2 Rp P E ND 1 X Numb, ]ò. Pope as the Principiam unitatia, and vifible Headof the Church ; and in the Roman Cburah as the Heart of theChurch Catholick , denominatin the whole. He is a Schifmati k with force others that ifwnakiot every Order ter erenr,ny,which they maintatin. For my part I fhould thitrit , that heMiat centr inCh9á(1, and hal- deth the found and wholfomeDatrine contaihed t the Cr s of theChureh,asid maintaineth love andunity with all Chriflians, to the utmoft extent of his natural capacityieven "with all that he is capable of holding Communion with, is noSchif- matick, nor his attemptsfor thatend Schifmatical Combinations. If there were e Bilhop in this Diocefs , and he fhould go one way (fùppofè he command that all Church Affemblies be at filch a time, and all worship inflab a form) and aklklelPref- byters and People go another way Cwttether they do well or ill, fo theahisigitfelf be tollerable) and will not meet at the time, nor worship Godií theform Which he prefcribeth, I fhould thinkI were guilty of Schifm if 1 ft;paardd,froom .11 thefe Churches , and guilty of ungodlinets if I wholly forfook and Thbore all publick worship of God,becaufe I could have none according to the hilltops commanding ! Much snore if there were no Bilhop in the Diocels at all. This feems'ro ire our cafe, in refpe& of bothWorfhip and Difcipline(at leaff for the moll parr). Isthat man guiltyof noSchifine, nor Impiety, who will rather have no Difcipline exer- cifed at all on the profane and fcandalous,but all Vicego without çontroul, and the rage of Mens fins provoke Heaven yet more againtt us, who will rather hA,' Minilterial Worshipof God, in Prayer or Prai e, no Sacraments,ho SolenitnA blies to this end, noMiniterial Teaching of the people but have all MensSouls given over to perdition, the breadof life taken froto their mouthsy and God depri- ved of all hisWorlhip, then any of thisfhould be donewithbat'Bithops? That had rather the Church doors were ¡hut up, and we lived likeHeathens, than we Should Worship God without a Bithops Commands? and that when we hivenone to com- mandus . ;. We diftinguifh of the neceffity of Bithops ; either it isa neceffttyad bene e i for the right ordering of the Church when it may be had ; it isa neceffity ad wide tothe very beingof a Church, or of GodsWorship , witout whichwe maynot offer God any publick Service, or have any Communion with any Congregationthat fodoth. The former we leave as not fit for our determination; and therefore we do not contradi c you in it, nor feek to draw you to ownany Declaration againft it. The latter we do deny ; there is no filch necefliityof Whops, as that God can have no Church without them ; and that we muttrather feparate from all ourAffemblies, and never offer God any publick Worship, then do it without them, (remembring Iä11, that we fpeakof thole Bithops whom we are charged with rejeïting and not the Paflors of particular Congregations). And in this diftinetion of ncceflity,and in thisconcluuon, I have the conlent of the generalityof the Proteftant Bithops, fo far as I know toa Man , as far as their Writings declare to us their Minds; and therefore Epifcopal Divinesmay content. Except. to Sell. 2. a. Whether in thisWorceJherdhir, Alfociation, whoever will enter into it doth not therein oblige himfelf to acknowledge thole for Presbyters and PaiorsofChurches, who profefs themfelves to havebeen made Inch (in a Church where there are and were Bithops that never denyed themOrders) without the Hasds,Confent,orKnow- ladge of the Bithop, yea in a time when Bithops were (withoutany accufation, be- fore any Ecclefiaffical Superiour Synod, or other, (unheard) ejeeted,laid by,by, their own Cheep and Presbyters that owed them obedience? Reply to Seas. z. To your firft QueftionI anfwer, x. You mutt ditlinguilhof punifling andejeiling Bi(hops that deferve it, and caning out their Order. 2. Between calling out the appurtenances and corruptionswhich madeup theEnglills fort of Prelacie, as differ- ingfrom the Primitive, and calkingout the Order andOfficeof Bilbops limply in itfelf. ;. Between thofe Men that do call them out, and thofe that do not. q.Be- tween a Church that hathBishops, and one that bath none. S,Between them that can have Ordination bythem, and thofethat cannot. 6. Between thofe Minigers of thisAffociation that were Ordained by Bithops, and thofe that werenot. 7. Be- tween theIrregularity and finfulnefsor Ordination, and the nullity thereof; and fo betweena Minifter regularly Ordained, and a Minifer IrregularlyOrdained, who is a Minifterfill Hereupon I anfwer further in thefe conclufions. 1. That too many of the Bithops lately eje&ed, did deferveit, is beyond difpute. ss. Whether the Parliament in the Rate that theywere in,had not power topunilh them by Im- prifonment, or Eje&ion, as Solomondid Abiathar, without an Eccleuaffical Superior, Of
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