so far forth as they are inhibited Ought not to Preach Neither are particular and private men much less the parties inhibited to Judge of the Cause of the inhibition whether it be just or unjust but as they who are appointed by the present Government to Ordain Ministers are to judg of their fitness thereunto so likewise of their unfitness I have thought hitherto that distinction of the Office and of the exercise of that Office had gone uncontroled among Presbyterians and that though the Ministers of Christ depend not even upon the Christian Magistrate for their Office and he cannot degrade them yet quoad Exercitium as to the Exercise of it within his Dominions they did and that he had power to Silence such as he Judged unmeet to Preach Mr. Baxter doth much encourage me to persist in the same Opinion more than once The Authority of the King and lawful 2d Admon to Bag. 117 Magistrates saith Mr. Baxter is more about the Circumstantials of Worship as whether Abiathar shall be High Priest c. then the False Teachers were about that Doctrine He more than Intimates that the Magistrates Power extends to the Appointing who shall be High Priest and who doubt but that he hath equal power to appoint who shall be Pastor of Covent-Garden Again hear Mr. Baxter what he saith more largly upon the Point Disput 223. Doubtless the Magistrate himself hath so much Authority in Ecclesiastical Affairs that if he Command a qualified person to Preach the Gospel and Command the People to receive him I see not how either of them can be allowed to disobey him though yet the Party ought to have recourse also to Pastors for Ordination and People for Consent where it may be done And Grotius commendeth the saying of Musculus That he would have no Minister question his Call that being quallified hath the Christian Magistrates Commission And though this Assertion need some limitation yet it is apparent that the Magistrates Power is great about the Offices of the Church For Solomon put out Abiathar from the Priest-hood and put Zadock in his place 1 King 2. 27 35. David and the Captains of the Host Seperated to Gods Service those of the Sons of Asaph and of Heman and Jeduther who should Prophesie with Harps c. 1 Chron. 16. 4. And so did Solomon 2 Chron. 8. 14 15. They were for the Service of the House of God according to the Kings Order 1 Chron. 25. 1 6. And methinks those those men should acknowledge this that were wont to stile the King in all Causes and over all Persons the Supream Head and Governor So far He. And indeed I durst almost challenge this Answerer or any man to prove that ever any learned Protestant in this Church whether Episcopal or Presbyterian did make it a question I mean before the Kings happy Return whether Solomon had not sufficient Authority to put out Abiathar from the Priest-hood and put Zadock in his place Or whether any might modestly say such must Preach and that those were Schismaticks and Vsurpers that did exercise their Offices according to Law in the places of such as were removed by the Vertue of an Act of Parliament of unquestionable Authority and we must Preach though the Law forbids us As for Dr. Gunnings Dr. Wilds preaching fourteen or fifteen years ago which you so often hint at it is sufficiently known it was in such a time when the Case was far otherwise both with the Church and State in many Notorious Circumstances both as to Persons Law Government and Worship and they could easily answer their so doing if it be not a matter too much below the Eminency both of their Persons and Places We must proceed CHAP. XI Provision for the proof of the Assumption by four Propositions THat Schism is a Causeless Seperation from a True Church and what Seperation from a True Church is and when it is Causeless hath at large appeared And there seems nothing left to prevent or remove the charge of Schism from the Practices we oppose but to plead either that our Churches are no true Churches or that you are not of them and ow them no Communion or that you do not Seperate from them or if you do you have Cause sufficient and your Seperation is not Rash or Groundless That the Contrary to all these is the very Truth I am now to manifest The Propositions accordingly are these four Pro. 1. That our Parochial Congregations are true Churches 2. That the people of England are or ought to be members of our Parochial Congregations 3. That the present practice of gathering Churches out of them is Seperation 4. That such Seperation is Rash and without just grounds And all these shall be proved not only from the Nature of the things and the judgment or others but from the Publique judgement of the former Non-Conformists and Presbyterians and then I hope my bold undertaking will be found excusable CHAP. XII Parochial Congregations true Churches His Exceptions espâ—cially about parish bounds examined FIrst I affirm that our Parochial Congregations are true Churches They have the matter of true Churches Professed Christians Baptized They have the fâ—rm of true Churches being Societies of such as Ames saith in order to the worship of God and these fix'd and Stated and ordinarily assembling actually together for that end According to our Author they have generally both the Essential and constituent parts of true Churches Pastors to govern and people to be govern'd by them in order to Gods