lco The State of the frf Churches, &c. hr Bishop. noxt1xarsgL, of ouri duzwwpsQt úTepo xTnoia Td Osé rñ v xáorr TIX1WW015. This was the ulual ftyle of thole days, fo was it ufed as we havePeen by Cle- mens ; 'ExxAnoía ñ wapoixison `Padw ; fo it was ufed pre- fently after the death of Polycarpus, by the Church at smyrna,in the account they gave unto other Churches of his death and Martyrdome;;'Exxltra . Tíi é ñ 71-ae1txéou úpvxv in'Exx7.no?a raeptxácu a'v (11.iÀ.o¡aeì a,. And the fame was the Infcription of the Epiflle of the Churches at Vi- enna, and Lyons in France, unto the Churches in dfaand Phrygi.a, as we (hall fee immediately. And there are plain Teftimonies of that Communion among the Churches in thole days which was held in and by the Bodyof each Church , or the Community of the Brotherhood which . is a clear demoniration of their State and Order. And thole whom the Apoftle writing to the Philippians calls their Bifhops and Deacons, Polycarpste calls their Presbyters and Deacons. It behoves you, faith he unto the Church there, to ab(tain from there things , tizmÌao.sopt4pois o7; r-ps- vgvTÉpots fiaxGvors , beingfisbjeaunto the Elders and Dea- cons. Nor doth hemention anyother Bifttop among the Philippians. And it may be obferved, that in all there Primitive Writings,there is [lilla diftinaionmade,after the Example ofthe Scripture, between the Church and the Guides, rulers, Bithops, or Elders of it. And the name of the Church is conftantly Aligned unto the Body of the People, as dí[linft from the Elders; nowhere to the Bi- Ihops or Elders, as diflinet from the people: though the Church in its compleat Ratecomprehendeth both forts. Unto this time that is about the year 107 or 108 , do belong the Epifties afcribed unto Ignatius , if fo be they were written by him. For Polycarpus wrote his Epiflle unto the Philippians after Ignatius wascarried to Rome, having wrote his Epiítle before in 4a. Many are the Con-
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