The second reply of Thomas CartwrightThe second replie of Thomas Cartwright

Off the means of an exact examination off the ability off the pastor / with out the help off the lord bishop / is spoken in an other place: where shall be examined / what the D. hath to say. It hath appeared how untrue it is that the Deacon is superior / or hath moe gifts than the rest of the body of the church. And besides that it shall appear in place / a most absurd saying / that the deacon is above that elder which I mean (for I mean the same / which S. Paul meaneth) there was no occasion at all here to speak / off the superiority off a deacon unto a senior. For ether he ought to prove a deacon / above a pastor: or else he hath said nothing / to that which is in question.

Off the meanes of an exacte examination off the habilitie off the pastor / with owte the helpe off the lorde bishoppe / is spoken in an other place: vvhere shall be examined / vvhat the D. hath to saie. It hathe appeared howe vntrwe yt is that the Deacō is superior / or hathe moe giftes thē the reste of the bodie of the churche. And besides that yt shall appeare in place / a moste absurde sayinge / that the deacon is aboue that elder which I meane (for I meane the same / vvhich S. Paule meaneth) ther was no occasion at all here to speake / off the superioritie off a deacon vnto a senior. For ether he owghte to proue a deacon / aboue a pastor: or els he hathe saide nothinge / to that vvhiche is in question.

In the 308 page the Bishop is avowed to be a Pastor, here he is Superior to a Pastor, and therefore no Pastor: for there can be no comparison / but between two things at the lest: and it is very strange / that a man should be higher then him self. So that to defend these bishops / and Archbishops / the Ans. hath need have ⟨p. CXLII⟩a new grammar / and a new logic: for they transcend / and go beyond all the rules / that ever yet were heard of. I know what is used with us, but is that a sufficient answer? is this your defence off the book? I prove him to be deacon / and you can not deny it: thereupon I conclude / that he is inferior to the pastor, and you say / I know an archdeacon with us, may be minister off the word. But the Question is not what he is / but what he may be by the word off God: for you ought to have showed / that a man may have the order off pastor and deacon at once. For if he be but a deacon / and no pastor: then being inferior to the Pastor / he ought not by him self alone / judge of the sufficiency off a Pastor. if he be both a Deacon / and a pastor / at once: then in stead off ministers / you bring monsters into the church / and make off the hand and the eye / which are two members / but one. Unless you vvill say / that he that is promoted from one Ecclesiastical degree unto another: keepeth the same still which he had before he was promoted. by which reason / the bishop / and the Archbishop are deacons also: because they sometimes had that degree. And then it is required off them / that they do the offices off all those functions / the names Whereof they bear: for there are no idle / and void names in the church / which can be severed from doing the duties / that those titles require. And it is as if a man passing from one office / or dignity in the common wealth / unto an other / until he come to the highest: being in that office / or dignity / should be said still to have all the under offices / and dignities by the which he hath passed. And not that only / but when a man from private estate / is called ether to office in church / or common wealth: together with the public parson / which he hath gotten / he keepeth his private estate still.