glory and their Salvation And as their end so the means and their work in their publick Assemblies is such as is proper and peculiar unto and true and undoubted indications and notes of true Churches the Ordinances of God and their ordinary attendance thereupon in known publique and fixed places consecrated and set a part for that end Wherein also there is nothing practic'd much less allow'd that is contrary to these means or doth pervert that end or with any pretence or colour of reason can be thought to destroy their being or their truth as Churches of God For this we have abundant Suffrage voluntarily given by Non-Conformity it self from time to time and that not only in the acknowledgement but even in the defence of them against their enemies of the Separation and what need more If Mr. Ball Mr. Hildersham of old and Mr. Bagshaw and his friend the Answerer be heard for the rest Mr. Ball is express for himself and his Brethren The Non-Conformists saith he can not only acknowledg but prove the Religion and worship of the Church of England to be of God not by petty reasons and colourable Ans to Can. part 2. p 3. shews which they leave to them which maintain a bad Cause but by pregnant evidence from the word of Truth even by plain Texts of Scripture and sound reâ—son deduced therefrom against which the Gates of Hell shall never prevail Mr. Hildersham comes not a
is only Cameron de Schis simplex secessio when men do peaceably and quietly withdraw their communion from the Church in part or in whole to enjoy their consciences in a private way The other called positive seperation is when persons thus withdrawn do gather into a distinct and opposite body setting up a Church against a Church to worship God in a seperated way themselves which St. Augustine calls a setting up Altar against Altar alluding to that act of King 2 King 16. Ahaz in setting up an Altar of his own making after the fashion of that which he saw at Damascus besides the Lord's Altar And this is it saith Cameron and most that write upon the point which in a peculiar manner and by way of eminency is and deserves to be called by the name of Schism Thus we see that gathering our selves into new Churches is the complement and perfection of Schism the very Apex extrema Schismatis linea as Cameron speaks This evil as I lately hinted hath its beginnings and usually goes on by degrees to this perfection In the Church of Corinth it first began with a factious esteeming of one Minister above another One saith I His Def. of Prin◠of Con. p. 2. am of Paul c. at length it came to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which Mr. Baxter renders emulation strife and separation or factions or dividing into several parties This appeared somewhat higher Chap. 11. for they would not eat their Love-Feasts and Pareus thinks they would not eat the Lord's Supper together but those that were for Paul would communicate among themselves so those that were for Apollos and those that were for Peter And though they did not gather themselves into stated Congregations or absolutely seperate into several Churches for they came together though to little Chap. 11. purpose yet their divisions are not only called Schism but a despising the Church of God But if this progress of Schism was so smartly rebuked we may the less wonder to find the Apostles so very severe against the Gnosticks and those more perfected Schismaticks that afterwards drew Disciples after them wholly from the Church and made false Apostles and Anti-Churches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 extra terminos Ecclesiae educentes Oecumenius segregantes fideles a fidelibus and Clem. Alex. making distinct and seperate and opposite parties and meetings for the worship of God Mr. Hale observes these two things make Schism compleat the chusing of a Bishop in opposition to the Tract of Schism p. 3. former a thing very frequent among the Ancients and which many times was the cause and effect of Schism and then the erecting of a new Church for the dividing parts to meet in publickly and this he calls Ecclesiastical sedition and Ames peccatum gravissimum a most grievous sin both in its nature and effects For Division so far as it proceeds whether in Natural Civil or Ecclesiastical Bodies is the dissolution and destruction of it CHAP. X. The differencing Nature of Schism The Answerers Objections answered especially the Preaching of the ejected Ministers I Will suppose we are agreed that the general nature of Schism is such a seperation from a true Church as we have shew'd but to make it unlawful and to merit the evil and usual sence of the word it must be causless unwarrantable and as Mr. Hales term is unnecessary when it is so is to be carefully stated for this indeed is the punctum difficultatis and the very hinge upon which this controversie turns Herein that I may prepare to argue with due closeness I shall continue to aim at the sence of Presbyterians And as I have before I shall here also follow the steps of Mr. Brinsley late Minister of Yarmouth not only because his Book of Schism seems to me judicious and exact as to our point and he therein follow so excellent a person as Cameron but likewise for that he was an eminent Non-conformist as a Minister only for I have been well informed that though he ceased preaching at Bartholomew 