xv. 16,

17.]

conducteth us safe through them, and permitteth them not to be miseries; it either giveth honours, promotions, and wealth, or else more benefit by wanting them than if we had [Prov. them at will; it either filleth our houses with plenty of all good things, or maketh a sallet of green herbs more sweet than all the sacrifices of the ungodly. Our Fourth proposition before set down was, That Religion, without the help of Spiritual Ministry, is unable to plant itself; the fruits thereof not possible to grow of their own accord. Which last assertion is herein as the first, that it needeth no farther confirmation. If it did, I could easily declare how all things which are of God, he hath by wonderful art and wisdom sodered as it were together with the glue of mutual assistance, appointing the lowest to receive from the nearest to themselves what the influence of the highest yieldeth. And therefore the Church, being the most absolute of all his works, was in reason to be also ordered with like harmony, that what he worketh might, no less in grace than in nature, be effected by hands and instruments duly subordinated unto the power of his own Spirit. A thing both needful for the humiliation of man, which would not willingly be debtor to any but to himself; and of no small effect to nourish that divine love, which now maketh each embrace other, not as men, but as Angels of God. Ministerial actions, tending immediately unto God's honour and man's happiness, are either as contemplation, which helpeth forward the principal work of the ministry, or else they are parts of that principal 1 Cor. work of administration itself, which work consisteth in doing Tit.i7. the service of God's House, and in applying unto men the iv. 10. sovereign medicines of grace, already spoken of the more largely, to the end it might thereby appear, that we owe to the guides of our souls even as much as our souls are worth, although the debt of our temporal blessings should be stricken off.

Luke

xii. 42.

iv. 1.

1 Pet.

Ephes. iii. 2.

Of

given

unto men to

*

77. The Ministry of things divine is a Function, which as Power God did himself institute, so neither may men undertake the same but by authority and power given them in Lawful execute manner. That God, which is no way deficient or wanting unto man in necessaries, and hath therefore given us the of the light of his heavenly truth, because without that inestimable benefit we must needs have wandered in darkness to our

that hea

venly

Office;

gift

of the

* Kal σeavτóv poi mpoσopelλeis. Epist. ad Philem. ver. 19.

Ghost in

tion;

whether conve

the

Order

sought

or sued

v. 20.

v. 17.]

xii. 9.]

xx. 28.]

endless perdition and woe, hath, in the like abundance of Holy mercies, ordained certain to attend upon the due execution Ordinaof requisite parts and offices therein prescribed for the good and, of the whole world, which men thereunto assigned do hold their authority from him, whether they be such as himself enti immediately, or as the Church in his name, investeth; it r being neither possible for all, nor for every man without m distinction convenient, to take upon him a charge of so great for importance. They are, therefore, Ministers of God, not only by way of subordination, as Princes and civil Magistrates, whose execution of judgment and justice the supreme hand of divine Providence doth uphold; but Ministers of God, as from whom their authority is derived, and not from men. For in that they are Christ's embassadors and his labourers, [I Cor. who should give them their commission, but he whose most 1 Tim. inward affairs they manage? Is not God alone the Father [Heb. of spirits? Are not souls the purchase of Jesus Christ? (Acts What Angel in Heaven could have said to man, as our Lord (John did unto Peter, "Feed my sheep"? Preach? Baptize? Do Matt. this in remembrance of me? Whose sins ye retain, they are xxviii. retained; and their offences in Heaven pardoned, whose 1 Cor. faults you shall on earth forgive?* What think we? Are John these terrestrial sounds, or else are they voices uttered out Matt of the clouds above? The Power of the Ministry of God xvi. 19.] translateth out of darkness into glory; it raiseth men from the earth, and bringeth God himself down from Heaven; by blessing visible elements, it maketh them invisible grace; it giveth daily the Holy Ghost; it hath to dispose of that flesh which was given for the life of the world, and that blood which was poured out to redeem souls; when it poureth malediction upon the heads of the wicked, they perish; when it revoketh the same, they revive. O wretched blindness, if we admire not so great Power; more wretched, if we consider it aright, and notwithstanding imagine that any but God can bestow it! To whom Christ hath imparted Power, both over that mystical body which is the society of

xxi. 16.

X. 7.

19.

xi. 24.

xx. 23.

