unknown Facts She only proceeds against Notoriously Scandalous and Impenitent Sinners and she receives them as soon as they express their Repentance And is there any thing of Tyranny or danger in this It is proper to observe here especially with reference to Excommunication which is thought the severest part of Discipline that when the Church proceeds to that extremity she does not properly speaking act by way of Authority as if she had an absolute power to punish a Sinner and to cut him off from her Body But that Sinner has already by his Life cut himself off from the Communion of Christ he is no longer a Member of the Church so that the Church only declarâ—s that which is done and determined already tho' she should not declare it Neither is there any Cause to fear that the Publick Peace should be disturbed by the exercise of Discipline On the contrary Society will be the better Regulated for it For Discipline does not touch Civil Matters Excommunication it self does not hinder a Man from being still a Member of the Common-wealth nor that all the Duties of Justice and Humanity should be discharged towards him As for the Authority of Civil Powers it is no ways injured by this as evidently appears from the first Christians exercising Discipline openly in the fight of the Heathen Magistrates without any opposition from them Christ did not come into the World to Erect a Temporal Kingdom nor to draw Men off from their Submission to the Authority of Kings and Magistrates It is the Principle of a true Christian * Mat XXII To render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and to God the things which are God's This Principle will not deceive a Man and as long as we adhere to it all things will be in order Religion is so far from giving any just umbrage to Princes that on the contrary it strengthens their Authority Submission to the higher Powers is recommended by the Apostle in the most earnest manner The Christians of the first Ages who were very strict observers of Discipline distinguished themselvs by their Loyalty to Princes Nay it is observable that their Discipline which was so severe against Sinners was as strict against those who were wanting in the Fidelity and Respect due to Superiors witness that Cannon * Can. Apost 84. which enjoins the Deposition of those Bishops and Clergy-men who should offer an Affront to the Prince or his Officers Whosoever will take the pains to weigh this Matter will acknowledge that Discipline is a distinct thing from the Civil Power Each of these has its bounds and limits The Church does not touch the Body nor Civil Matters and it is not the Magistrate's business to regulate things relating to Conscience and Salvation Indeed if Magistrats imagine that they have a right to Govern the Church as they think fit and that they hold the same Rank in it which they hold in the Civil Society so that the Ministers of Religion are but their Officers Discipline may seem to them to lessen their Authority But let those who entertain such thoughts see how they can reconcile them with the Gospel and with the Nature of the Christian Religion Notwithstanding all this it will be said that Church-men have been known to usurp a Dominion over Consciences and over Kings It is true Church-men have abused their Authority but because a thing has been abused is it therefore to be abolished Wise Men will rather say that things ought to be restored to their natural State and to their lawful Use Else the whole Authority of Kings and Magistrates might be pulled down and we might argue thus Monarchical Governments liable to great Inconveniences Kings have been Tyrants and Usurpers therefore there must be no more Kings Magistrates and Judges have been unjust Covetous Cruel and therefore no Magistrates are to be endured Would not this Argument be extravagant and impious And yet the like Argument is used against Discipline In Church as well as in State Government there will be always some inconveniency to be feared this Evil is almost unavoidable there being no Form of Government which the Malice of Men may not abuse But those Abuses are without comparison a less Evil than Anarchy which is the most dangerous State of all But let us clear the Matter of Fact upon which the Objection I am now Confuting is founded It is supposed that Discipline did introduce Tyranny but on the contrary it was upon the Ruins of Discipline that Tyranny was erected This is known to all those who have any knowledge of Antiquity When did Bishop and Clergy-men usurp that excessive Authority over mens Estates Persons Consciences It was when the Observation of the Ancient Discipline was slackned when Discipline began to wear out of use when Sinners and especially great Men were exempted for Money when that which should have been transacted by the whole Church was referred only to the Clergy and when publick Confession was changed into a private one It was by these means and not by the due Exercise of Discipline that Church-men made themselves Masters of all What we ought to do then is this First to enquire what is of Divine Institution in Discipline and to restore that in the next place to consider what the Salvation of Sinners and the Honour of the Church require and what was good and edifying in the practice of the Primitive Church in order to conform to it and lastly to provide by good Laws that no Man may exceed the bounds of his Calling particularly that in restoring to the Clergy their lawful Authority all just measure may be taken to prevent their abusing it If Christian Princes are bound to preserve the Rights of the Church they ought likewise to take care that nothing be done against their own Authority and to punish those who oppose it or who disturb the Civil Society whether Ecclesiasticks or Lay-men This we are to treat of in another place Besides when we speak for the re-establishment of Discipline we mean that Pastors should be subjected to it as well as their Flocks and that if there is an Order in the Church to regulate the Manners of Christians there should be one also to regulate the Clergy and to lay strict Obligations on them to discharge their Duty in all its parts And that according to the Ancient Practice Discipline ought to be more severe against the Ecclesiasticks who fail in their Office than against the People But as we have complained in this Chapter of the want of Discipline with Relation to the Church in general so we are going to shew in the next that this want is neither less observable nor less fatal in those things which concern the Governors of the Church I conclude with saying that in Order to remedy the Corruption of Manners among Christians it is absolutely Necessary to restore the use of Discipline This is what has been and is still heartily wished for
general as it is now These Considerations are founded upon two undeniable Facts 1. That the Church was then persecuted And 2. That Discipline was then exercised in it These were two powerful Means to remove Vices and Scandals from the Church We may easily imagine that Men who loved the World and their sins would not have embraced Christiany at a time when whosoever became a Christian did by that very thing expose himself to Persecution Torments and Death This did fright away the greatest numbers of Wicked and Impious Persons But if any of these entred into the Church Discipline for the most part drove them out when they made themselves notorious by a Scandalous life It is easy to judge that in such Circumstances there was more Piety at that time than we observe now in the Church The first Christians were sincere in their Profession Being instructed by the Apostles and apostolical Men they placed the Christian Religion chiefly in a good Life to which they did solemnly engage themselves by Baptism They were united among themselves they governed themselves in matters of Order and Discipline by the Prescripts of the Apostles as much as the Persecution gave them leave and they did with Courage lay down their lives for the Truth Such was the Christianity of the first Ages But the Church did not continue long in that State before this Zeal of those Primitive Christans began to cool On the one hand Persecution ceased and on the other the Ancient Discipline was slackned These two Fences being pluckt up and the Emperors turning Christian the Corruption of the World broke in upon the Church Divers abuses crept into Doctrine Discipline Worship and Manners till the Church fell at last into such a Dismal Darkness of Ignorance Superstition and Vice that Christianity seemed almost quite extinct and destroyed All those who had any true sense of Religiion did lament this they complained openly of it and they longed for a good Reformation This was the State which the Church and Religion were in for some Centuries It did not please God that those Times of Ignorance should last for ever that Darkness began to be dispersed in the last Century Then it was that Learning and Languages revived and that the Holy Scripture which had been for a great while a Book unknown to the People was rescued out of that obscurity in which the Barbarism of former Ages had buried it Men did perceive that divers Errors had been introduced into Religion they discovered