1662. yet he kept no private meetings but ordinarily attended on the publick worship in the place where he lived besides his Book was licensed by Mr. Cranford with a sufficient commendation and was Preacht and Printed in the Presbyterian Service against the Sectaries and no doubt his Brethren of that perswasion did then heartily concur with him in the point This Mr. Brinsley p. 34 35. states the matter thus Seperation is unwarrantable either for the ground or manner the former an unjust the latter a rash seperation each a Schism wherein he follows Cameron I shall vary his method a little but keep close to his sense and then an unjust separation is two-fold either when there is no cause and it is absolutely causless or when the cause is light and not sufficient to warrant it Seperation is rash when there being cause supposed sufficient yet it is done in an undue manner 1. Separation is unjust when it is without cause given by the Church and as he enlargeth When there is no Persecution no spreading Error or Heresie no Idolatry no Superstition maintained or practised but the Church is peaceable and pure and that both for Doctrine and Worship and in a good measure free from scandals which no Church ever wholly was now in such a case to seperate is an unjust seperation and Schism If this be indeed the state of the case whether the parties think they have cause to seperate or not I think it is not much material except to aggravate their crime For if they think they have cause they are plain Seperatists and if they do not think so and yet divide the Church by a seperation causeless in their own opinion as well as truth they are far worse Neither will any wantonness of spirit of this kind though boy'd up by a distaste taken at our Guides or an higher esteem of other Teachers or pretences of greater purity much less an ill will to the state of the Church from which we shall thus seperate admit an excuse from any sober and wise man 2. There may be some causes of offence given us by our Church but they such as may by no meanes warrant a seperation cause of offence is not always cause of seperation which our Author calls a light cause He enlargeth Possibly some sleight opposition or persecution it may be by some small pecuniary Mulcts some lesser errors in Doctrine not fundamental nor near the foundation some corruptions in or about the worship of God but those not destructive to the Ordinances being not in substance but in ceremony and those such as the person offended is not enforced to be active in scandals few and those only tolerated not allowed All tolerable evils such as charity may well bear with this ground is not sufficient to bear a seperation You see he is full and particular and in all this I believe he referred in
they have hitherto set about this new experiment which it seems renders the case so difficult in your own opinion that I fear you will have cause enough to censure the rashness of their unadvised undertaking of it But now to the Scales wherin we must weigh 1. The Benefits to be hoped 2. The evils to be feared will follow such gathering Churches You pitch upon three great Benefits 1. The pleasing of God when we know it is his will and the profit of mens souls by the most regular manner of discipline and Worship But be sure you know it is his Will you your self make it very difficult to know this even for the Teachers how much more for the people The same Argument will put us upon the Reformation of the State too when we know it is Gods will This we know to be Gods will that we serve God the best we can in our places that we move for a Reformation in a peaceable and regular way that we preserve the unity and Communion of the Church That we obey our Civil and Ecclesiastical Governors these things we know to be Gods will and we know that he is not the God of Confusion but of order in his Churches and what tends to disorder and confusion we know it is not Gods will but how we shall know that it is his will we should reform the Church upon our own heads and therefore Seperate from true Churches and gather Churches in order to better Worship and discipline if so it prove this we know not 2. The second Benefit is the setting up an imitable Example of right Discipline and worship to other Churches i. e. Setting up a Standard with the former Narrative of the grounds of the War But heads severely then woe to them that set up a worse And in your Conscience is not this woe likely to be generall how many hundred years hath our Discipline been exposed to examination and for the substance of it what part can envy it self find fault with this are the short Counsels of our new Reformers likely to mend it besides how will you do that are for Episcopacy you will not regulate that by having none or by making other Bishops I hope As for our Worship I presume the Reformed Liturgy will not take place except in yâ—ur own Congregation and sure that we have already is better than none at all as it is with your brethren of the new Churches 3. Your last benefit is a marvellous one indeed the satisfying the Consciences of honest mistaken people who think it unlawful to communicate with us i. e. we must break the Churches in pieces to feed the mistakes and ill humours of honest people if they are honest remove their mistakes teach them truth and wisdome and peace and duty