that he did any more abrogate by his death, passion, resurrection and ascension, the power and authority of church-government, than either he did the other two essential parts of the said priesthood or ministry, or the power and authority of kings and sovereign princes; or 5 that he did more appoint any one chief bishop to rule all the particular churches, which should be planted throughout all kingdoms, than he did appoint any one king to rule and govern all the particular kingdoms in the world; or that it was more reasonable or necessary (as hereafter 10 it shall be further shewed) to have one bishop to govern all the churches in the world, than it was to have one king to govern all the kingdoms in the world; or that it was more necessary or convenient, to have every parish with their presbyteries, absolute churches, independent 15 upon any but Christ himself, than that every such parish should be an absolute temporal kingdom, independent of any earthly king, or sovereign magistrate; or that the government of every national church under Christian kings and sovereign princes, by archbishops and bishops, 20 is not more suitable and correspondent to the government of the national church of the Jews, under their sovereign princes and kings, than is either the government of one over all the churches of the world, or the settling of the form of that national church-government in every parti-25 cular church; he doth greatly err.

VI. If any man shall affirm, under colour of any thing that is in the scriptures, either that the platform of church-government in the New Testament, may not lawfully be deduced from that form of church-government 30 which was in the Old; or that because the apostles did not once for all, and at one time, but by degrees, erect such a like form of ecclesiastical government, as was amongst the Jews, therefore it is not to be supposed, that they meant at all to erect it; or that their expectation of fit 35

opportunity to establish that kind of government in the churches of the Gentiles, being converted to Christ, hath any more force to discredit it, than had the want of it for many years amongst the Jews to blemish the dignity of it, when it was there established; or that the apostles 5 had no further authority of church-government committed unto them, after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, than they had before his passion; or that there was not as great necessity of sundry degrees in the ministry, whilst the apostles lived, one to rule, another to be ruled, 10 for the establishing and government of the church, as there was whilst the priesthood of Aaron endured; or that Christ himself did not, after a sort, approve of divers degrees of ministers, some to have preeminence over others, in that having chosen to himself twelve apostles, 15 he did also elect seventy disciples, who were neither superior nor equal to the apostles, and were therefore their inferiors; or that he did not very expressly, after his ascension appoint divers orders and degrees of ministers, who had power and preeminence one over another, 20 apostles over the prophets and evangelists, and the evangelists over pastors and doctors: or that the authority of preaching, of administration of the sacraments, and of ecclesiastical government, given to the apostles, was not to be communicated by the apostles unto others, as there 25 should be good opportunity in that behalf; or that because there were some personal prerogatives belonging to the apostles, which they could not communicate unto others, therefore they had not power to communicate to some ministers, as well their authority of government 30 over other ministers, as their authority to preach and administer the sacraments; or that in the authority of government so to be communicated unto others by the apostles, there are not included certain degrees to be in the ministry, some to rule, and some to be ruled; or that 35 it was not lawful for the apostles to choose unto them

selves coadjutors, and to make them ministers of the word and sacraments, though they tied them for a space to no certain place, more than they themselves and the evangelists were limited or tied; but kept them in their own company, as if they had been (in a manner) their 5 fellows, and employed them in apostolical embassages, as there were occasions; or that the apostles might not lawfully ordain a second order of ministers, by imposition of their hands, to preach and administer the sacraments, and to tie them to particular churches and congregations, 10 there to execute those their duties; or that the ministers of that second degree and order, so tied unto their particular charges, had any power committed unto them, either at all to make ministers, or to pronounce the sentence of excommunication against any of their congre-15 gation, but by the direction of the apostles, when they had given the sentence, during all the time that the apostles kept in their own hands the said two points of ecclesiastical authority; or that it was not expedient for the apostles to retain in their own hands, the power and 20 authority of ecclesiastical government for a time, and whilst they were able to execute the same in their own persons, or by their coadjutors, as they should direct them; and not to communicate the same, either to any their said coadjutors, or other persons of the ministry, 25 until they themselves had good experience and trial of them; and that the particular churches also in every city, found the want of such men, so authorized, to reside amongst them; or that when the said ministers, placed in divers particular churches in sundry cities, fell at va-30 riance amongst themselves, which of them should be most prevalent amongst the people, and drew their followers into divers sects and schisms, it was not high time for the apostles (seeing by reason of their great affairs and business otherwise, they could not attend those particular 35 brawls and inconveniences) to appoint some worthy per

sons in every city, to have the rule, government, and direction of them; or that when such men were to be placed in such cities, the apostles did not make especial choice of them, out of the number of their said coadjutors, and likewise out of the rest of the ministry, to 5 execute those episcopal duties, which did appertain to their callings; or that when they had so designed and chosen them to be bishops, they did not communicate unto them, as well their apostolical authority of ordaining of ministers, and power of the keys, as of preaching and 10 administering the sacraments; or that it was not the meaning of the apostle St. Paul, that such persons as Timothy and Titus were, ought to be made bishops in such cities and countries as were that province of Ephesus, and kingdom of Crete, to have the like authority and 15 power given them in their several cities, with their suburbs, diocese, or province, that was committed to Timothy and Titus, for the ruling of those ministers and churches under them; or that the authority given by the apostle St. Paul, or by any other of the apostles, to 20 Timothy and Titus, and such like other bishops or archbishops, did any more diminish the power and authority which the apostles had in their own hands, before they appointed any such bishops and archbishops, to rule and govern them all, than their giving power and authority 25 of preaching and administering the sacraments, did impeach their own authority so to do; he doth greatly err.

VII. If any man shall affirm, under colour of any thing that is in the scriptures, either that the subscriptions or directions of the second Epistle of St. Paul to 30 Timothy, or of his Epistle to Titus, though they are found in the ancient copies of the Greek Testament, are of no credit or authority; or that such an impeachment and discredit laid upon them, is not very prejudicial to the books and writings of the Holy Ghost; or that it is not 35

great presumption for men in these days, to take upon them to know better, whether Timothy and Titus were bishops, than the churches and godly fathers did, which were planted and lived either in the apostles' times, or presently after them; except they have some especial 5 revelations from God: or that whilst men do labour to bring into discredit the ancient fathers and primitive churches, they do not derogate from themselves such credit as they hunt after, and as much as in them lieth, bring many parts of religion into a wonderful uncer-10 tainty; or that it is probable, or was possible for Timothy to have observed those rules that St. Paul gave him unto the coming of Christ; except (as the fathers expound some of them) he meant to have them first observed by himself and other bishops in that age, and that afterward 15 they should so likewise be observed by all bishops for ever; or that the ancient fathers, and ecclesiastical histories, when they record it to all posterity, that these men, and those men, were made by the apostles, bishops of such and such places, are not to be held to be of more 20 credit than any other historiographers or writers; or that when the ancient fathers did collect out of the scriptures and practice of the apostles, the continuance for ever of that form of church-government which was then in use, they were not so throughly illuminated with the Holy 25 Ghost, as divers men of late have been; or that it was an idle course held by the primitive churches and ancient fathers, to keep the catalogues of their bishops, or to ground arguments in some cases upon their succession, in that they were able to deduce their beginnings, either 30 from the apostles, or from some apostolical persons; or that the form of government, used in the apostles' times, for the planting and ordering of churches, was not, in many respects, as necessary to be continued in the church afterward; especially considering, that many churches 35 were not left fully ordered, nor in some places were at