several Abuses they went about to redress them and they succeeded so far that in this respect Christianity was restored to its Purity But that great Work could not be finished so that at this Day they Church and Religion are not yet brought to that State of Perfection which they might be in III. For to come now to the present State of Religion it is certain First that many Christian Churches are still very near in the same Darkness Men were in some Ages ago I shall say nothing of the sinking of Christianity in Asia and Africa there is more Knowledge in Europe but yet in many Places we may observe almost all those Disorders which prevailed in the Times of the grossest Ignorance Nay our Age is more unhappy than the precedent in that those Abuses have been consirmed and authorized by Laws and are now supported by Force How many Countries and Churches are there where the People know almost nothing of the Gospel where Religion is reduced to Childish and Superstitious Devotions and Practices where the most Ridiculous things are believed and the most shameful Errors received where the loosness of Manners may almost be parallel'd with Heathenism where the most execrable Crimes are committed In a Word where the Ignorance both of the People and Clergy are general excepting only some few understanding Men who are sensible of these Disorders but are restrained by Fear from discovering their Sentiments From those Places Corruption spreads to others and it would not be difficult to shew by several Instances that the Cause of Impiety Ignorance and Vice is to be found in those Places which should be the Foâ—â—tains of Piety and Religion What I have now said is not to be applied to all Churches for some there are where Religion is not so corrupted and where a purer Christianity is professed But yet let us enquire in the second place whether there are any Christian Societies where nothing is Wanting or to be desired in the State of the Church and Religion and where it would not be necessary to make some Alterations and Constitutions in order to come nearer to Perfection This deserves to be examined with Care and without Prepossession We ought here to lay aside the Spirit of a Party and ingenuously to acknowledge Defects where they are For else if every one is wedded to the Society of which he is a Member nothing can ever be remedied For supposing that there are Defects what Remedy can be used if we are all possessed with This Prejudice that all is Perfect in our Society Is not this the way to Canonize Abuses and to prevent the restoring of Order And First we ought not to wonder if there should still be Imperfections in the purest Societies It would be a kind of Miracle if there were none remaining God does not always think fit to finish his Work all at once unless he had made use of Inspired Men such as the Prophets or the Apostles were It was impossible so to attain Perfection and to provide for every thing at first dash that nothing more should be desired Besides Circumstances are so much altered that it seemâ— necessary to change several things that were left in the last Age. It is further to be considered that tho' Christians did long for a good Reformation yet great Difficulties were to be overcome to bring it about Mens Minds were not much enlightened they were just creeping out of Darkness and a long Custom had almost obliterated the true Ideas of Religion Almost all those who were in Civil or Ecclesiastical Authority did obstinately defend the Abuses which all Good Men thought it necessary to Redress Extream Severity was used towards those who desired this Reformation of the Church All this did terrify a great many well-meaning Persons and was the cause that in several Places those who had Courage enough to Condemn the Abuses openly were not able for want of Means to do all that the Interest of Religion required They were fain in those Places to yield something to the Iniquity of the Times and to settle Things as well as they could till a more favourable Oppotunity Some Churches came nearer to Perfection than others But howsoever if we would pass a right Judgment upon the present State of the Church and Religion we ought to Examine the Thing in it self and without Partiality Upon this I shall offer here some general Considerations and refer to the following Chapter some Heads which will
should go by the practice of the Jewish Church it would follow that the Ministers of Religion are invested with Civil Authority and a very great Authority too The Jewish Priests held a considerable Rank in the State as well as in Religion If upon some occasions Kings have deposed Priests upon other occasions Priests have opposed Kings and altered the Government * See Chron. XXIII and XXVI So that without pressing too much those Instances out of the Old Testament the best way is to consult the New and to proceed according to the Laws of the Apostles and the Nature of the Christian Religion And whosoever examins without Prejudice those Sacred Books which have been writ since the Coming of our Saviour will acknowledge that things are now altered and that Magistrates have but a limited Authority in Matters of Religion It is remarkable that the Scripture never mentions them when it speaks of the Church and of the Government of it 3 And yet as the Authority of Princes and Magistrates is derived from God it ought still to subsist entire And therefore they have an unquestionable Right to take care that nothing be done in the Church to the Prejudice of their lawful Authority and of publick Tranquility and that the Ministers of Religion do not stretch their Authority beyond spiritual things The Honour and the Safety of Religion require that this Principle should be laid down for Religion as was said before ought not to disturb Society and true Religion will never disturb it If then any Christians or Church-men under pretence of Religion should break in upon the Civil Government and the publick Peace Kings and Princes have a Right to restrain them and then they do not oppose Religion but those only who abuse and dishonour it After these Considerations I think any Man is able to judge whether the decay of Piety and Religion is not in part to be imputed to Christian Princes and Magistrates We need but enquire whether both in Civil and Religious Matters they observe the Duties I have now described I say no more of this because every body is able to make the Application But I must add that if the want of Zeal in Magistrates is enough to introduce Confusion and Vice into the Church the Mischief is much greater when not only they do not what they ought for the good of Religion but when they use their Authority besides to the prejudice of it I cannot forbear mentioning here two great Abuses The First is when Princes and Magistrates assume the whole Authority to themselves so that except Preaching and Administring the Sacraments they will do every thing in the Church When they presume to determine Articles of Faith to rule the Conscience of their Subjects and to force them to embrace one Persuasion rather than another when they will by all means take upon them to call Pastors without regard to that Right of the Church and Church-men which is established in Scripture and confirned by the practice of the first Ages of Christianity when they seize upon Church-Estates tho' there is no Reason to fear that Wealth should corrupt their Clergy and tho' such Revenues might be applied to several pious Uses and particularly to the Relief of Country-Churches most of which are not sufficiently edified for want of necessary Endowments and Funds A great deal might be said about that which was done in the last Century with relation to Church-Revenues and it were to be wished that People had been a little more scrupulous than they were when they invaded the Possessions of the Church and confounded them with the Revenues of the State Besides this the Magistrates Authority is fatal to the Church when he hinders the Exercise of true Discipline and when he substitutes such Regulations as he thinks fit in the room of Apostolical Laws This is one of the greatest Obstructions to the restoring of Apostolical Discipline Tho' the Church and her Pastors should be willing to observe the ancient Order and to oppose Corruption by those Means which the Gospel enjoins yet this is not to be done if those who have the Authority in their hands will not give way to it The Church is not in a Condition to resist and to make head against the Magistrate when he uses Force and She ought not to do it if She could The second Abuse is when the Magistrate makes it his business to abase Religion in the Persons of its Ministers by despoiling them as much as he can of every thing that might procure them Respect and Authority in the Church This Policy is as contrary to the Interest of Religion and to the promoting of Piety as it is common now adays in several Christian Dominions It is well done of the Magistrate to preserve his Authority and to keep the Clergy from exceeding the bounds of their Calling but from thence it does not follow that he ought to trample them under foot to bring them under a general Contempt and to vilifie their Character which after all is Sacred and Venerable This