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A27030 A search for the English schismatick by the case and characters I. of the diocesan canoneers, II. of the present meer nonconformists : not as an accusation of the former, but a necessary defence of the later, so far as they are wrongfully accused and persecuted by them / by Richard Baxter ... Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691. 1681 (1681) Wing B1399; ESTC R6862 28,132 47

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as blasphemy against God and destructive to the piety and peace of man 88. Some of them preach for universal Redemption as a necessary point of faith which others cry down as Arminianism 89. Some of them make Justifying faith to contain Obedience and others cry it down as Popery and Socinianism 90. Some of them say that God hath given to all men sufficient grace to salvation yea say some and efficient which others call Arminianism 91. Some of them say that it is Gods Grace that maketh the faithful to differ from others and others say it is their own Wills And about the parts of Grace and Free-will they preach and write against each other 92. Some of them preach that all the justified persevere And others preach it down as a dangerous errour I have tryed to reconcile all these but they go on 93. Some of them are only for Bidding prayer in the Pulpit as if all other were forbidden by the Canon as Heylin others use prayer there 94. Some there pray in their own words and some only in the words of the Liturgy some use the same words and others vary them 95. Their Cathedral Worship much differeth from the Parochial and some Churches use Organs and others have none 96. One writeth for the Religious use of Lent as Bishop Guning others as Bishop Taylor and Dr. More c. are against their principles and use yea and against many other things of Church-Government and significant Ceremonies which the other party hold See Taylor cited 2d Plea for Peace 97. Some of them are for the Divine right of the Lords Day and the Morality of the fourth Commandment which Heylin and many others vehemently deny 98. One is for Altars and Rails and others against them and others for indifferency 99. In preaching they use very different Methods And some Churches of them begin to use new Versions of the singing Psalms 100. Some following Grotius de Jure Belli and Dr. Taylors Ductor Dubitantium are for useful lying which injureth not others and therefore no doubt for doubtful Conformity But others are against it 101. But they no-where more differ than in their Conformity it self one taking the words in one sense and another in another so that their Conformity is not the same thing though the Letters and sound of voice be the same One by his Assent and Consent to all things in the three books meaneth plainly and another meaneth but that he may and will use so much as concerneth him One by Not resisting by Arms any Commissioned by the King meaneth as he speaketh Another limiteth it to Lawfully Commissioned One by on any pretence whatsoever meaneth as he saith Another excepteth as Bilson aforesaid and such cases as King Johns who gave up his Kingdom to the Pope and would have done to the Morocco-Mahometan and many other such instances as Killing the Parliaments City c. One that subscribeth never to endeavour any Alteration of Church-Government meaneth as he speaketh Another excepteth Lay-Chancellours use of the Keys Deans and Chapters Archdeacons c. if the King would change them One by any endeavour meaneth as he saith Another meaneth only unlawful endeavour one by nothing contrary to Gods word in Can. 36. meaneth plainly Another meaneth nothing which maketh Communion unlawful One taketh all the imposed subscriptions to be but a promise of submission and peace which others abhor and are for the Truth of all that they subscribe assent to In a word some are for the common Rule of taking all the words in the usual sense except the Imposers declare a different sense And others are for necessary supposing that the Imposers meant well whatever they said and therefore our Charity and honouring them bindeth us to put no sense on their words which is contrary to Gods Law the Law of the Land or Common Right and supposing them true and good whatever they are who can doubt but they may be sworn or subscribed 102. Dr. Hammond and his party thought that it doth not appear that there were any subject Presbyters in Scripture-times and so that every single Congregation had a Bishop present in worshipping God But Dr. Stillingfleet saith p. 269. While the Apostles lived it is probable there were no fixed Bishops or but few And so the world had but 12 or 13 indefinite Bishops who are not proved to have any peculiar determinate Diocesses 103. Mr. Dodwell and I think most of them take the Church of England to be a Political society and many think we overthrow Church and Order if we deny Churches to be formed by a Constitutive Government But Dr. Stillingfleet not only holdeth that the Church of England is but the Pastors and people consenting by Parliaments to live under the same Laws about Religion without any Constitutive Church-Head one or many but also peremptorily concludeth that to