'.·. Book II. CHRIST A PRIEST. 353 • may well be fo, feeing undoubtedly they are irreconcileable. Some of them fay, That • Peter fucceeded unto Chrift in his Priefthood, as Eleazar did unto Aaron; fo Ri.bera. • Some of them denythat he bath any Succefior, properly fo called: Succejforem non habet, ' me ita quifquam Catholicus loquitttr, ·Ji bene & circumJPefU loqui velit, faith ./Ejiius. But it is openly evident, that fome of-them are not fo circumfpeft as ./Eftius would • have them, but do plainly affirm, that Peter was Chrift's Succelfor. A Lapide indeed • affirms, that Peter did not fucceed unto Chrift, as Eieazar did unto Aaron, b.ecaufe • Eleazar had the Priefthood in the fame ·Degree and Dignity with /Jartm, and fo hac! • not Peter wich Chrift; buc yet that he had the fame Prieflloood with him, a Prieithood • of the fame Kind, he cloth not deny. • That which they generally fix upon is, That their Prieits have not another Prieit– ' hood, or offer another Sacrifice, but are Partakers of his Prie!lhood, and miniiter under • him, and fo are not his Succeffors, but his Vicars; which I think is the worft Compo· fure of this Difficulty they could have thought upon : For, • '· This is contrary unto the Words and Defign of the Apof\le; for the Reafon he ' afiigns, why the Prief\hood ofChrift doth not pafs from him to any other, is, bec~ufe • he abides himfelffor ever to difcharge the Office of it. Now this excludes all Subor– ' dination and ConjunCtion, all Vicars, as well as Succeffors; unlefs we !hall fuppofe, • that although he doth thus abide, yet he is one way or other difabled to difcharge hi• •Offi~ • • 2 . The Sucoelfors of Aaron had no more another Priefthood, but what he had, nor • did they offer any other Sacrifice than what he offered, as thefe Priefts preteod to ' ·offer the fame Sacrifice that Chritl: did: So that llill the Cafe is the fame between < AarDn and his Succelfors, and Chriit and his Subftitutes. ' 3· They fay, That Chrift may have Subftitutes in his Office, thoug:1 he abide a ·• Pneft !till, and although the Office ftiH continue the fame unchangeable: So Go~·• in the Government of the World, makes ufe of Judges and Magitl:rates, yet is him– ' fdf the fupreme ReCtor of all, But this Pretence is vain alfo: For they do not ' fubftiture their Priefts unto him, in that which he conrinuoth to do himfelf, but in ' that which he doth nor, which he did indeed, as a Prieft ought to do, but now cealeth " to do for ever in .his own Perfon; for the principal ACt of the facerdotal Office of • Chritl: confifted in his Oblation, or his offering himfelf a Sacrifice of a fweet-fmelling • Savour unto God. This he did once, and ceafeth for ever fmm doing fo any more; ' but thefe Prieft~ are aligned to offer him in Sacrifice every day, as Partakers of the ' fame Priefthood with him, which is indeed not to be his Subftitutes, but his Succef– ' fors, and to take .his Office om of his hand, as if he were dead, and could henceforth " difcharge it no more: For they do not appoint Prietl:s to intercede in his Room, be– ' caufe they grant he conrinueth himfelf (o to do, but to ofrer Sacrifice in his flead, be– ' caufe he doth fo no more. Wherefore if that be an AB: of Prietl:hood, and of their ' Priefthood, as is pretended, it is unavoidable that his Priefthood is palfed from him ·• unto them. Now this is a blafphemous Imagination, and direCtly contrary both unto ' the Words of the Apoftle, and the whole Defign of his Argument; nay, it would lay '• the Advantage on the other fide: For the Priefts of the Order of Aaron •had that Pri– ' vi lege, that none could take their Office upon 1:hem, nor officia~e in it, whilft they ·• were alive; but although Chrift abiJeth for ever, yet according to the Senfe of thele ' Men, and their PraCtice thercon, he ftands in need of others to officiate for him, and ·' that in the principal Part of his Duty and Office. For to offer himfelf in Sacrifice unro God, he neither now doth, nor can, feeing henceforth he dieth no more. This ·• is the Work of the .Mafs-Priefts alone, who muft therefore be honored as the Succef– ·• fors of Chrilt, or elfe be abhorred as his Munherers; for the Sacrifice of him mutt be ' by Blood and Death. 'The Argument of t·he Apoftle, as it is exclu(ive of this Imagination, fo it is cogent ' unto this Purpofe; .for fo he proceedeth: That Prieithood which changeth not, but is always veiled in the fame Perfon, and in him alone, is more excellent than that ' which was fubjecr to change continually from one hand to anorher; for that Tranf– ·• million of it from one .unto another, was an EffeCt of Weaknefs and Imperfection. ' And the Jews grant, that the Frequency of their Change under the fecond Temple ' was a Token of God's,Difpleafure. But thus it was not with the Prieithood of Chrill, which never chano-eth, and that of Aaron, which was always in a tranfient Succeffion. ' And the Reafons he aives of this contrary State ·ofthefe two Prieflhoods, do greatly ' enforce the ArgumeA"t : For the firft Priefthood was fo fuccellive, becaufe the Prieits · 4- X themfdve$
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