The second reply of Thomas CartwrightThe second replie of Thomas Cartwright

The same the D. supposeth the true Ignatius / writeth thus: Every church should have her altar, and every church her bishop. And lest peradventure the D. should interpret / every ¹church, every diocese / or province: beside that I have showed that signification of church was unknown unto those times / the authors meaning is clear to the contrary / when he saith / every church should have her communion table, which he calleth ²unproperly an altar. Onles therefore the D. will say / that his meaning is there should be but one communion table in a whole diocese / or province: this hole is stopped up against him. And if (as he would make us believe) this was John the apostle's scholar: then amongest the testimonies of men / this may worthily bear the bell. If not (as I for my part think): yet the later he is / the ⟨p. DXVIII⟩longer is proved this order of having a bishop / in every particular congregation / seeing he showeth what the face off the church was / in those times when he lived. Epiphanius proving a bishop / and preaching Elder to differ (which cometh after to be ³examined) saith: where (not as the Pope / and the Answ. in what great city soever) there was found any worthy to be bishop, there a bishop was appointed: yea and where there was not to furnish both bishop, and preaching Elder, there the apostles made a bishop, and left the Elder. So that by his Judgement / bishops were in greater number then / then preaching Elders. That the same was also in Cyprian's time / shall appear (God willing) in the places after to be handled out off him. From his time unto the Council off Nice / we have the story of Eusebius: wherein as in a glass we may see / that the church in this point was little altered Considering that he assigneth the bishops charge / continually (for any thing that ether the Ans. showeth / or I can gather) to one church / or to the churches in one city only. Which may better appear in that his bishops / are so often times called the bishop off a parish (as hath been showed) and that he confoundeth a parish with a church / a pastor with a Bishop (as shall appear): so that onles the Answ. will say / that there was in those times but one parish / church / pastor / in compass off a province / or diocese: he must be constrained to confess / that every particular church for the most part / had a Bishop.