A Christian Directory, Part 3: Christian EcclesiasticsBaxter, Richard
Religion
A Christian Directory, Part 3: Christian Ecclesiastics
Baxter, Richard
Casuistry; Christian sociology
And when the pope hath a resurrection after the longest intercision,
so may all the bishops and priests in the world, because a new pope
can make new bishops, and new bishops can make new priests. And where
then is there any show of necessity of an uninterrupted succession of
any of them? All that will follow is, that the particular churches die
till a resurrection; and so doth the whole church on earth every time
the pope dieth, till another be made, if he be the constitutive head.
2. But as they say that Christ only efficiently giveth the power to
the pope, so say we to the bishops or pastors of the church. For there
is no act of Christ's collation to be proved, but the Scripture law or
grant: and if that standing law give power to the pope, when men have
but designed the person, the same law will do the same to bishops or
pastors; for it establisheth their office in the same sort. Or rather
in truth there is no word, that giveth power to any such officer as a
universal head or pope, but the law for the pastoral office is
uncontrovertible.
And what the Spanish bishops at Trent thought of the Divine right of
the bishop's office, I need not mention.
I shall therefore thus truly resolve the question.
1. In all ordinations and elections, man doth but first choose the
recipient person. 2. And ceremoniously and ministerially invest him in
the possession when God hath given him the power; but the efficient
collation or grant of the power is done only by Christ, by the
instrumentality of his law or institution. As when the king by a
charter saith, Whoever the city shall choose, shall be their mayor,
and have such and such power, and be invested in it by the recorder or
steward: here the person elected receiveth all his power from the king
by his charter, (which is a standing efficient, conveying it to the
capable chosen person,) and not from the choosers or recorder; only
the last is as a servant to deliver possession. So is it in this case.
2. The regular way of entrance appointed by Christ to make a person
capable, is the said election and ordination. And for order sake where
that may be had, the unordained are not to be received as pastors.
3. If any get possession, by false, pretended ordination or mission,
and be received by the church. I have before told you that he is a
pastor as to the church's use and benefit, though not to his own. And
so the church is not extinct by every fraudulent usurpation or
mistake, and so not by want of a true ordination or mission.
4. If the way of regular ordination fail, God may otherwise (by the
church's necessity, and the notorious aptitude of the person) notify
his will to the church, what person they shall receive; (as if a
layman were cast on the Indian shore and converted thousands, who
could have no ordination;) and upon the people's reception or consent,
that man will be a true pastor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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