The Unlawfulness and Danger of Limited Prelacy

p. 1THE VNLAVVFVLNESSE AND DANGER OF A LIMIted PRELACIE: Or perpetuall presidencie in the Church briefely discovered.

IN the Church of Christ, [Offices in this Church which are of men, supposed to be unlawfull.] It may and ought to be taken for a Supposition, and as a principle undeniable, that all the Offices, and Vocations, in the House of God, must be of God, and not of Men; and that such as are of Men and not of God, are unlawfull: for this was presupposed by Christ himselfe, in his dispute with the Pharisees; the Baptisme of Iohn whence was it, from heaven or of men? Matth. 21.25. Marke 11.17. Luke 20.1. By the Pharisees themselves in the same places. By the Apostle, Gallat. 1.1. Not of men, neither by men: but by Iesus Christ, and God the Father. Againe, Hebr. 5.5. No man taketh this honour unto himselfe, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. And by these who are our adversaries in this cause, both while they disput against the universall Episcopacy of the Pope, and use the words of Tertullian, which may be throwne backe upon themselves, Quiestis? quomodo et unde venistis? quid in meo agitis nomine? and while they dispute against us for the Diocesan Bishop, and will prove Episcopacy, by divine right, knowing that the assertion of the princiall p. 2Office and Calling in the Church, meerly upon humane right, were a challenge of the Scriptures, that they are not perfect; and an exalting of the wisdome of Men above the wisdome of Christ: although Man can no more make the Office, nor hee can give the Grace; and from Christ both the Institution of the Office, and the blessing of the Officers, must come. It is therefore supposed to be no lesse unlawfull to adde an Office to divine Institutions, then it is unlawfull to take away an Office warranted by divine Institution; the one making it maymed. We are forbidden praecepto negativo to presume to governe the Church by humane wisdome: Wee are commanded Praecepto affirmativo, to follow the rule of divine wisdome: And we are warranted praecepto comparativo, rather to follow Christ them Antichrist; for so must we speak, because it cannot be denyed by any, but such as deny the Pope to be Antichrist.

p. 2This then being for a principle presupposed, if we will not shut our eyes against the light, and involve our selves in subtilties, which the wit of Man set on worke by his owne ambition, and the love of preeminence, hath invented against the plaine truth of Scripture obvious to every one who desireth to know, The Office of a Bishop, as he is conceived to be a Pastor above other Pastors: whether in power, or in degree and dignitie, with be found in it selfe, and not onely in respect of the abuse of his power, or of his degree and dignity, to be unlawfull.

[The Office of a Prelate is not found in Scripture.] Because the Scripture intending to expresse the Offices and Officers of the Church, and speaking so often of them and of their Gifts and Duties; and p. 3that not upon occation, but of set purpose, as Rom. 12.2. Cor. 12. Eph. 4, doth neither expresse, nor imply any such Bishop: Shall we suffer our selves to thinke that the Apostles, so well acquainted with the will of Christ; [Acts 1.3.] so fully taught of things pertaining to the Kingdome of God, and so faithfull in the delivering his Commandements, that the Officers may know how to behave themselves in the House of God, and keep themselves pure: [1 Tim. 3.15.] and in charging them in the sight of God to keepe his Commandements without spot, [1. Tim. 5.21. 1 Tim. 6.13.14.] would not in some one place or other distinctly and positively speake of the office, gifts, priority or power of such a Bishop? Have they been so carefull in expressing the office, gifts and duty of the meanest Officers [Act. 6.] and did they speake nothing of the greatest? would they have neglected the weightyer matters of the Law of Christ? no surely, these they would have done, and not have left the other undone.

All the Officers of the New Testament both ordinary, and extraordinary, [No difference in Scripture betweene a Pastor and a Bishop.] are designed and distinguished by their names, or Compellations, as Apostles, Evangelists, Presbyters, Deacons. The extraordinary and superiour, have upon good reason, the names of the ordinary, and inferiour common unto them, as the Apostles are called [1. Pet. 5.1.] Elders. But this is not reciprocall, for the ordinary and inferiour are never called, by the names of the extraordinary and superiour: the Deacon is not called an Elder, nor the Pastor by the name of the Apostle, or Evangelist. It is true that Barnabas is called an Apostle [Acts 14.4. and 14.] because he was an Apostle of Christ as Paul was. Titus and others [2 Co. 8 13.] and Epaphroditus [Phil. 8.23.] are onely called Apostles or Messengers of the Church. p. 4Whence it must follow, that the Office of a Bishop is not an Office superiour to the Office of a Pastor, since the name Bishop is common to the Pastor; and that the Office of a Bishop, and the Office of a Pastor, are not different, but one and the same office. Since the names are altogether common in all the places of the New Testament. [Acts 20.28. Phil 1.1. 1 Tim. 3.2. 1 Pet. 5.1.] And the Syriacke Interpreter hath translated the one by the other. [Tit. 1.7] What reason can there be, while the Officers are distinguished by their names, and the names of Bishop and Pastor are common, but that the Office of the Bishop and Elder is one and the same Office; the one name signifying, sapientiae maturitatem, and the other Industriam curae Pastoralis, saith Beda.

p. 4[No Bishop of Bishops, or of Pastors in Scripture.] We finde, that in the Ministery of the New Testament there is a comely, beautifull, and Divine Order: one kinde of Ministers both ordinary and extraordinary, being placed in degree and dignity before another, as the Apostles before all other Ministers, the Pastor before the Elder, and Deacon: But we doe not finde in Ministers of the same kind, that one hath majority of power, over others, or priority of degree and dignity before others, except upon the morall respect of age, zeale, gifts, &c. No Apostle is in degree above other Apostles, no Evangelist above other Evangelists, nor Elder above other Elders, no Deacon above other Deacons: upon what ground then from Scripture? can wee beleeve or conceive that one Pastor is in degree superiour to other Pastors, or that, in all other sorts of Ministers, ordinary and extraordinary, there's all be a parity in their owne kind, and onely in the Office of Pastors, an inequality.