and perswade them to keep their Station and Communion with us and I doubt not but that yâ—u and they will find this to be the greater benefit of the two at last as well as we You may see there is no good to be done by the practise and you in the next place see what a swarm of mischiefs attend it I shall observe the things you fear your self and indeed they are more in number weight and measure too then the benefits you mentioned 1. This mischief is likely to follow their gathering-Churches as you well observe the exasperating the minds for number and quality considerable and so alienating from their brethren and hindring them 2. Thereby weakning the Protestant Interest in a time which requireth â—ur greatest concord 3. Then setteng of parties against parties and Churches against Churches and turning of Religion into contentions and mutual oppâ—sitions 4. The countenanceing of unlawful Seperations which will all shelter themselves under such examples and the Dividers will not see the different principles on which we go while our practice seemeth to be the same 5. And so it may be injurious to future ages by seeming to give them Presidents for unlawful Seperatiâ—n 6. And it is not the least evil consequent that we shall cherish not only the error of tâ—ose that think worse of the Parish-Worship and Assemblies than there is cause but we shall also accidentally nourish their pride who will think themselves a holier people because they erroniously over-censure the persons and practices of others These are they evil consequents which you wisely forâ—see will follow these new Churches and you cannot I think prudently avoid them but by forbearing that practice and perswading your brethren to do so likewise For you confess when the publique good forbids it as no doubt it now dâ—th p. 22. The Tolerated Ministers must not gather distinct Church-Assemblies but joyn with the publique Churches and help the people by their instructions at other times And not to bâ—y up the people in their weakness which you well observe p. 23. inclineth them to causeless seperations and disâ—unctions But who shall now hold the beam let any hand but your own and I am sure the inconveniences you have mentioned must needs preponderate those shadows of benefit that the practice pretends to 'T is the known and stated judgment of the Church in all Ages that defects yea and many corruptions which you charge us not withal are far more tollerable and not so hazardous to the Church as Seperation by the breach of unity and then what shall we think of the formal and positive Schysm in gatherâ—d Churches The Novatians Audeans and Donatists had all the same pretence of better discipline and worship than the publique therefore they gathered themselves into distinct Churches for reformation and greater purity in Religion but for this they stand recorded for Schysmaticks and Pâ—sts of the Church in the writings of the Fathers and Church-Historiâ—ns You acknowledge our errors are Tollerable else you would not Communicate with us and this is a standing rule in the Church si error est Tolerabilis non â—pâ—râ—et â—erâ— Secessionem If the errors or scandals of the Châ—rch be Tolerable we ought not to leave it and what 's the reason because of the dangerous consequents that have ever followed Seperation and the beauty and Cameron de Schys holiness of unity in Religion Sir I perceive I need not endeavour to quicken your sense of the fearful effâ—cts of seperation and should I begin to speak of them there would be no end God grant we may never feel them and therefore that you and I and every man may do our proper endeavour to prevent and heal them Schysmate luxantur Pareus membra Ecclesiae Membra luxata inepta sunt ad sua muncra obcunda membra luâ—â—ta gravissimo dâ—lore corpus afficiunt P. Mart. Schysm in the Church puts the members out of joynt members out of joynt are unfit fâ—r service and cause great dolours and disquietment to the whole body What sharp contâ—nâ—ions and ruptures in the bowels of the Châ—rch what Wars and desolations in Nations hath Schysm been
with us in our publick Assemblies and gather New Churches for themselves out of them This they do though you know we generally have not given them Cause to do it And they do it Rashly and Totally and all your little devices will never alter the Nature of things or excuse it from gross Schism in the Judgment of all that were not Seperatists and spake their mind before the present Temptation dazled mens eyes 'T is in vain to flie to your Common Refuge the strength of this Argument will not suffer you to be quiet in it who ever before you made this a warrantable ground of Seperation that they might Serve God better if finding positive faults in our worship would not excuse them heretofore much less will negative ones excuse you from Seperation But they thought those were faults and Just Causes of Seperation which were not true and they were mistaken but yet they had more to say for themselves it seems than you have who do the same things without alledging so much ground and think to be wholly free from the same charge Sir Schism consists in practice and whatever you think on 't or however you would palliate the matter where that practice that truly answers the definition of Schism is found it will be Schism do what you can Is there any Institution of