Of Prelatical Episcopacy
Encyclopedia
Of Prelatical Episcopacy is a religious tract written by John Milton
in either June or July 1641.
issues, was written as a response to many works, such as Archbishop James Ussher's The Judgement of Doctor Rainoldes Touching the Originall of Episcopacy (25 May 1641). The tract was printed soon after, in either June or July 1641, under the title Of Prelatical Episcopacy, and Whether it may be deduc'd from the Apostolical times by vertue of those Testimonies which are alledg'd to that purpose in some late Treatises: One wherof goes under the Name of Iames Arch-Bishop of Armagh.
and the individual reader, especially from such mediums as provided by an organized church. Instead, Milton says that such individuals are unnecessarily because we must have "first the Gospel
l our rule, and Oracle
". Reading from the Bible, according to Milton, would teach us that there is not a "difference betweene a Bishop
, and a Prebyter". Any misreading of the text is the fault of the reader who is unable to understand the Scriptural truth or who was misled by other works. In particular, there are many older works that mislead readers, especially in their interpretations and claims about the meaning of Scriptural words:
During the tract, Milton discusses Ignatius
's epistles and claims that some were faked:
- including their own - is fallible. Truth is the prize, but confusion and distraction will be the risk one encounters along the way."
Thomas Corns believes that Of Prelatical Episcopacy is an example of the way Milton relies on a writing system
in which "his main clause
s often support lots of subordinate clauses, and subordinate clauses often themselves support a number of clauses dependent upon them". That is not to say that this causes problems, and the discussion of Ignatius's epistles, as Corns continues, "is a sentence of over a hundred words, no great rarity in the prose of Milton or many of his contemporaries, though this one (like so many in Milton) is beautifully organized and controlled."
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
in either June or July 1641.
Background
The tract, the shortest of Milton's tracts on prelaticalPrelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
issues, was written as a response to many works, such as Archbishop James Ussher's The Judgement of Doctor Rainoldes Touching the Originall of Episcopacy (25 May 1641). The tract was printed soon after, in either June or July 1641, under the title Of Prelatical Episcopacy, and Whether it may be deduc'd from the Apostolical times by vertue of those Testimonies which are alledg'd to that purpose in some late Treatises: One wherof goes under the Name of Iames Arch-Bishop of Armagh.
Tract
The tract is a direct response to other tracts and is hostile to any need for a medium between the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and the individual reader, especially from such mediums as provided by an organized church. Instead, Milton says that such individuals are unnecessarily because we must have "first the Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
l our rule, and Oracle
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
". Reading from the Bible, according to Milton, would teach us that there is not a "difference betweene a Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
, and a Prebyter". Any misreading of the text is the fault of the reader who is unable to understand the Scriptural truth or who was misled by other works. In particular, there are many older works that mislead readers, especially in their interpretations and claims about the meaning of Scriptural words:
Now for the word [proestos], it is more likely that Timothy never knew the word in that sense: it was the vanity of those next succeeding times not to content themselves with the simplicity of Scripture phrase, but must make a next LexiconLexiconIn linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
to name themselves by.
During the tract, Milton discusses Ignatius
Ignatius
Ignatius is a male given name of presumed Latin or Etruscan origin, believed to mean "fiery one".It may refer to:-Given name:*Ignatius Kutu Acheampong , Ghanaian military ruler*Ignatius Bonomi , British architect...
's epistles and claims that some were faked:
Now come the Epistles of Ignatius to shew us first, that OnesimusOnesimusSaint Onesimus |churches]]) was a slave to Philemon of Colossae, a man of Christian faith. Eventually, Onesimus transgressed against Philemon and fled to the site of Paul the Apostle's imprisonment to escape punishment for a theft he was said to have committed, there, he heard the Gospel from...
was Bishop of EphesusEphesusEphesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
; next to assert the difference of Bishop and Presbyter, wherein I wonder that men teachers of the Protestant Religion, make no difficulty of imposing upon our belie a supposititious ofspring of some dozen Epistles, whereof five are rejected as suprious, containing in them Heresies and triflesTriflesTrifles is a one-act play by Susan Glaspell. Her short story, "A Jury of Her Peers", was adapted from the play a year after its debut. It was first performed by the Provincetown Players at the Wharf Theatre in Provincetown, Massachusetts on August 8, 1916. In the original play, Glaspell played the...
, which cannot agree in Chronologie with Ignatius, entitling him Arch-Bishop of AntiochAntiochAntioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
Theopolis, which name of Theopolis that City had not till Iustinians time long after, as Cedrenus mentions, which argues both the barbarous time, and the unskillfull fraud of him that foisted this Epistle upon Ignatius.
Themes
The purpose of Of Prelatical Episcopacy is, to Elizabeth Wheeler, that it "reminds readers that truth is attainable, and that all nonscriptural authorityAuthority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
- including their own - is fallible. Truth is the prize, but confusion and distraction will be the risk one encounters along the way."
Thomas Corns believes that Of Prelatical Episcopacy is an example of the way Milton relies on a writing system
Writing system
A writing system is a symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in language.-General properties:Writing systems are distinguished from other possible symbolic communication systems in that the reader must usually understand something of the associated spoken language to...
in which "his main clause
Clause
In grammar, a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition. In some languages it may be a pair or group of words that consists of a subject and a predicate, although in other languages in certain clauses the subject may not appear explicitly as a noun phrase,...
s often support lots of subordinate clauses, and subordinate clauses often themselves support a number of clauses dependent upon them". That is not to say that this causes problems, and the discussion of Ignatius's epistles, as Corns continues, "is a sentence of over a hundred words, no great rarity in the prose of Milton or many of his contemporaries, though this one (like so many in Milton) is beautifully organized and controlled."