is to sacrifice Religion to Policy and Pride and this Proceeding is a manifest Cause of the Contempt of Religion and of the Corruption which necessarily follows that Contempt since commonly nothing is more despised in the World than that which great Men despise I declare it once more by all that has been said I do not mean to detract any thing from the Respect due to Civil Powers neither do I speak of all Christian Princes and Magistrates among whom there are some who have Piety and Zeal and who labour with success for the Good of Religion But the Glory of God requires that we should speak the truth so that I could not but take notice of this Cause of Corruption Upon the whole Matter it is to be hoped that if Christian Magistrates would be pleased to make serious Reflections upon all these things we should soon see an end of some of these Disorders and that a happier time will come when they will use their Authority to advance the Honour of God and to restore Truth Piety and Peace among Christians CAUSE V. Education NOthing is more natural than to look for the Original of Corruption in the time at which it begins I mean in the first years of Life It is not only when Men have attained to a ripeness of Age that they are inclined to Vice but that Inclination discovers it self from their Youth The Root of that Ignorance of those Prejudices and of the greatest part of the ill Dispositions they are in may be found in their tender years We had need then look back upon the beginnings of Life and seek in Youth and in Infancy it self the Source of Corruption When we enter upon this Enquiry and consider that Men if nothing restrains them will run into Vice from their Youth out of a propension which is common to all we cannot but perceive at first sight that there must be in
Hospitality from minding their Function as they ought and from discharging the Duties of it with Authority and Zeal It forces them to have recourse to several mean or unlawful Methods to supply their Necessities and those of their Families and to do many things which do not comport with their Employment From thence proceeds likewise the want of able Ministers A great many Persons who might have the necessary Talents Qualifications and Means to be very useful in the Church take a disgust at that Profession by the fear of Contempt or Poverty As long as things are in this state Religion will be despised and Corruption will still be in vogue It is not so easie to remove this Cause of Corruption as it is to detest it The re-establishing of Order seems to be a thing extreamly difficult To this end it would be requisite that Princes arid Church-men should act in Conjunction But there are few Christian Princes who lay this to heart and Divines have quite other things in their thoughts Their great business is to maintain what is established and to dispute with those who find fault with it On the other hand Knowledge or Resolution is wanting and there is not enough of honesty or greatness of Soul to confess the Truth Few Writers have the Courage to speak so impartially as the Famous Author of the History of the Reformation in England has done in the Preface to his Second Volume It is thought by many Persons that all would be ruined if the least alteration was made Some of those Defects which have been mentioned in this Chapter are now become inviolable Customs and Laws Every body fancies true and pure Christianity to be that which obtains in his Country or in the Society he lives in and it is not so much as put to the question whether or not some things should be altered As long as Christians are possessed with these Prejudices we must not expect to see Christianity restored to an entire Purity But yet it is to be hoped from the Grace of God and the force of Truth that Christians will open their Eyes at last and that Divines will grow sensible of the necessity of minding these Things The main Point here is to shake off all Prejudice and to consider things in their Nature and Original Our Saviour has left us an Excellent Rule when speaking of the Abuses which had been so long received among the Jews in reference to Marriage he tell us PLACE = foot n = * Mat. XIX That from the beginning it was not so This Maxim is of great use and a lover of Truth and Vertue should always have it before his Eyes It were to be wished that we should still appeal to it and that instead of Governing our selves by the Custom of the present Time we should run up to the Ancient Constitution and compare what is done at this Day with that which has been and ought to be done This would be the true Way to Reform Abuses and to draw near to Perfection and to bring things back into the Natural and Primitive Channel CAUSE II. The want of Discipline IT is not my Design in this Chapter to speak of Church Discipline in general I shall only insist upon that Part of it the End of which is to Regulate the Manners of Christians And this is an important Matter The want of Discipline is one of the greatest Imperfections which have been observed in the present State of the Church and one of the most evident and general Causes of the Corruption of Christians But because some Men have pretended that Discipline such as I suppose it in this Chapter was a Humane and Arbitrary Institution the observation of which was not absolutely necessary and might be dangerous I think it proper to say something here concerning the Original and the Necessity of the Discipline of the Church It is certain in the first place that all Societies and Bodies have a Right to establish an Order to Regulate themselves by and to provide for their Security and Preservation When several Men or People unite to Form a Body they have Power to make Laws and Regulations to which all the Members of that Body may be tyed and to exclude those from their Communion who will not submit to them But these Laws ought not to clash with other Laws already established nor with just and acknowledged Rights I think this Power which is granted to the meanest of Societies cannot be denied to the Church and this proves already that the Church had a Right to Appoint a Discipline to which all her Members should he subject provided that Discipline did not on the one hand prejudice Publick Tranquility and the Authority of the Magistrates nor any ways contradict on the other hand the Laws of the Gospel Now as Discipline is not liable to either of these Inconveniencies but does rather perfectly agree with the welfare of Civil Society and the Spirit of the Christian Religion as will be proved hereafter so the establishing of it seems to be equally lawful and necessary II. But further Discipline is an Order which has God for its Author We find the Institution of it in Holy Scripture and in the Laws of Christ and of his Apostles I shall recite the Chief of these 1. In St. Matthews Gospel Chap. XVIII 15 16 17. We read these Words If thy Brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him of his fault between thee and him alone If he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy Brother but if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the Mouth of two or three Witnesses every word may be established And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it to the Church but if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as a Heathen Man and a Publican For the right understanding of these Words We must know that our Saviour does not enact here a new Law and that an Order like that which is here prescribed was already observed among the Jews But here as upon many Occasions Our Saviour did comply with the Customs and Practice of that Nation because he judged that those Customs were good and fit for his views and purposes The first Christians did the same in matter of Order and Government they did form the Christian Church upon the Model of the Jewish Assemblies and upon the Method which was there observed This is the Key of the Place I have now quoted Our Saviour approves the Jewish Practice and enjoyns his Disciples to observe the same Order amongst them It cannot be doubted but that this was his Meaning For he speaks to his Disciples and it appears by all the circumstances of this Passage and by the sequel of his Discourse that he is giving here a Law which concerns the Christian Church It is true indeed that he properly speaks of private differences but what he says ought to applied to
