CHAP. VI. Of the state wherein Episcopacy stood in the Western Churches, during the whole third Century.
- 1. Of Zephyrinus Pope of Rome, and the decrees ascribed unto him concerning Bi∣shops.
- 2. Of the condition of that Church, when Cornelius was chosen Bishop thereof.
- 3. The Schism raised in Rome by Novati∣anus, with the proceedings of the Church therein.
- 4. Considerable observations on the former story.
- 5. Parishes set forth in Country Villages by Pope Dionysius.
- 6. What the words 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, do fignifie most properly in Ancient Writers.
- 7. The great Authority which did accrue un∣to the Presbyters, by the setting forth of Parishes.
- 8. The rite of Confirmation reserved by Bi∣shops to themselves, as their own Prero∣gative.
- 9. Touching the ancient Chorepiscopi, and the authority to them entrusted.
- 10. The rising of the Manichean Heresie, with the great care taken by the Bishops for the crushing of it.
- 11. The lapse of Marcellinus Pope of Rome, with the proceedings of the Church in his Condemnation.
- 12. The Council of Eliberis in Spain, what it decreed in honour of Episcopacy.
- 13. Constantine comes unto the Empire, with a brief prospect of the great honours done to Bishops in the following Age.
- 14. A brief Chronologie of the state of holy Church in these two last Centuries.
BEing thus returned at last to the Western Churches, [unspec I] the first we meet withal is Victor Bishop of the Church of Rome, who lived in the conclusion of the second Century, and the beginning of the third; to whom succeeded Zephyrinus, who by Optatus is entituled Ʋrbicus, or the City-Bishop; the stile of Oecumenicaal or Ʋniversal, being then unknown. Of him it is affirmed by Platina, Mandasse ne Episcopus vel à Patriarcha vel Primate, vel à Metropolitano suo in judicium vocatus, sine authoritate Apostolica damnare∣tur; how he decreed that no Bishop being called in question, either by Patriarch, Pri∣mate, or Metropolitan, should be condemned without the leave and liking of the See Apostolick; that is to say, the Bishop of Rome, as the Author means it. A matter fit enough indeed for an Oecumenical, but of too high a nature for a City-Bishop to at∣tempt or think of. And therefore I desire to be excused of Platina, if I believe neither his report, nor the Epistles Decretal ascribed unto Zephyrinus, on which the said re∣port was founded. Sure I am Damasus in the Pontifical tells us no such matter. And no less sure I am that the practice of the Church was contrary for a long time after: Saint Chrysostom being then Patriarch of Constantinople, deposing thirteen Bishops in one Visitation, whom he had found unworthy of so high a calling, without consulting with the Church of Rome, or fearing that his acts might have been repealed by the Popes thereof. Nor can that strange report of Platina consist, if looked on with indifferent eyes, either with the condition of the times of which he writeth, in which the Popes had hardly meditated on their future greatness; or with the Constitutions of the