* ["Neither must any Christian man pretend or look to have his sins after Baptism remitted by God only, without this Sacrament (of Penance); more than any man may hope to be saved or have his original or other sins before Baptism, forgiven by God without the same sacrament." The Rhemists' New Testament on John xx. 23. Dr. DODDRIDGE, Fam. Expos. on Matt. xvi. 19, writes, "I shall, with great pleasure, submit to those ecclesiastical rulers who shall prove, as the Apostles did, their power to explain the laws of Christ in ́a decisive way, and their authority efficaciously to absolve or condemn men, according to the sense they give of them."]

souls, and over that natural which is himself, for the knitting of both in one (a work which antiquity doth call the making of Christ's body), the same power is in such not amiss both termed a kind of mark or character, and acknowledged to be indelible. Ministerial Power is a mark of separation, because it severeth them that have it from other men, and maketh them a special Order consecrated unto the service of the Most High in things wherewith others may not meddle. Their difference, therefore, from other men is

["There is a Character imprinted by the Bishop's Ordination." Concil. Trident. Sess. xxiii. can. 4.]

t["The Church of England affirmeth, that It is not lawful for any one to take to himself the Office of Preaching publicly, or administering the Sacraments in the Church, except he be first lawfully called and sent to do these things; ARTICLE XXIII. And hereupon our Reverend Fathers do not only not defend nor use any reasons at all to prove that Women may baptize' (Whitgift, Def. of Ans. p. 516), and therefore would not have the Book of Common Prayer, touching baptism in Private, to be understood to permit Women to baptize' (Ibid. p. 504, 793); but also constantly affirm, 'that God and well Ordered Churches forbid Women to dispense that holy mystery' (Gervase Bab. on Gen. xvii. 7. p. 121). But you, Master Hoo. have another kind of determination, where you say, 'Ministerial Power is a mark of separation, because it severeth them that have it from other men, and maketh them a special Order consecrated unto the service of the Most High in things wherewith others may not meddle.' And in another place, 'There is an error which beguileth many who much entangle both themselves and others, by not distinguishing Services, Offices, and Orders Ecclesiastical: the first of which three, and in part the second, may be executed by the Laity; whereas none have, or can have, the third, but the Clergy;' Book V. sect. 78. From the which Clergy you separate Catechists, Exorcists, Readers, and Singers, &c. (Ibid.). And in another place, you seem to maintain and defend the practice of those Churches, which, necessity' requiring, allow Baptism in private to be administered by Women' (sect 62. p. 227): affirming elsewhere, that 'divers reformed Churches do both allow and defend' that kind of Baptism (Ibid. p. 244). Here we desire to know, what you mean by 'Ministerial Power;' Whether you take it actively, as that every Minister, or all Ministers, have Power to make an Order consecrated to the service of God; or passively, that by their Calling they are made to have the Authority and Power of a Minister; or, that you understand by it the formal cause of their Ministry, by which they differ from all other Orders; or, that you mean, the holy Unction and Character, which the Church of Rome giveth in their consecration of Priesthood? And this we desire, because we find our Church, and Reverend Fathers, speaking like to Holy Scripture ('No man taketh this honour to himself, but he that is called,' &c. Heb. v. 4) to use plain, good, and sensible terms to note out the difference of a Minister's estate from other men's; and your's seemeth to carry another kind of style, more befitting the glory of the Romish character than the simplicity of our Ministry. Our Church saith, they must be called' that 'preach publicly:' you say, a Catechist (or whom we find in ancient time to have been such, as Clemens and Origen in Alexandria, as to whom the people came to hear the Preaching of the Word of God, Euseb. lib. vi. cap. 3, 6) is none of the Order of the Clergy; meaning, as we think, without this 'Ministerial Power.' We pray you then, to shew us, Whether you mean by 'Ministerial Power,' 'Clergy,' or 'Order,' that which our Church meaneth by 'Calling?' If you do, then we see not how you and they agree that you allow a Catechist, which is an Office, to preach the Word; which, is not of the Ecclesiastical Order, and, as we say, hath no Calling thereunto, and our Church saith, that 'it is not lawful,' &c. Again, our Church saith, that 'it is not lawful to administer the Sacraments, without that Calling;' and, that God and well Ordered Churches forbid Women to baptize: you, as we think, contrary to our Church, maintain such Churches as allow the Private Baptism by Women in case of 'necessity;' and you say, ‘divers reformed Churches allow and defend' such Baptism. Here we entreat you to declare the agreement of these sayings: and, Whether, because you say that the 'special Order,' you speak of, is 'consecrated unto the service of the Highest in things wherewith others may not meddle,' your meaning be, that Lay people in case of 'necessity' may 'meddle' with those things which our Church saith is not lawful without Calling;' or, that because you would

de Ad

Castit.