did abolish the Mosaical Ceremonies would at the same time have burdened the Church with needless Laws or that they would have interposed Christ's Authority for the observation of an Order which had not been necessary They are desired to consider besides that Men have Bodies as well as Souls that among a great multiâ—â—le there are many Persons of a gross Understanding who cannot be restrained but by external Laws and that it is absurd to pretend that Men can be so Spiritualized as to need no longer outward Aids to Piety But it is a gross Error to look upon Discipline as an Order purely external For properly speaking it is an Order altogether Spiritual Discipline does not touch either Men's Bodies or their Estates it uses only Spiritual means and it is efficacious no farther than as it operates upon the Heart and Conscience 3. But others will cast the Objection I have now Confuted into this form they will say That in external things among which Discipline is to be ranked Churches are at liberty to Regulate themselves as they think good I grant that Churches have that Liberty in indifferent things which are not appointed by a Divine Authority but this cannot be applied to the Matter in hand An Establishment of Divine Institution cannot be reckoned among things indifferent Do we look upon the Sacraments as indifferent Ceremonies which we are not bound to observe under pretence that they are but External Rites and Ordinances Churches indeed have a Liberty where there is no Law tho' still that Liberty is to be wisely and discreetly used for fear of Confusion but when God has settled an Order Churches are not at liberty to chuse another to make new Laws and to set up a new Form of Government Such a Liberty would be mere Unruliness and a criminal and sacâ—â—egious Presumption This would be the way to multiply Sects and Religions infinitely 4. The same Answer may serve to Refute those who to justify the Practice of those Churches which do not observe the form of Discipline used in the Primitive Church make a distinction between Discipline and the manner of exercising it They own that Discipline is necessary and that there ought to be Order in the Church but they think that the way of exercising Discipline may vary according to Time Place and other Circumstances This Distinction may be received when the Case is only about some indifferent Circumstances but it is alledged without Reason when the question is concerning the substance or the Essence of the thing it self The Disorder we complain of is that what is essential in Discipline has been taken away to substitute in lieu of it another Order and to set up a new Discipline of which the Apostles did not speak a word Now that which is most essential in Discipline and which is not observed in most Churches is this That Scandalous Sinners are not to be suffered in the Church and yet they are suffered That they are to be warned and reproved in private and even in publick this is seldom done and in some Places it is never done That Christians ought to separate themselves from those who live disorderly and this is not observed That upon certain occasions they are to be cut off from the Body of the Faithful but Pastors dare not so much as mention this That the Administration of Discipline belongs to Pastors that they ought to preside proceed and judge in all emergent Cases the Scripture gives them that Right and ascribes to them those Offices but they have been devested of them new Political Bodies have been Erected in which there is but one Church-man or two for form's sake who often have neithe Vote nor Authority in them It is of Divine Right that Sinners should give real Proofs of their Repentance as for Instance by making Restitution by Reconciliations by acknowledging their Fault but this is not now required of them nay in some Churches it is not so much as enquired into It is against all the Laws of Discipline that none should be excluded from the Holy Communion and yet in most Places this is not regarded Lastly it is an Apostolical Order and Practice That Sinners should not be received to the Peace of the Church but after they have fitted themselves for it by a sincere and if the Case requires by a publick Repentance but now a-days those ancient Rules of Discipline are abolished After all this can it be said that no alteration has happen'd in the essence of Discipline but only in the manner of it Censures Suspensions Excommunication and the Authority of Pastors are taken away the Government appointed by the Scripture is overturned another and quite different Form is brought into the room of it and yet People will say that the Question is not about the thing it self but the manner It is not sufficient to have any kind of Order the Order which God has prescribed and no other ought to be observed Some Circumstances may be varied according to the necessities of Churches but the substance of the thing it self is unalterable 5. Many are of Opinion that the Autority of the Magistrate supplies that want of Discipline and that this way is by much preferrable to the other I confess that the Punishments inflicted by the Magistrate upon Scandalous Livers are of great use that Magistrates who use their Authority to suppress Vice are very commendable and that Discipline is of much greater force when it is supported by the Authority of Civil Powers But still the Divine Institution is to be preserved intire it does neither belong to the Magistrate nor to any Power to alter that which God has Commanded and to deprive the Church of her Right After all the Discipline of the Magistrate is not the Discipline of the Church these are two distinct things and of a quite different Nature The Magistrate uses external and corporal Punishments Fines Imprisonments Banishments Force c. These Methods are certainly useful they may terrify Sinners and in some respects keep them in Awe and Duty But besides this it is necessary to work upon the Heart and to bind the Conscience by those Methods which Discipline uses or else it is to be feared that we shall only make Hypocrites and that Men will abstain from Evil more out of the fear of Punishment and upon temporal Considerations than from motives of Conscience Nay there are People who if they had nothing to fear but a Fine or some Days Imprisonment would gladly purchase at that rate the liberty of sinning and fancy that provided satisfaction be made to the Magistrate there is no more to be done for the clearing of their Conscience Besides what an disorderly thing is it that an Offender who is prosecuted fined and imprisoned by the Magistrate should still be treated like a Member of the Church and admitted to the Holy Sacrament The Magistrate's Authority is therefore a very efficacious Mean to promote the Glory of God
when it is joined with Ecclesiastical Discipline but to think that Civil Laws are sufficient to Regulate Manners and to reclaim Sinners is a Conceit almost as unreasonable as it would be ridiculous to proceed against Robbers or the other Disturbers of the publick Peace only by Spiritual Punishments Let no Man then confound those things which God has set asunder 6. It is farther said That these Rules of Discipline were only for a time and that the times are altered But how can it be proved that the Laws of Discipline were made only for a time Is there any ground for this either in the Scripture or in the Nature of those Laws Are the Laws of Discipline like those of Moses which do no longer bind us Did the Apostles make this distinction Did St. Paul say upon this Subject as he did in another Case * 1 Cor. I only give my judgement I have no Commandment of the Lord Does he not speak positively of the Order according to which the Church is to be Governed Does he not Command in the Name of Jesus Christ Does he not establish general Laws and Maxims for all the Churches The Apostles indeed appointed some Rules the observation of which is not necessary at this Day because those Regulations were visibly founded upon particular Reasons which do no longer subsist and therefore they are not proposed as general Laws But the Reasons upon which Discipline is founded and which are taken from Order and Edification from the Honour of the Church from the Conversion of Sinners and from the Nature of the Christian Religion those Reasons do still subsist and consequently the Rules of Discipline are Sacred and Inviolable especially being delivered by way of Command and repeated in so many Places The Christian Church is to be Diffused all the World over sometimes She is Persecuted and sometimes She enjoys a Calm but whatever State She may be in her Nature does not alter As there is but one God one Church one Faith one Baptism so there is to be but One Order at least as to Essential Things and that Order ought to be conformable to the Laws of the Apostles Or else there will be as in fact we see there are as many different Customs and Disciplines as there are Kingdomes States Provinces nay Towns and Churches 7. It is commonly objected That the Zeal of the Primitive Christians is extinct that Men are now very Corrupt and that it would be impossible to bring them to a submission to the Discipline of the Church But that very thing that Men are corrupt proves the Necessity of Discipline Order is never more necessary than when all is in Confusion * 1 Tim. I. 9. St. Paul says that the Law is not made for a righteous Man but for the Lawless and Disobedient Discipline seems more necessary now than it was in the first Centuries because then Persecution kept Corruption out of the Church but when the Church is in peace Vices and Scandals do infallibly multiply and then it is that good Discipline is of excellent use But then it is said that it would be impossible to restore it considering the Disposition Men are now in I confess this design would meet with opposition Those who go about to restore Order and suppress Licentiousness must still encounter difficulties but yet this might be compassed if Princes and Magistrates did not oppose it If all the Pastors did set about it with a Zeal