument of a very ſhallow and ſhort diſcourſe.
The ſecond place you alledge, is Eccleſiaſtes 12.11.Eccl. 12.11. The words of the Wiſe are as Goads, and as nailes fastned by the Maſters of Aſſemblies, which are given from one Shepherd. In the reading of which words you may ſee our Tranſlatours were at a ſtand, in that to make up their ſenſe, they put in the particles, [are, by, which.) Let us ſee then how others render them; the Vulgar, Verba ſapientum ſicut ſtimuli, & quaſi clavi in altum defixi, quae per Magiſtrorum conſilium data ſunt, ab uno paſtere; Jun. & Tremell. thus, Verba ſapientum ſimilia aculeis, & ſimilia clavis infixis, lectiſſima, tradita à paſtore eodem. And they note, that what we read the Maſters of the Aſſemblies, is in the Hebrew, Domini Collectionum.
Firſt, I muſt tell you that in this Text I read nere a word of the Elders Pulpit, and therefore cannot conceive that it is here eminently expreſſed, no nor yet neceſſarily implied neither, in that Domini Collectionum, may have another ſenſe then you thought of; do but read the Prologue to the book of Eccleſiasticus, and you may ſee what it meaneth. The Grandfather to Jeſus the Son of Syrach was a man of great diligence & wiſdom among the Hebrews, who did not only gather the grave and ſhort ſentences of wiſe men that had been before him, but himſelf alſo uttered ſome of his own, full of much underſtanding and wiſdome; they that gathered theſe might well be called Domini Collectionum, and Junius not to be blamed, when he reads Verba ſapientum lectiſſima. For every Scribe inſtructed to the Kingdome of heaven, is like unto a man that is an Houſholder, Matth. 13.52. Iſocrat. ad Demon.which brings forth out of his Treaſury things new and old. Iſocrates likens ſuch a man to the Bee, which lights upon every flower and gathers honey or wax from all: ſo ſaith he, it behoves every man who deſires inſtruction, to leave unattempted no Authours, but foreign, there you have the word, from all places to collect together profitable Rules, Maxims, Apothegms, Parables, Proverbs, Sentences, Arguments, &c. For when all's done, all will be too little to amend the pravity and obliquity of our nature. Now where there is this choice made by the wiſe,Hieron. in loc. then their words will be both stimuli & clavi. Goades they will be in the ſide of every ſlothful man, to quicken and prick him forward to any duty; pungunt verba, non palpant, they do not flatter and bring aſleep, but they rouze and move every reſty ſoul. And becauſe that men that are up, are of a flitting nature, and apt to fall back, being too like a deceitful bow, Pſal. 78.57.whoſe ſtring being drawn up, if not well faſtned, is apt to ſlip the nock and relapſe: therefore their words alſo are like to nails, that being driven in deep, faſten and hold together what is joyned by them. This then I take to be the true meaning of Solomon in this place, that when by the Maſters of the Collections there is a good choice made, then words are of excellent uſe both againſt ſlothfulneſſe and recidivation; they will goad a Scholar up, that he be not dull in, and faſten him to, that he fall not back from any duty. And to that end they were delivered; for they be but tradita, given or committed to them, and given they were by one and the ſame Shepherd,Junius in loc. Ambroſ. that is, by Chriſt, whoſe word alone hath been heard in the Church in all ages. For that ſaying of Ambroſe is moſt true, Veritas à quocuu que dicitur, à Spiritu ſancto est profecta. He muſt have Linceus eyes, that can finde any countenance in this Text for Lay-Elders, or for their Pulpit. What is it not poſſible that no men beſides themſelves ſhould be Maſters of Aſſemblies? none Maſters of Collections, no wiſe mens words be goads and nails beſides theirs alone? ſhall no men be entruſted by this one Shepherd and the Holy Ghoſt, but they alone? this I hope they will not arrogate to themſelves; and if there may be a partition made, as there muſt be, except they will aſſume to themſelves the Monopoly of all wiſe words, I ſee no neceſſity either by implication or eminent expreſſion, that your Ruling Elders ſhould be the Maſters of the Aſſemblies that the Preacher means. And I am ſure he could not; for in his dayes there were no ſuch heard of. And ſo not finding their Commiſſion in the Old Teſtament, by your direction I will enquire for them and their Pulpit in the New.
And the firſt place you ſend me to, is in the firſt Epiſtle to Timothy, cap. 4. ver. 14. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by Propheſie, with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery. This place I conceive you intended not at all for proof of the Elders Pulpit, becauſe no Cart-ropes will be ſtrong enough to hale it that way. Only that by it they ſhould have a Commiſſion to tranſact all the concernments of the City of God, and in particular to ordain Church-Officers. For I know by the Conſiſtorian Divines it is drawn that way, though very violently.
This is the ſole place in Scripture where the Presbytery is named; and it ſeems ſomewhat ſtrange to me that you ſhould ground and build your foundation of your Lay-Elderſhip on a place that hath ſo many ſound and ſufficient anſwers as this hath.
That there was a Presbytery in the Apoſtolical times I have formerly proved, but that it conſiſted of Lay-Elders it lies upon you to make good, before you can derive their Commiſſion from this place. Secondly, Jerome, Primaſius, Ambroſe and Calvin, tell us that by Presbytery the function is meant, and not the Colledge, and then the place will ſtand you in no ſtead; and that the word foreign is uſed for Presbyter, I could ſhew you if I liſt by more than ten teſtimonies of the Greek Fathers and Councels. Thirdly, Chryſoſtome, Theodoret, Oecumenius, Theophilact, inform us that Paul by the Presbytery meant the Biſhops; for a meer Presbyter might not impoſe hands on a Biſhop. Neque enim fas erat, aut licebat, Ambroſ. in loc. Calv. inſtitut. 4. cap. 3.ut inferior ordinaret majoreme, nemo enim tribuit quod non accepit. Fourthly, Saint Paul himſelf teſtifyeth that he laid hands on Timothy, which Calvin ſtrongly preſſeth. Laſtly, granted it muſt be that Timothy was an Evangeliſt, which function the Presbytery of no particular Church could give him by your tenets. This place then being ſet aſide, I finde not any other that can carry ſo much as a colour for the Commiſſion you ſpeak of; and that from this they can claim no power, I have partly made good here, and more fully before, and therefore I ſay the leſſe of it.
One thing only I ſhall adde, that the Latine Fathers expound it abſtractly; viz. to ſignifie the Office of Prieſt-hood, that is, neglect not the grace of the Presbyterate, that is in thee, by the impoſition of hands; and this Eraſmus helps, by making Presbyterii to depend upon gratiam, in regimine; reading it thus, noli negligere gratiam Presbyterii, quae data est, — per manuum impoſitionem, and ſuch trajections are no new things in Scripture.
To thoſe places you cite out of the Revelation I have anſwered before, and ſhewed that they concern not at all your Elders, and therefore I ſhall not need to ſay any more to them.