Episcopacy by Divine Right Asserted, Part 2 · Section 10
§. 10.
The ſuperiority and Iuriſdiction of Biſhops, proved by the teſtimony of the firſt Fathers, and Apoſtolicall men; and firſt of Clemens.
AS for that Juriſdiction which we claime, and thoſe reverend and obedient reſpects, which we expect from our Clergy, if they be other than thoſe which were both required and given in the very firſt times of the Goſpell, under the Apoſtles themſelves, and of thoſe whom they immediatly intruſted with the government of the Church, let us be hiſſed out from among Chriſtians. For proof of this right then, whom ſhould I rather begin with, after the Apoſtles, than an Apoſtolicall man, a copartner, and a deare familiar of the two prime Apoſtles St. Peter and St. Paul, I mean Clemens, whom St. Paul mentions honourably in his Epiſtle to the Philippians, Philip. 4.3.by the title of one of his fellow-labourers, whoſe names are in the booke of life; One, who laid St. Peter in his grave, as Theodoret tells us; and followed that bleſſed Apoſtle both in his See and in his Martyrdome: yea one, whom Clemens Alexandrinus enſtyles no leſſe than an Apoſtle of ſo great reputation in the Church, that as Ierome tells us, he was by ſome reputed the pen-man of the holy Epiſtle to the Hebrews; and that learned Father findes the face of his ſtyle alike, if not the ſame: you looke now, that I ſhould produce ſome blowne ware out of the pack of his Recognitions, or Apoſtolicall Conſtitutions; but I ſhall deceive you; And urge a Teſtimony from that worthy and Apoſtolike Author, which was never yet ſoyled, ſo much as with any pen, either in Citation, or much leſſe in Contradiction: of venerable and unqueſtionable authority, It is of that noble and holy Epiſtle of his, which he wrote to the Corinthians upon the occaſion of thoſe quarrels, which were, it ſeemes, on foot in St. Paul's time, and ſtill continued, Emulation and ſide-takings amongſt, and againſt their teachers, which belike proceeded ſo farre, as to the ejecting of their Biſhop, and Presbyters, out of their places; He gravely taxes them with this kinde of Spirituall conſpiracy; and adviſes them to keepe their own ſtations. For which purpoſe, having laid before them the hiſtory of Aarons rod budding, and thereby, the miraculous confirmation of his election, he addes, And our Apoſtles knowing by our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, the contention that would ariſe (foreign) about the name of Epiſcopacy, and they,Clem. Epiſt. ad Corinthios. foreign, &c. for this very ſame cauſe having received perfect knowledge, appointed the foreſaid (degrees) and gave thereupon, a deſigned order or liſt of Offices, that, when they ſhould ſleepe (in their graves) others, that were well approved men, might ſucceed in their charge or ſervice. Thoſe therefore which were conſtituted by them, or of other renowned men (after them) with the conſent, and good liking of the whole Church, and have accordingly ſerved unblameably, in the Sheepfold of Chriſt, with all meekneſſe, quietly and without all taynt of corruption; and thoſe, who, of a long time, have carryed a good teſtimony from all men; theſe we hold cannot juſtly, or without much injury be put from their Office, and ſervice; For it were no ſmall ſinne in us, if we ſhall refuſe, and reject them, who have holily and without reproofe undergone theſe Offices of Epiſcopacy; And withall, bleſſed are thoſe Presbyters, who having diſpatched their journey (by death) have obtained a perfect and fruitfull diſſolution; For now, they need not fear leaſt any man ſhall out them from the place wherein they now are: For, we ſee that ſome ye have removed and diſplaced from their unblameably-managed office: ye are contentious, my brethren, and are quarrelſome, about thoſe things, which do not concerne ſalvation: ſearch diligently the Scriptures, &c. Thus Clement. Did he write this, trow we, to the Church of Corinth, or of Scotland? Judge you how well it agrees; but in the mean time, you ſee theſe diſtinctions of degrees; you ſee the quarrels ariſing about the very title; You ſee that the Biſhops ordained by the Apoſtles ſucceeded in their ſervice, you ſee they continued, or ought to continue in their places, during their life; you ſee it a ſin to out them, except there be juſt cauſe in their miſdemeanour.
The teſtimony is ſo clear, that I well foreſee, you will be not a little pinched with it; and deſirous to give your ſelfe eaſe; And which way can you doe it? perhaps you will be quarrelling with the authority and antiquity of the Epiſtle; But this yron is too hot for you to take up; It hath too much warrant in the innate ſimplicity of it, and too much teſtimony from the ancient Fathers of the Church, for any adverſary to contradict: Though it could come but lately to our hands, yet we know long ſince that it had the atteſtation of Iuſtin Martyr, of Irenaeus, who calls it foreign, of Clemens Alexandrinus, of Origen, of Cyrill, of Ieruſalem, of Photius, who tearms it foreign, a very worthy Epiſtle; of Ierome, who tearms it valde utilem, a very profitable Epiſtle, and tells us that it was of old publikely read, as authenticall, in Churches, and that in the Character of it, it much reſembles that to the Hebrews; This noble monument (that you may not doubt how it came ſo late to our hands) was by Cyrill the late worthy Patriarch of Conſtantinople, ſent out of his Library of Alexandria, whence he removed to our gracious Soveraign of Great Brittain, for a precious Preſent; as that, which was by the hand of S. Tecla her ſelf, tranſcribed, and placed at the end of the old, and new Teſtament, fairely by her written in the ſame Character: A Preſent worth too much Gold; And if any man do yet miſdoubt, his eyes may informe him by the view of it, in ſo well, his Majeſties Library, where it is kept, and (out of a deſire of more publique good) was lately ſet forth by the learned ſearcher of Antiquities, Mr. Patrick Yong, the worthy Keeper of his Majeſties Library.
But if any man ſhall hope to elude this Teſtimony; by taking advantage of the only mention of Presbyters and Deacons in the foregoing paſſages, let him know, this was onelyonly according to the occaſion of the writing of that Epiſtle; and withall, let him conſider who wrote it: Even Clement, Biſhop of Rome (whether the firſt (as ſome of the ancient) or, the third, (as others) after Saint Peter (a difference not hard to be reconciled) and therefore how little danger there is of his favouring a parity in that ſacred Adminiſtration.