accompanied with Prudence and Gentleness if they did carefully instruct the People concerning the necessity of Discipline and if they did apply themselves to the civil Powers with equal Vigour and Respect they would carry the point at Last After all the People are not in a worse disposition than the Heathens were in before the Apostles preached the Gospel to them and there are Christian Princes and Magistrates who have Piety and Zeal If then the Heathens of old could be brought under the Discipline of Christ in the sight of Heathen Magistrates should we despair of subjecting Christians to it The instance of those Churches where Discipline is observed at least in part and where Excommunication and publick Penances are in use shews that there is no impossibility to succeed in this design If the thing was impossible God would never have commandded it 8. In the last place here is an Objection which is commonly urged with great force and which seems to have much weight in it It is said that we have reason to fear that Discipline would bring Tyranny into the Church and that those who govern it would then assume too much Authority Let us see whether this Fear is well grounded And First if we suppose this Principle that Discipline is instituted of God and that the Apostles did commit it to the Church and her Governours which I think has been fully demonstrated will it not be a kind of Blasphemy to say that Discipline is not to be suffered lest Pastors should become Tyrants Would not this reflect upon our Saviour and his Apostles as if they had established a dangerous Order which is apt to introduce Tyranny At this rate the Apostles and the Primitive Christians did incroach upon the Liberty of the People and the Authority of Princes Every Christian will abhor this Consequence and yet it results naturally from the opinion of those who reject Discipline for fear of Tyranny Besides supposing that Christ has instituted the Order we speak of can we thus argue against it without shaking off his Yoke But Men do not consider this They fancy that every thing that is granted to the Church is granted to her Governors whereas they should remember that it is paid or yielded to Christ whose Right it is and who cannot be despoiled of it without Sacrilege Here we might retort the Charge upon those who bring it They talk of Tyranny and is it not an intolerable piece of Tyranny to oppose a Divine Law and to debar the Church and her Governors of the enjoyment of those Rights which God had given them But to come closer to the Objection Nothing can be feared but one of these two Inconveniences either an Empire over Consciences or some Prejudice to the Publick Tranquility and to the Authority of civil Powers As to the first of these two Inconveniences there is no great reason to fear it since the Apostles who so expresly recommend Discipline to Pastors forbid them at the same time to assume a Dominion over Consciences Provided Discipline is used only in those cases and in that Manner which the Scripture appoints and as it was practised by the first Christians * 1 Pet. V. 2. 2 Cor I. 14. nothing like this is to be feared from it The Discipline we speak of does not meddle with Points of Faith and so Fear in this respect is groundless As to those Cases which concern Manners Injustice can hardly be committed about them The Church does not Judge of secret and
Church Preaching is is without dispute a part of the Office of Pastors But it is a great mistake to think that God has appointed them only to Preach for they are entrusted besides with the Government of the Church and this part of their Employment is at least as essential as Preaching It is remarkable that the Scripture speaks of Pastors in divers Places and that the Titles it gives them and the Functions it ascribes to them relate chiefly to the Government of the Church This is implyed in the Name of Bishops Priests or Elders Guides and Pastors St. Paul has writ concerning the Duties of the Ministry if we examine what he says of the Functions of that Charge and of the Qualifications of those who are to be admitted into it we shall find that he is much larger upon the Government of the Church than upon Preaching To this purpose the Epistles to Timothy and Titus may be consulted But further all Church-men are not called to Preaching The Apostles distinguish their Functions they tell us * See 1 Cor. XII 4 5 6. 28 29 30. Act. VI. 2 c. Rom. XII 6 7 8. 1 Tim. V. 17. That all are not Doctors that all do not Interpret that all do not administer the Word that all do not Teach and Exhort that some are appointed to Instruct to Exhort and to Expound the Scriptures others to Govern and others to do works of Charity Tho' we should suppose that there is nothing in this which relates to the extraordinary Gifts conferred upon the first Ministers of the Gospel and to the Order which was then observed yet it is plain that these Places are to be understood of the Gifts and Functions of ordinary Pastors This is confirmed by the Practice of the Primitive Church The principal and the most general Function of Pastors then was the Inspection and Governing of the Church Preaching was not neglected but all Church-Men were not Preachers this Province was committed to those who were fit for it Would to God this Distinction was still observed The Church would be better governed and the Gospel better Preached than it is There are Talents requisite to Preach the Gospel which every Body has not and others are necessary for the Conduct of the Church and all these Gifts seldom meet in one Person If then no regard is had to different Gifts and Functions if without distinction ever thing is committed to one Person it is visible that the Church will be ill Edified Besides that I have shewed in the First Chapter of this Second Part that it is a dangerous Notion which restrains the Ministry to Preaching But to remove this Inconveniency it would be necessary that a competent Number of Ecclesiasticks should be had in every Church 1. To express my Thoughts more particularly concerning the Office of Pastors with relation to the Government of the Church I observe First that Discipline is worn out of use as I have shewn at large in a Chapter upon that Subject It is true that this Defect is not wholly to be imputed to Pastors If they do not Govern the Church by a good Discipline it is because they have been deprived of their Authority Many of them are sensible of this Disorder and lament it But what can they do when they Exercise their Ministry in Places where their Hands are tyed up where they dare not refuse the Sacrament to an Adulterer and where they should bring themselves into great troubles and perhaps be Deposed if they took upon them to observe the Apostolical Discipline They are forced to confine themselves to Preaching which when it is not backed with Discipline can never have that Effect which it would produce in conjunction with it There was nothing left to Pastors but what could not be taken from them without abolishing the whole Ministry All that remains is only Preaching and Administring the Sacraments And yet for all that a great part of the Clergy may justly be charged with that Fault we complain of and with that Corruption of the People which is a consequence of it since there are those among them who oppose the restoration of Discipline and look upon it as an indifferent Order and others who are placed in Churches where some Form of Discipline is left render the Exercise of it ineffectual either through Imprudence and excessive Severity or through a shameful Remisness and a cowardly Indulgence 2. Beside the Publick there is a Private Discipline which consists in Inspecting the Lives of Private Persons in Visiting Families in Exhortations Warnings Reconciliations and in all those other Cares which a Pastor ought to take of those over whom he is Constituted For neither general Exhortations nor publick Discipline can answer all the Occasions of the Church There are certain Disorders which Pastors neither can nor ought to repress openly and which yet ought to be remedied by them In such Cases Private Admonitions are to be used The Concern of Mens Salvation requires this and it becomes the Pastoral Carefulness to seek the the straying Sheep and not to let the Wicked perish for want of Warning But these are Cares to which some Pastors do not so much as think themselves obliged they content themselves with Admonishing Sinners from the Pulpit There is very little Intercourse between Pastors and those who are committed to their Charge Private Persons live without being accountable for their Conduct to any Body and except they commit the greatest Enormities they fancy no Man has a Right to enquire into their Actions Nothing reaches them but Sermons and these they mind as much and as little as they please this must needs produce Licentiousness The visiting of sick and dying Persons is one of the most important Functions of the Office of Pastors but when it is not performed with exactness and zeal it contributes as much as can be imagined to the keeping up of Security Every one must needs see of what Consequence this part of the Ministry is if he considers that it is at the end of Life that we are to be judged and that our eternal state depends upon the condition we dye in And if we reflect at the same time upon what the Scripture tells us * 2 Cor. V. 10. that we shall receive in the World to come according to the good or evil we have done in this we will easily apprehend what Ministers ought to do when they visit sick and dying Persons Their chief business should be to discover what state those Persons are in that they may suit their Exhortations to it Then is it that they ought to speak to the Conscience of Sinners and to perswade them by all possible Means to examine their Lives and the disposition they are in in reference to their Salvation And when a Minister meets as it happens too frequently with sick Persons who are engaged and hardned in vitious Habits or whose Repentance may justly be questioned it is then that
