A27054:615
The true and only way of concord of all the Christian churches the desirableness…
The true and only way of concord of all the Christian churches the desirableness of it, and the detection of false dividing terms / opened by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for John Hancock, 1680
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
§. †. But all men are corrupt, and some more than others: And they like those best that are likest themselves, or at least most agreeable to their interest and desires. This chain hath been long broken: sometimes the Bishop of Rome hath claimed the choice of Bishops, and given the Bishops the choice of the Presbyters: sometime he hath given the people the choice of their Bishops, but claimed to himself the power of investing and instituting them. Sometime Emperors and Kings have used this investing power, leaving still the people to choose. In England now the King really chooseth all Bishops, commending them to the Dean and Chapter pro formâ: And the Bishop only chooseth whom he will ordain a Minister in specie: And one called the Patron chooseth who shall be the Parish Priest, and the Bishop must institute and induct him; but according to the Law, and the choosing and consenting liberty is wholly taken from the people.
§. †. But all men are corrupt, and some more than others: And they like those best that are likest themselves, or at least most agreeable to their interest and desires. This chain hath been long broken: sometimes the Bishop of Rome hath claimed the choice of Bishops, and given the Bishops the choice of the Presbyters: sometime he hath given the people the choice of their Bishops, but claimed to himself the power of investing and instituting them. Sometime Emperours and Kings have used this investing power, leaving still the people to choose. In England now the King really chooseth all Bishops, commending them to the Dean and Chapter pro formâ: And the Bishop only chooseth whom he will ordain a Minister in specie: And one called the Patron chooseth who shall be the Parish Priest, and the Bishop must institute and induct him; but according to the Law, and the choosing and consenting liberty is wholly taken from the people.
§. 5. 1. How the Popes formerly chose and yet choose where it is in their power, I need not tell them that know history and the world: nor yet what Presbyters such Bishops chose: nor is it any wonder that such choosers served their own interest, nor that the chosen serve it.