Christ that they must gather Churches out of true Churches to make a purer Church Ans Mr. Cawdrey Indep p. 198. But I prevent my design Shism we have shewed is a causeless unwarrantable Seperation and 't is true and so my Answerer might have understood me and his Brethren in my last I spake in the language of the Presbyterians and a little Candour would have supposed that both I and they intended by gathering Churches out of Churches such as was causeless unwarrantable and unnecessary for that they were still ready if need required to prove the Independant Separation such as I shall be anon to do yours It is therefore some trouble to me to hear you ask as if somthing of Argument were lodg'd in it Whether a persons removal from one Parish to another to inhabit there were Schism p. 48. and yet I conceive you have it more than twice over in your book You ask again must no Churches be gathered out of Rome I fear not many for you but for a full and plain answer to this I remit you to Mr. Baxters Cure of Church Divisions p. 81 82 83. Which if it seem not plain and full to you it is because you understand not Christian Sense and Reason Again p. 44. did not the Parliament take a Church out of a Church when they seperated Covent-Garden from Martins Parish doubtless 't was either with cause or not 't was warrantable or not 't was necessary or not but the jest is spoiled if it were a Church of the same Constitution with consent of the persons concern'd by lawful Authority Had you no place to argue Schismatical but Covent-garden I would advise you as a friend to take a little more heed what you say about that place for fear of one of those Schismaticks which in other places you honor as Vsurpers concern'd in your next Section But behold the Man at Arms fully Accoutred without all fear but a great deal of wit and courage makes a challenge to the factions Disputers as his Catholick language is and 't is this as you may read it under his own hand Obj. I undertake saith he to prove that Dr. Manton Dr. Seaman c. with the People subject to them as Pastors were true Churches Prove you if you can that on Aug. 24 62. they were degraded and these Churches were dissolved in any reason which any Churches for 600. years after Christ would If not you seem your self to accuse their Successors of Schism for drawing part of the people from them meerly by the Advantage of having the Temples and Tythes and so gathering Churches out of true Churches Ans A Marvellous Undertaker he will undertake to prove one Proposition and let the rest shift for them selves Dr. Manton and Dr. Seaman and their People were true Churches and this he will prove but what if a man should venture to disappoint him and not deny it Again prove if you can that these Pastors were degraded and these Churches dissolved Aug. 24. 62. But what if a man has a mind to be friends with him here too and should grant that those Ministers were not degraded then but only ejected and inhibited the exercise of their Ministry within the Church of England and that those Churches were not dissolv'd by having New Pastors no more than the Kingdom when the King dies And yet certainly the King and People are as much the Constitutive parts of a Kingdom as Pastor and People of a Church Who will say that considers what he saith that a particular Church is dissolved by the death or removal of the Pastor The River is the Same though the Lands on each side change their Proprietors But what then Suppose all this be quietly granted him what then then those that succeeded them are Schismaticks or you seem to accuse them of Schism how so for drawing away part of the people from them Whither to another manner of Worship which the Laws required and which the Ejected refused But how did they draw the People by doing their duty in the Temples as by good Authority Instituted and Inducted thereunto Instituted as Pastors to have the Cure of Souls and Inducted into the Temples and Tythes But lastly why do you say they drew a part of the people onely and not the whole Ought not the whole worship God undivided and with one accord in the Temples or must the place be removed with the Pastor I quire not who made the difference but I know who makes the Division let them answer it how they can to God and the King the Church and their Successors Those Pastors were Ejected out of the Temples by lawful Authority the People are bound to worship God in the Temple as they have opportunity and no where else in opposition to the publick Worship the Consequence here I think may vie with yours above therefore these Pastors had no opportunity to exercise their Pastoral Office to those People and where there is no opportunity there is no duty in Mr. Baxters Divinity Second Admon to Bagsh 96. But you say you must Preach the Reverend Dr. Gouge saith No. The Inhibition of Idolators and Infidels made simply against preaching of the Gospel because they Whole Armour of God 570. would have it utterly Suppressed in this case he saith no sufficient inhibition to bind the Conscience it is directly and apparently contrary to Gods Word But when Christian Magistrates inhibite Ministers to Preach it is because they think them unfit and unmeet either for some notorious Crimes or for some Erronious Opinions to exercise their Ministerial Functions In these Cases Such as are so inhibited