†Mat. XXII to render to Caesar the things which are Caesars 2. One of the Chief Precepts of the Christian Religion is ‖ Rom. XIII That all Men should obey and be subject to the Higher Powers Now this Precept could not possibly be observed if in the Natural Establishment of Civil Society there was something incompatible with the Profession of Christianity * Mat. VI. No man can serve two Masters when they command contrary things But St. Paul goes further he tells us that the preservation of Kings and the submitting to their Authory is a mean for Christians * to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty 3. It is remarkable that whatever is good and just in the Civil is so likewise in the Religious Society and that whatever is prescribed by Religion is just and even beneficial to Civil Society The Law of Nature which is the Foundation of Civil Laws is confirmed by the Christian Religion and does perfectly agree with the Principles and Morals of the Gospel An evident proof of this is that when Christian Emperors and Lawgivers did set about the making of Laws and Constitutions they retained the essential parts of the Laws and Constitutions received among the Romans and the Greeks in the time of Heathenism And to this Day the Old Roman Law is followed among Christians excepting some Laws which have been altered or abrogated either because they were contrary to natural Justice and Equity or because they were not of a general and necessary Use 4. It is certain that Religion and Civil Society do mutually support one another when both are well Regulated Religion contributes to the happiness of Society by rendring the Authority of Princes more Sacred and Inviolable and the good Order of Society contributes to the welfare and the progress of Religion Let us suppose a Magistrate who loves Piety and Justice it is plain that at the same me that he promotes the Interest of Religion * 1 Tim. II. he strengthens the welfare of Society and that he cannot procure the good of Society without advancing the interest of Religion If we suppose on the other hand a Magistrate who does not Act by the Principles of Religion and Justice it is visible that by suffering Religion to be violated or despised he shakes the surest Foundation of his own Authority and of publick Tranquility and that by failing in the Duties of his Office and in the Exercise of Justice he makes the People grow Vicious and neglect the Duties of Piety From these Considerations it does manifestly appear that Princes and Magistrates may either procure great Advantages to Religion or do it a considerable prejudice and that they are in part the Authors of the Corruption which reigns in the World When Civil-Society is well Governed Men are disposed by that very thing to practise the Duties of Christianity In proportion as the People are well Ordered they are more tractable and susceptible of the impressions of Piety As they are used to be Governed by the Laws of the Magistrate they do the more easily submit to the Holy Discipline of Christ yea and by Obeying Civil-Laws they do already discharge some part of the Duties of Religion But when Princes and Magistrates either through Ignorance or want of Probity and Vertue give way to the violation of Justice and good Order it is impossible but that Religion must suffer by it For besides that the People cannot break the Civil-Laws without violating the Principles of Religion How can they perform the Duties of Christianity when they do not discharge those of Nature It is very hard to persuade People to the observation of the Precepts of the Gospel who do not submit to the Laws of natural Reason and Justice It is not to be expected that Men who do not order their outward Actions aright should regulate their Thoughts and resist their Passions or that being strangers to the first Elements of Vertue they should come up to the practice of the most sublime Precepts of Christian Morals Besides the want of Order in the Administration of Justice and Government draws after it all kinds of Disorders with relation to Manners such as Dishonesty and what is most dangerous a Spirit of Libertinism and Independence which makes Men untoward and refractory to good Discipline We are to observe here that the greatest part of Mens Lives are taken up with Civil Matters All Persons are bound to Obey the Magistrate and few are altogether free from Law-Suits and Business so that when the People are not well Governed with relation to Civil Things they do so accustom themselves to live without Rule of Restraint that Religion can no longer have any Power over them The neglect and remisness of Princes and Magistrates do occasion all this Mischief But if the bare Carelesness of Magistrates is so fatal to Society how must it be when they themselves are Vicious and Unjust either in their own particular Conduct or in the Exercise of their Office The greatest Unhappiness that can befal any People is when those who are invested with the Supream Authority favour Injustice and Vice It may be said then That the publick Fountains are poisoned The whole State is ordered by the Sovereigns they are those from whom the Laws receive their Force who appoint Judges and Magistrates and who regulate the Administration of Justice When inferior Magistrates prevaricate this may be remedied by the Sovereign but when the Sovereign himself fails in his Duty no redress can be expected Not but that subordinate Officers and Magistrates may likewise occasion a great deal of Mischief If we suppose in a Province or a Town Magistrates and Judges who want Integrity who consult only their Profit and Interest in the Exercise of their Office who are not proof against Bribes who Administer Justice from a principle of Covetousness or Passion who Act by Recommendation or Favour and who are full of Artifice and Dissimulation This is enough to introduce and authorize Wickedness throughout their whole Jurisdiction to pervert Right to banish Justice and Honesty from all Courts to make way for Knavery and Litigiousness for the protracting of Suits the abuse and violation of Oaths and many other Disorders Then it is that Vice is in fashion and repute that Vertue and Innocency are oppressed and that the People grow Corrupt Now all this being a direct undermining of Religion and Piety let any Body judge whether I have not Reason to say that the Corruption of the Age may be imputed to Princes and Magistrates But all these Evils are yet more unavoidable when the Princes or Magistrates who are the Authors of them profess the Christian Religion A Heathen Magistrate has not by much that influence upon Religion and Manners that a Christian has The Church was purer and more separated from the World when the Superior Powers were contrary to it but as soon as the Emperors had embraced Christianity Piety
and Zeal did visibly decay Not but that Religion may receive and has actually received great Helps from Christian Magistrates they have sometimes contributed very effectually to the promoting of Piety and those who do so deserve immortal Honour But it must likewise be granted that the Vices and ill Examples of Christian Magistrates Corrupt the Church more than if it were under Heathen Governors The Duty of Christian Princes and Magistrates as well as of all the Members of the Church is double They are bound First to serve God and to discharge the Obligations which Religion lays upon all Men and Secondly to take care that God may be served and honoured by all those who are subject to their Authority 1. Every Christian ought to serve God and to live according to the Precepts of the Gospel That very thing then that a Magistrate is Christian obliges him to be a lover of Piety and Virtue It is a Common Notion especially among great Men that Piety and Devotion do not become those who are exalted to Dignities and that publick Persons â—re not to be ruled by the Maxims of Religion But whosoever maintains this Opinion must deny the Principles of Religion and be either an Atheist or a Deist For supposing the Truth of Christianity it is beyond all doubt that a Christian Prince or Magistrate has as much need of Piety as other Men have He is bound to be a good Man by the same duty and interest which engage private Men to be so he has a Soul to be saved as well as they and as he is a publick Person he is to give an account of his conduct to that Judge with whom there is no acception of Persons