xiv. 16.]

in that they are a distinct Order. So Tertullian calleth Tertul. them.* And St. Paul himself, dividing the body of the hort. Church of Christ into two moieties, nameth the one part iduras, which is as much as to say the Order of the Laity, 1 Cor. the opposite part whereunto we in like sort term the Order of God's Clergy,† and the spiritual power which he hath have the 'Ministerial Power' to be 'a mark' and character, you give liberty to Preaching and Baptizing as to certain services; and, that the character and indelible Order hath nothing to itself peculiar, but the making of the body of Christ in the Sacrament, and offering him up in sacrifice to his Father, that the Laity, Women, and Catechist, may not meddle' with that? And here we desire to understand, Whence you fet (sic) that worthy distinction, the ignorance whereof 'beguileth many;' and, that you would declare the same by holy Scripture, and bring us one pregnant proof to shew the errour of our Church, in affirming Preaching and Ministering, without Calling, to be unlawful; or, else, declare the exception, either by Scripture, or by some order or interpretation published by our Church, or some of our Reverend Fathers, which also may have their harmony with the sayings of the Reverend Fathers by us before rehearsed? And lastly, Whether that you, in these three places, are not contrary to yourself; or, that you make not a deluding proposition, which containeth a general prohibition without limitation, which yet is not general, but must have exception? And, if you place Readers, as distinct from Clergy, What may we think you esteem of our Reading Ministers, are they no Clergymen?"—A Christian Letter, p. 24.]

[See Vol. I. p. 206. "In places where there are no Clergy (Ecclesiastici Ordinis), any single Christian may exercise the functions of the priesthood (sacerdos), may celebrate the eucharist and baptize. But where three, though Laymen, are gathered together, there is a Church. Every one lives by his own faith, nor is there respect of persons with God; since not the hearers, but the doers, of the Law are justified by God; according to the Apostle (Rom. i. 17. ii. 11, 13)." TERTULL. de Bapt. cap. 17. Bishop KAYE, having remarked that this is one of the passages which have been brought forward to prove that Tertullian did not recognise the distinction between Clergy and Laity, whereas "a directly opposite inference ought to be drawn," quotes from the Tract de Monogamiâ, cap. 12, "Sed quum extollimur et inflamur adversus Clerum, tunc unum omnes sumus: tunc omnes Sacerdotes, quia Sacerdotes nos Deo et Patri fecit; quum ad peræquationem disciplinæ sacerdotalis provocamur, deponimus infulas, et impares sumus.' On which quotation the learned Bishop remarks, "We may, however, infer from this passage, that in Tertullian's days the validity of the distinction was occasionally questioned!"-The Eccl. Hist. of the Second and Third Centuries, by JOHN, Bishop of Bristol. 1826. Edit. 2. 8vo. chap.iv. p. 228.]