maintain such a Constitutive Supreme Church-power will necessarily infer Popery and so maketh all the Conformists necessarily to lead in Popery who are for such Political Churches and Constitutive Governours 104. Mr. Cheny saith That to make Churches by Covenants confederacies or consent besides baptism is to be guilty of blasphemy impiety irreligiousness infidelity and one should rather die than yield to it But Dr. Stillingfleet saith the Church of England is one Church made by such consent But such Schisms among themselves are too many to be here numbered And no wonder when they differ so much as they do with their own Sentiments in one and the same book saying and unsaying as the argument in hand requireth E. g. Dr. Stillingfleet thinketh that the seven Churches of Asia being Metropolitan prove Diocesan or Metropolitan-Bishops then in being And yet that while the Apostles lived it 's probable there were no fixed Bishops or but few And so either seven Apostles were the Angels of the seven Churches of Asia reproved so much for their sin and backsliding or the Angels signified not the Bishops While we are all Schismaticks for disobeying say some and holding Nonconforming Assemblies say others from the Church of England yet this Church is no proper Political Church and hath no Constitutive chief Government saith Dr. St. and therefore hath no authority to make Canons to command us He no less than threatneth us with damnation not in the retracted Irenicum but in his late book against Popish Idolatry if we chuse not the purest Church and the Papist granteth it and saith as he And yet it is the substance of his unreasonable books to prove us Schismaticks if we depart from their Church or so much as preach to other Assemblies on the account of purer worship and greater edification c. And he had the wit to pass by this citation in the Epistle of a book against him As for Mr. Cheny and divers other such another book openeth their Contradictions They often tell us of the Nullity of the Ministry or Power which is not received from Episcopal Superiors Especially Bishop Gunning and
Atheists Hobbists and wicked men are members of their Church from year to year continued 67. The Canon 139 excommunicateth all that say that the Synod of this Nation in the name of Christ and by the Kings authority assembled is not the true Church of England by representation By which they seem to make the King no part of the Church nor any of the Laity or else that they represent King and Laity and they intimate that all the Clergy is the Church-real and the Synod the Representative 68. They brought in new Canons and the et coetera Oath in 1640 without the Parliament which were condemned 69. From the beginning of Queen Elizabeth till now they have prosecuted and silenced Protestants that durst not conform even their fellow Exiles in Queen Maries days were silenced and multitudes after in King James's days and even Conformists suspended about the Dancing-book and troubled about Altars Bowing Afternoon-Sermons and Lectures which were forbidden and about 2000 ejected and silenced at once 1662 And multitudes of Families driven to Holland and New-England Though we offer them our Oaths that we will gladly conform if by any study we can but see that it will not involve us in the guilt of Lying owing the Perjury of maltitudes unknown to us corrupting the Church and Gods Worship Covenanting deliberately against needful Reformation of the Church-Government by Lay Chancellours and uncapable Diocesans and many other crimes with dreadful aggravations recited in our first Plea for Peace 70. They separate from us and our Congregations as unlawful to be joyned with 71. Though it was the judgment of the ancient Churches exprest in many Canons that he was no Bishop that had not the peoples election or consent they make it Schism not to obey such and allow the people no such power 72. They suppose that God hath entrusted the King to chuse for all his Subjects whom they shall commit the conduct of their Souls to as their Pastors and Bishops though he be not trusted to chuse our Physicians our Wives our Dyet c. And so they would make the King answerable for all ill-chosen Pastors And if a Papist Heretick or a hater of Pastoral holiness should ever be King in how sad a case are the peoples souls 73. Yea they hold that Patrons be they never so ignorant or ungodly must chuse all that shall have the Parochial trust of Souls As to the possession of Temples and Tythes we yield it they say The people must have no other than what the Patrons chuse and impose on them 74. Excommunication of Dissenters seemeth little to them but they by the writ de Excommunicato Capiendo lay them in Jayl till death unless they change their Judgment which it is not in their power to do 75. Though we publish our abhorrence of all Doctrines of Rebellion and disown even so much popularity as their Richard Hooker and most Politicks own many of them go on to charge Nonconformists with suspicions of Rebellion and to provoke the King against them as disloyal 76. They print and preach to provoke Magistrates to execute the foresaid severe Laws to silence and ruine them and accuse them for not doing it 77. They stir up