and before whom the greatest of Monarchs is no more than the Meanest of Slaves If the eminent Station of a Magistrate makes some difference between him and Christians of a lower Order that difference obliges him to a higher degree of Piety The Character he bears requires a great stock of Virtue No small measure of Probity is requisite to acquit himself worthily in that Calling to do no Injustice not to seek in his Dignities the means to gratifie his Interest his Vanity his Pride or his other Passions Without a firm and solid Virtue he cannot withstand those Temptations which offer themselves every minute and which are the more dangerous and subtil because in those exalted Posts ill things for the most part may be done with safety If we add to all this that an ill Magistrate is answerable for the greatest part of the Disorders which happen and of the Crimes which are committed in Society it must be confessed that Magistracy is a kind of Life wherein Piety is extreamly necessary and in which great Circumspection and a sublime Virtue are the only Preservatives against a thousand opportunities of transgressing the Duties of Conscience and violating the most Sacred Laws of Religion and Justice II. It is the duty of Christian Princes and Magistrates to labour for the promoting of Virtue and the suppressing of Vice among Men. We have shewn already that it is their interest to do so since Religion is the surest Foundation of their Authority and of the Fidelity of their People but their Duty does besides indispensably oblige them to this It cannot be denied but that this Obligation lies upon them since every Christian is bound to advance the Kingdom of Christ and to edify his Neighbours as much as he can in that State and Condition he is in The Duty here is answerable to the abilitry so that we may apply to this purpose that Maxim of the Gospel * Luke XII that to whom soever much is given of him much shall be required Private Men cannot do much towards promoting the Glory of God their Zeal and Good intentions are for the most part useless it is not in their power to hinder general disorders this ought therefore to be done by Men of Authority and they may do it easily Besides a Christian Magistrate is to consider that it was Providence which raised him to the Post he is in and that by consequence he is engaged in Justice and Gratitude to use his Authority for the Glory of God Lastly Would it not be a strange thing that Christian Princes and Magistrates should do no Service to Religion when Kings and Princes who are not Christian can do so much hurt to it Now they may advance the Kingdom of God and banish Corruptions these two ways 1. By their Example 2. By their Care 1. By their Example This Method is of great efficacy Examples are very forcible but their effect depends for the most part upon the Quality and Character of the Persons they come from It has been made appear in the foregoing Chapter how much benefit redounds to the Church from the good Lives and Examples of the Governours of it But the example of Kings Princes and Magistrates is in some respects of greater weight When a Church-Man recommends Virtue by an exemplary Life it is often said that his Profession obliges him to live so and this consideration makes his to be example of little force upon worldly-minded Men. But when Princes and Magistrates are pious those Men have no such thing to say The Splendor and Authority which surround Greatness gives much credit to every thing that comes from great Men. They may sometimes do more good with one word than a Preacher can do by many Sermons I have shewed in the first Part of this Work that one of the greatest Obstacles to Piety is a false Shame which restrains Men from doing their Duty for fear of being observed and despised and I am to shew hereafter that Custom has introduced among Christians a great many Maxims and Practices contrary to the Spirit of the Gospel These two things occasion Corruption and till they are remedied Vice and Impiety must still reign But the Example of great Men is sufficient to remove almost intirely both these Springs of Corruption They are the Judges of Honour and Custom it is in their power to make any thing which is reputed shameful to be thought Honourable and to abolish that which is generally received So that how scarce and despesed soever Piety may be an Idea of Honour would be affixed to it if it was favoured and professed by great Men and that would be respected in them which in others is looked upon with Indifference or Contempt That which has happened with relation to Duels is a strong proof of what I say To decline fighting a Duel has been thought for a long time a Disgrace and an Infamy A false notion of Honour did then bear down the strongest Principles of Nature Reason and Christianity and drive Men to that excess of Brutality and Madness that they would cut one anothers Throat for a trifle But in those places where Christian Princes have abolished Dâ—els People are now of another mind and think it no shame to refuse a Challenge And
thus Swearing Drunkenness and the greatest of other clamorous Sins might be suppressed if great Men pleased Is it not observed besides that when a Prince is devout Devotion comes into fashion It may be that this Devotion which proceeds from the Example of Princes is not always sincere but at least it regulates Manners as to the exterior and such an outward Reformation may be a step towards true Devotion However this shews that the opinion and example of Men in Authority has a great power And surely if by their credit they can make Vice it self to be honoured would it not be much easier for them to make other Men honour Virtue since it is honourable in its own Nature I am not able to express of what Consequence the Example of great Men is either for Good or Evil. A Prince who is vicious cruel dissolute artificious or unjust is enough to infect a whole State in a very little time to banish Piety from it and to bring into repute Drunkenness Lewdnese Cheating Indevotion and all the other Vices which he allows himself in This we find by daily experience Such as the Prince is so are those about him and from these the Evil spreads upon the whole People by reason of the Credit and Authority to which they were raised and of the Influence they have upon publick and private Affairs What might not be said here of the Life which is led in the Courts of Princes Excepting some few Courts where Licentiousness is not suffered That kind of Life which is followed at Court for the generality agrees little with the Spirit of Christianity People live there altogether in a loose and worldly manner in Luxury Idleness Pomp and Pleasure There the strongest and the most inticing Temptations are to be met with and the most criminal Intrigues Adultery it self are rather a Matter of Railery than Reproach It is almost impossible for a Man to insinuate himself into the Favour of Princes and to advance his Fortune at Court unless he makes it his Maxim to dissemble his Sentiments and to speak directly against his own Thoughts The worst of it is that from thence Corruption diffuses it self almost every where so that many Disorders which are in Vogue would be unknown or at least very rare in the World if they had not been introduced by that Licentiousness which reigns in the Courts of Princes I come now to the Endeavours which Christian Magistrates ought to use for the Edification of the Church and the reviving of Piety these Endeavours relate either to Civil Matters or to Religion 1. In Civil Matters it is their Duty to restrain Libertinism and Corruption by regulating the Manners of their Subjects either by repealing the Laws and Customs which do not agree with Religion and which engage the People into the violation of the Precepts of the Gospel or by reforming the Abuses which are introduced from time to time particularly those which creep into the Administration of Justice In relation to all these things there are several Faults which the Church cannot provide against and which nothing can remedy but the Magistrates Authority 2. The other Care relates directly to Religion 1. Princes and Kings professing Christianity are bound to procure as much as in them lies the Welfare of the Church They ought to set about the establishing of Truth and Peace provided that in order to that they use no Means but such as are sutable to the Gospel They ought by their Authority to see that the Church and Religion want nothing of what is necessary for the maintaining of Order and Decency that Divine Service be duly performed that there be both Places for that Purpose and a sufficient number of Persons to take care of the Edification of the Church that those Persons may subsist honourably that they do their Duty and keep themselves within the bounds of their Calling They must not suffer Church Goods or Revenves to be applied to uses meerly Civil and when these Revenues are not sufficient it becomes their Piety and Justice to allot some part of the publick Revenues for the necessities of the Church In fine as to Manners I observed before that they may easily give a stop to Vice and Impiety to Luxury Swearing and other Scandals which dishonour the Church And if they can do