+ [HOOKER has cautiously evaded a positive appeal to 1 Pet. v. 3. "Feed the flock of God....not by constraint," &c. ver. 2. "Neither as being lords over God's heritage (ws κατακυριεύοντες τῶν κλήρων as being lords of the clergy), but being ensamples to the flock (τοῦ ποιμνίου),” ver. 3. On this text CALVIN remarks, "Peter, when he admonisheth the Pastors of their duty, exhorteth them so to 'feed the flock' not as using a lordship over 'the Clergy;' by which word Clergy he signifieth the inheritance of God, that is to say the Faithful people." Instit. lib. iv. cap. 10. sect. 7. That the Church is composed of the more and less learned (idiŵtai), does not justify HOOKER's inference at this place, for in what situation would it leave the Apostles? "Now when they (the rulers, elders and scribes, &c.) saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men (ávoρштоι àурáμμaroí kal idiŵrai) they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." Acts iv. 13. "The unlearned," mentioned 1 Cor. xiv. 16, are evidently part of the Church; not so verses 23 and 24, where "unlearned” (idiŵrai) is explained by "or unbelievers" ( &wiσтol, or not-Faithfuls): hence, says T. C. "That the Lord's heritage,' which they call Clergy, is not restrained unto the Church Officers, but unto the whole Church.... appeareth evidently, for that Peter hath made it of the same value and weight with the word 'Flock :'.... we deny not, but that the name Lot (кλñpos) is given to the Ministers under the Law (Num. xviii. 24. Deut. xviii. 2), and under the Gospel unto the Church Officers (Actsi. 17, 25. viii. 21); but that the name of the Lord's "heritage' or Clergy should be appropriated and made the several of Church Officers, which the Scripture doth lay open unto all Christians, both here, 1 Pet. v. 3, and in other places, Ephes. i. 11, Colos. i. 12, is a Church robbery..... They might as well have said, that theirs only is 'the inheritance of the Kingdom,' considering that thereof they are said κλŋpovóμoι of the kingdom, for that they are the Lord's Kλnpol• (Kλnpovóμovs Tês Buoiλelas, James ii. 5). It is

Heb.

ii. 17.

given them, the Power of their Order, so far forth as the same consisteth in the bare execution of holy things, called properly the affairs of God. For of the power of their jurisdiction over men's persons we are to speak in the Books following. They which have once received this Power may not think to put it off and on like a cloak, as the weather serveth, to take it, reject and resume it as oft as themselves list; of which profane and impious contempt these latter times have yielded, as of all other kinds of iniquity and apostacy, strange examples: but let them know, which put their hands unto this plough, that once consecrated unto God, they are made his peculiar inheritance* for ever. Suspensions may stop, and degradations utterly cut off, the use or exercise of Power before given; but voluntarily it is not in the power of man to separate and pull asunder what God by his authority coupleth. So that although there may be through misdesert degradation, as there may be cause of just separation after Matrimony; yet if (as sometime it doth) restitution to former dignity, or reconciliation after breach, do happen, neither doth the one nor the other ever iterate the first knot. Much less is it necessary, which some have urged, concerning the Reordination of such as others, in times more corrupt, did consecrate heretofore. Which error, already quelled by St. Jerome, doth not now require any other refutation. Examples I grant there are which make for restraint of those men from admittance again into rooms of spiritual Function, whose fall by Heresy, true, that the ancient Fathers do often restrain this word to the Church Officers; but, besides that their manner of speech hath no authority being beside the use of the Holy Scripture, it appeareth that the speech at the first did arise from this, that the Church Officers were chosen by Lot (Acts i. 26); not that they only were in the Lot of God's people, or in the account of God's inheritance; but that the Papists understand it in this latter sense appeareth by their other robbery of calling themselves Spiritual (or 'the Spiritualty'), a title common to all the children of God, 1 Cor. ii. 15, iii. 1, Gal. vi. 1; as if all besides them were Carnal!" Confut. of the Rhemists' New Testament. 1618, posth. fo. p. 678. All these premises prove that idiras can exist with Divine illumination; that Kλñρos does not denote an aristocratical distinction in the Church of Christ; and that therefore the body of his Church is not divided as Papists and HOOKER would make to appear. "We in like sort, &c." See remarks on Kλnpos in Lect. IX. and X. of CAMPBELL'S Lect. on Eccl. Hist.]

Matt. xix. 49.

["For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry: kal éλaxe τὸν κλῆρον.” Acts i. 17. So then, Judas had the inheritance: did he retain it "for ever," and was the "power" Christ had imparted to him, Matt. x. 8, irrevocable and only suspended, or was his "character indelible?" Surely Christ's own words convince us of the contrary! "I speak not of you all; I know whom I have chosen: but.... he that eateth bread with me hath lift up his heel against me." John xiii. 18. "Ye are clean, but not all." Ver. 10. "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" Chap. vi. 70. Unquestionably Judas had nothing left of the Ministerial Character but the, in his case, empty name of an Apostle, Acts i. 25, about which, no man would contend were it not necessary to the support of a human system.]