the people to take them for intollerable seditious Schismaticks to the destruction of Christian Love and causing men to hate each other 78. By these means families are distracted Husbands against Wives Parents against Children some casting them out if they do but hear a Nonconformist Preacher while sensuality corrupteth youth and needeth more restraint 79. When the Kings Clemency Licensed our Meetings they grudged at it and neverthelss separated from us though they describe Separation to be Meetings held against authority and thereby shewed that it is somewhat else than the Kings authority that they contend for and something more than our want of License which causeth their fervent opposition 80. Though we beg of them in vain to prevent the Papists advantage by our divisions and though they seem resolved to let Popery it self come in rather than either restore us or tolerate us and abate what we count sin and they call Indifferent yet do they perswade people that we are bringing in Popery if we obey not all their Impositions and talk as if either no Dissenters were tollerable when all men differ and they among themselves in as great matters as from us or All were tolerable both which are abominable And as if he that were unwilling to be destroyed by Prelatists were introducing Popery Should a man chuse rather to be saved by a Papist than hanged by a Prelatist who were more to be suspected of Popery He that made that choice or he that put it upon him 81. Besides the reconciling treaty with the Papists asserted by Dr. Heylin some chief Doctors profess that they would have the Church in the same state as when the Greeks and Latine did divide and grant what the Greeks grant not denying the Pope to be Principium unitatis and pleading for Grotius as a Protestant of our Churches mind who was for the Council of Trent and all the rest desiring no more for our Concord with the Church of Rome but that as by the Mistris Church they may rule ●y the Canons and not absolutely securing the Rights of Kings and Bishops and reforming Scholastick curiositics and the Clergies lives 82. Under all the new Impositions we were never allowed to speak for our selves nor durst once Petition the Parliament that ejected us or any since for relief or audience lest such boldness should more incense our afflicters 83. There is no surer way to destroy their own Church-pomp and grandure and root out Episcopacy more than we desire than to use it for Satan against faithful Ministers and against the Souls of men and against the honour and innocency of Princes and against the property and liberty of Subjects even against God and man and so to make it odious to mankind by making it intollerable Till they that cannot tolerate a differing-word do weary the world by their intollerable pride and cast down themselves and then blame others 84. To this day while they accuse those of Schism that dare not subscribe declare swear and do the things aforesaid and plead against the enduring of them to preach or solemnly worship God they disagree in Doctrines and many great matters among themselves and take not themselves for Schismaticks Of which see our 2d Plea pag. 158 159. 85. Some of them are for Original sin according to the subscribed Articles Bishop Jer. Taylor and others were against it and Bishop Warner hath writ against him 86. Some of them preach for the Imputation of Christs Righteousness Mr. Thorndike Mr. Sherlock and others differ and many of them sharply accuse and preach against each other thereabout yea with high accusations as heretical 87. Some of them preach up Gods Eternal Decrees of Election and Derelection or Reprobation in that sort as others of them preach against
another keeping sound Doctrine Love and Peace 21. The number and need of the people must determine whether a particular Church shall have one Pastor or more 22. If one for Concord be President to the rest and the Senior Pastors be guides to the younger we are not against it 23. Nor yet if the Magistrate or Churches by consent appoint some of the Graver to be visitors of many Churches and to instruct and keep the younger in peace 24. Nor will we quarrel against the Names of Bishops or Archbishops or their Wealth and Honour while Faith Worship Discipline and Love are preserved 25. If by a National Church they mean either a Christian Kingdom or all the Churches of a Nation as under one Prince or as associated for Concord we deny none such 26. For we hold that all Christians should live in as much Concord as they can and that Synods are useful to that end 27. We must honour our Rulers though they afflict us 28. We hold that we must separate from no Church or Christian farther than they separate from Christ though we must not sin against God for communion with any We take it for a great sin for any party to appropriate the Church only to themselves We own no Church but as part of the Catholick or universal Church and we hold all our Assemblies as in union and communion with All the true Churches on earth and put up our prayers and praises as in conjunction with theirs not owning their failings or our own but their duties And we will be members of no particular Church which alloweth us not occasional