this they ought to do it every Christian being bound to do all that is in his Power to promote the Glory of God 2. It is certain that Magistrates who are Members of the Church ought to protect it to maintain the Order which God has established in it and not to suffer any breach to be made there So that tho' they may regulate many things which concern Religion and tho' the Church owes them a great Regard yet they cannot without Usurpation and Injustice arrogate to themselves the whole Authority with relation to Ecclesiastical Affairs They are neither the Princes nor the Heads of the Church as they are the Princes and the Heads of Civil Society An Authority superior to theirs has instituted Religion Pastors and Discipline There is a Law enacted by the KING of Kings and the Head of the Church which clearly determines the Rights and Duties both of the Church and of the Governour of it All these are Sacred things which earthly Powers are not to meddle with They are Laws which Princes and Magistrates did submit to when they became Members of the Church with respect to these I mean still essential things appointed by the Word of God they have acquired no Right by embracing Christianity since he who becomes Member of a Society cannot by that acquire a Right to alter the natural Form and Constitution of it The Instance of the Kings of Judah shews that a Prince who professes true Religion may interpose in the Affairs of it But we must take care not to carry this Instance too far as those do who ascribe to the Magistrate a supreme Authority in the Church who allow him a Right to order every thing there not excepting Discipline the calling of Pastors nor even the Articles of Faith For besides that under the Law Kings were by no means the Judges of every thing which concerned Religion we are not to argue altogether about the Christian Religion from what was done in the Jewish Church Among â—â—e Jews the Church and the State were mixed together and in some measure undistinguished from one another That meerly spiritual Society which is called the Church and which is confined to no State or People or any particular Form of Civil Government was properly erected since the coming of Christ God acted among the Jews as a Civil Magistrate The Laws of the Jewish Religion were for the most part external Laws which might and ought to be maintained by Force and Authority The Rights of Divine Service and the Functions of Priests were very different from the Evangelical Worship and from the Office of Christian Pastors After all if we
the Men of the World St. Paul exhorts Christians †Rom. XII Eph. II and IV. Tit. II. Mat. VII XIII XIV Not to be conformed to this present world not to walk after the course of this world not to follow other mens way of living to renounce the world and the lusts of it Our Saviour enjoins his Disciples To avoid the wide gate and the broad way of the multitude and to strike into The narrow path which is walked in but by a few These are Reflections which every Man who believes the Gospel would frequently and seriously make and which should serve him for Remedies against the Temptations arising from Example and Custom There are other general Remedies which tend to lessen the number of bad Examples and to alter the Customs and Usages which are contrary to the Christian Religion For tho' it may seem that to go about the abolishing of that which is established by a general Custom and a long Use is to attempt and impossibility and tho' we cannot expect that this Cause of Corruption should be intirely removed yet the difficulty is not so great but that it might in some measure be overcome This we might have Reason to hope for if First those who know and love their Duty would discharge it with Courage and if they did add to their Knowledge a Zeal supported by Prudence and Firmness How great soever the Degeneracy of Men may be there is still something in Virtue which attracts their Respect and their Love The Endeavours of good Men against Vice are always attended with some Success If the benefit of their Exhortations and good Examples does not reach far they may at least be useful to their Families and their Acquaintance But something more than this is requisite to reform general Customs and Practices and none can do this more easily and effectually than those who are raised above other Men and who are in publick Stations I say therefore Secondly that if Christian Princes and Magistrates would use their Authority to this End and be exemplary themselves the Corruption of the World would considerably abate and bad Examples would neither be so frequent nor so forcible as they are It is in their Power to banish the greatest part of those Customs which are commonly received and to establish contrary ones The Care and Example of Pastors are likewise a most efficacious Remedy If they did instruct Christians as they ought if they did oppose the Corruption of the Age with the pure Maxims of the Gospel if they did set themselves against Abuses if they did endeavour in publick and in private to bring all those that err into the way of Truth if they applied themselves to the instructing of Youth and if their Manners were edifying and exemplary there is no doubt but that they would soon stop the Current of Vices and Scandals It should be their chief Care to oppose Abuses and ill Customs in their beginnings because when they have once taken Root the Remedy is much more difficult In fine as Customs are established by degrees so they are not abolished all at once and therefore those who do not succeed at first in so good a Design ought not presently to be discouraged and to grow weary CAUSE VII Books THIS is the last Cause of Corruption which I shall mention but without question it is one of the most generaland of the most remarkable Books are as many publick Fountains from which vast numbers of Notions and sentiments which are commonly received among Men and which are the Principles of their actions diffuse themselves into the World And as it is impossible but that among an infinity of Books a great many must be bad so it is certain that Books contribute very much to the keeping up of Corruption If Men as we have shewed in the precedent Chapters are ignorant and full of Prejudices if they have loose and impious Notions concerning Religion if great Defects are observable both in the Lives of Christians and in the state of the Church in general if the People are ill instructed and Children are ill educated the cause of all these Disorders is partly to be found in Books It is therefore a most important subject which I am to handle in this Chapter but it is likewise a very large one by reason of the prodigious Multitude of Books which I might have an opportunity to speak of here But I must confine my self to that which is most material to be said upon this Head I shall speak 1. of Ill Books and 2. of Books of Religion The number of bad Books is infinite and it would be very hard to give a Catalogue of them but I think that among all the sorts of ill Books none do greater Mischief in the World than either those which lead to Irreligion and Impiety or those which are impure and filthy The first attack Faith and the other corrupt Manners 1. The most dangerous of all Books are those which attack Religion such are not only all the Books of Atheists and Deists but such are likewise all those Works which tend to overthrow either the Authority of the Holy Scripture or the Facts and Doctrines of Christianity or the difference between Virtue and Vice or any other Principle of Religion Frank also in the same Order the Books which introduce Scepticism and the design of which is to render the Principles of Faith or Morality uncertain and dubious Those Books in which Impiety appears bare-faced are not the most pernicious Few Persons ever durst maintain Atheism openly or deny directly the Fundamentals of Religion And besides avowed Atheists and Deists have not many Followers Their Opinions raise horrour and a Man's Mind rebels against them But those Men who tho' they do not openly espouse the Cause of Impiety but pretending all the while that the acknowledge the existence of a God and a Religion do yet shake the principal Truths of Faith those Men I say diffuse a much more subtil and dangerous Poison and this may be particularly said of the Scepticks In the main they drive at the same thing with the Atheists they assault Religion with the same Weapons and make the same objections There is only this difference that the Atheist decides the Question and denies whereas the Sceptick after he has mustered up all the Objections of the Atheist and started a thousand Scruples leaves in some manner the Question undetermined he only insinuates that there is no solid Answer to those difficulties and then he concludes with a false Modesty and tells us that he dares not embrace either side and that which way soever a Man turns himself he meets with nothing but Obscurity and Uncertainty This differs little from Atheism and it does naturally lead to incredulity It is an astonishing thing that Books containing such pernicious Principles should have been published and that Libertinism in Opinions about Religion should have grown up to that pitch which we