N00779:149
The order of the Gospel, professed and practised by the churches of Christ in…
The order of the Gospel, professed and practised by the churches of Christ in New England, justified, by the Scripture, and by the writings of many learned men, both ancient and modern divines; in answer to several questions, relating to church discipline / by Increase Mather, president of Harvard College in Cambridge, and teacher of a church at Boston in New England. ; [Five lines of Scripture texts]The order of the Gospel, professed and practised by the churches of Christ in New England, justified, by the Scripture, and by the writings of many learned men, both ancient and modern divines; in answer to several questions, relating to church discipline / by Increase Mather, president of Harvard Colledge in Cambridge, and teacher of a church at Boston in New England. ; [Five lines of Scripture texts]
Boston: printed by B. Green for Benjamin Eliot, 1700
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.
Answ. There are who say that it does▪ And that the Minister imposing hands must be a Bishop, or otherwise it is no valid Ordination. Which notion makes all (or most of) the ⟨p. 91⟩Ministers in France, Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, Scotland &c. to be no true Ministers for want of Episcopal Ordination. We have these things to offer to the contrary.
Answ. There are who say that it does▪ And that the Minister imposing hands must be a Bishop, or otherwise it is no volid Ordination. Which notion makes all (or most of) the ⟨p. 91⟩Ministers in France, Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, Scotland &c. to be no true Ministers for want of Episcopal Ordination. We have these things to offer to the contrary.
1. The Essence of a Ministers Call consists in a mutual Election between him and his People. As in Marriage the Consent of both parties is Essentially requisite, but a public Solemnization of the Marriage is not so. The Coronation of a King is not Essential to his Office, nor is the Solemn Inauguration of a Public Magistrate Essential to his being a Magistrate. No more is Ordination to the being of a Minister. Learned Papists notwithstanding they are wont to place the Essence of a Ministers Call in his Ordination, says that a Cardinal has his Ecclesiastical power by virtue of his Election before his Instalment. And that a Pope when Elected has Power to rule the Church before his I•thronization. The Lawyers say that Solennia non sunt de rei Substantia. We cannot say that if a man has not received Imposition of hands that then he is no Pastor, but we may say that if he has not been Elected by some Church of Christ he is no Pastor, but his Ordination is a nullity. For which cause the Learned (u)