Communion with others but take such for Sectaries 29. The welfare of Souls is of so great concernment that we cannot think any Christian should be indifferent to whom as a Pastor he committeth the care and conduct of his Soul any more than what Physician he chuseth for his body And the difference between the ignorant and the wise and wicked and the godly the negligent and the faithful is of grand importance 30. We think that all Christians should prefer a faithful Pastor before an unfaithful or insufficient one and a purer Church before a more corrupt as far as they are free without doing more hurt than good But we will hold occasional communion with more faulty Churches so they compel us not to sin 31. We take not all the faults of the Pastor flock or service to be made ours meerly by our presence Nor do we think that all faults or many and great ones consistent with the necessaries to communion will allow us to separate that is either from a true Church as none or from lawful communion as unlawful For Natural distance is not Moral Separation 32. We take the Magisterial imposing of unnecessary Oaths Professions Subscriptions Practices much more sinful ones as necessary terms of communion and silencing and casting out Christs faithful Servants that obey them not to be the grand and common causes of Schism which have through the pride of a Domineering-Clergy broken most of the Churches on Earth for above 1000 years 33. We hate the spirit of pride and envy in Preachers who cannot endure to see others at least that differ from them preferred before them and if any do but go from them to others or worship God in another place or in other words or circumstances do frighten the people by their loud allarm and cry of Schism as if all were of a different Religion or species of Communion that differ from their book in Word or Ceremonies And by that blinding name of Different Communions alienate the hearts of the ignorant and make them think of the Dutch French and others that only differ from them in accidents as the Papists do of us that are called by them Hereticks 34. We take him not to have the Wisdom and Love of a sound Christian who cannot love and bear with his fellow Christians who differ but in such tollerable things 35. Yet we think not that all should preach and gather Churches that will and that the intollerable must be tolerated and that it must be All or none And the Magistrate is Judg whom he will tolerate but he must judg aright 36. We hold the Parish-Divisions to be of great convenience Not taking all in the Parish for the Church but confining Ministers to their proper bounds 37. And whatever differing Churches the Magistrate tolerateth he must force them to live peaceably and modestly towards others 38. Were every Church reduced to such a number as that all might in season have local personal communion like great Parishes that have Chappels and E. g. every Church of 6000 Souls have six Pastors conjunct or every Corporation or Market-Town of old called Cities with the Neighbour-Villages be one Church and one among these Pastors to be a President Bishop we should think it most like the ancient Government But we can live in peace where we cannot have all which we justly wish for 39. Though some preach not Christ sincerely but in envy and strife to add to our affliction we rejoyce that Christ is preached 40. We hold all that for the power of Kings the obedience of the Subjects and against rebellion which the Scripture speaketh and which the Christian Churches Politicks Lawyers as far as we know them commonly hold and more than divers chief Conformists Bishop Bilsons book of Subjection and Grotius de Imperio Sum. Pat. fulliest speak my thoughts in the greatest part 41. As these are the meer Nonconformists principles so their practice is accordingly They pray for the King and all in authority not for preserment but that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty And they pray and seek for the publick safety and live peaceably towards others 42. They sought reconciliation with the Diocesans before the Kings return and associating upon uniting terms 43. What the Nonconformists in City Countrey Monks Army and the next Parliament did for the Kings restoration is known 44. They offered but Bishop Ushers form of Primitive Government or Episcopacy for reconciliation and concord with the Bishops 45. They gave publick thanks for the Kings Declaration about Ecclesiastical affairs which had healed us had it not been cast away In which he declareth their moderation 46. They never made one motion for Presbytery Lay-Elders Independency Nor against Parish-Churches nor against the Bishops Lordships or place in Parliament or Wealth Though I confess they desired better than they saw fit to ask 47. They did as much with the Bishops as if it had been for their lives by Condescention Reason and Petition to have prevented the foreseen divisions and were the seekers of Peace 48. The Liturgy which they offered had not one word of exception returned by the Bishops nor were their Reply or Petition answered by them to this day 49. They offered their solemnest Protestation or Oaths that it was to avoid sin that they refused Conformity and yet