368 A VINDICATION OF THE ANIMADVERSIONS ON FIAT LUX.
unto you the proper genius and design of your discourse, I shall briefly mind you of the principles which you oppose in it and seek to evert by it; as also of those which you intend to compass your purpose by. Of the first sort are these: — 1. " That the Lord Christ, God and man in one person, is, and ever continues to be, the only absolute monarchical head of his own church." I suppose it needless for me to confirm this principle by testimonies of Scripture, which, it being a matter of pure revelation, is the only way of confirmation that it is capable of That he is the head of his church is so fre- quently averred, that every one who hath but read the New Testa- ment will assent unto it, upon the bare repetition of the words, with the same faith whereby he assents unto the writing itself, whatever it be; and we shall afterward see that the notion of a head is abso- lutely exclusive of competition in the matter denoted by it. A head, properly, is singly and absolutely so ; and therefore the substitution of another head unto the church in the room of Christ, or with him, is perfectly exclusive of him from being so. 2. " That Christ as God- man, in his whole person, was never visible to the fleshly eyes of men ;" and whereas as such he was head of the church, as the head of the church he was never absolutely visible. His human nature was seen of old, which was but something of him as he was and is the head of the chmx'h ; otherwise than by faith no man hath seen him at any time: and it changeth the condition of the church to suppose that now it hath a head who, being a mere man, is in his whole person visible, so far as a man may be seen. 3. That the visibility of the church consisteth in its public profession of the truth, and not in its being objected to the bodily eyes of men. It is a thing that faith may believe, it is a thing that reason may take notice of, consider, and comprehend, the eyes of the body being of no use in this matter. When a church professeth the truth, it is " the ground and pillar " of it, a city on a hill, — that is, visible, though no man see it, yea, though no man observe or contemplate on any thing about it; its own profession, not other men's observation, constitutes it visible. Nor is there any thing more required to a church's visibility but its profession of the truth, unto which all the outward advantages which it hath, or may have, of appearing conspicuously or gloriously to the consideration of men, are purely accidental, which may be separated from it without any prejudice unto its visibility. 4. That the same- ness of the church in all ages doth not depend on its sameness in respect of degrees of visibility. That the church be the same that it was, [it] is required that it profess the same truth it did, whereby it becomes absolutely visible; but the degrees of this visibility, as to conspicuousness and notoriety, depending on things accidental imto the being, and consequently visibility, of the church, do no way affect
CHRIST THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 369
it as unto any change. Now, from hence it follows, — 1. That the presence or absence of the human nature of Christ with or from his church on earth doth not belong unto the visibility of it ; so that the absence of it doth no way infer a necessity of substituting another visible head in his stead. Nor was the presence of his himian nature with his church any way necessary to the visibility of it, his conversa- tion on the earth being wholly for other ends and purposes. 2. That the presence or absence of the human nature of Christ not varying his headship, which under both considerations is still the same, the supjDosition of another head is perfectly destructive of the whole head- ship of Christ, there being no vacancy possible to be imagined for that supply but by the removal of Christ out of his place. For he being the head of his church as God and man, in his whole person in- visible, and the visibility of the church consisting solely in its own profession of the truth, the absence of his human nature from the earth neither changeth his own headship nor prejudiceth the church's visibility, so that either the one or the other of them shoidd induce a necessity of the supply of another head. Consider now what it is that you oppose unto these things. You tell us, — 1 . " That Christ was the head of the church in his human nature, delegated by and under God to that j)urpose." You mean he was so absolutely, and as man, exclusively to his divine nature. This your whole discourse, with the inferences that you draw from this supposition, abundantly manifests. If you can make this good, 3'ou may conclude what you please. I know no man that hath any great cause to oppose himself unto you, for you have taken away the very foundation of the being and safety of the church in your supposition. 2. You inform us, " That Chris't by his ascension into heaven ceased to be that head that he was, so that of necessity another must be substituted in his place and room;" and this we must think to be the pope. He is, I confess, absent from his church here on earth as to his bodily ap- pearance amongst us; which, as it was not necessary as to his head- ship, so he promised to supply the inconvenience which his disciples apprehended would ensue thereupon, so that they should have great cause to rejoice at it, as that wherein theh great advantage would lie, John xvi. 7. That this should be by giving us a pope at Rome in his stead, he hath no way intimated. And unto those who know what your pope is, and what he hath done in the world, you will hardly make it evident that the great advantage which the Lord Christ promised unto his disciples upon his absence is made good unto them by his supervisorship. 3. You would have the "visibility of the church depend on the visibility of its head, as also its sameness in all ages." And no one, you are secure, who is now visible, pre- tends to be the head of the church but the pope alone, and therefore VOL. XIV. 24