had not thereby sinned and unjustly opposed themselves against God or that the Kingdom of Judah by God's Ordinance going by Succession when one King was dead his Heir was not in Right their King however by some Athaliah he might be hindred from enjoying it or that the people were not bound without any further circumstance upon sufficient notice of their former King's Death to have obey'd his Heir Apparent as their lawful King he doth greatly Erre Placet eis CAP. XVIII ALthough we doubt not but that the Priests and Levites in the Old Testament were reckon'd amongst the rest of such as were subject to their Princes Judges and Kings yet we have thought it fit to make the same more apparent by some particulars Aaron the chief Priest and the rest of the Levites after that Aaron was possest of the high Priesthood were at Moses's direction all the time that he lived and when he the said Aaron had in some sort forgotten his duty to Moses in joining with his Sister undutifully against him he found his offence therein and did humbly submit himself in this sort to him Alas my Lord I beseech thee lay not this sin upon us which we have foolishly committed It is likewise manifest in the Book of Joshua that Eleazer who succeeded Aaron with the rest of the Priests and Levites under him dispos'd of themselves and of their service as Joshua their Prince and Governour did command them And how obedient and humble both the Priests and the Levites and the Prophets themselves were to their Kings the Examples of Zadok Jehojadah Azariah Helchiah Nathan and divers others do declare they submitted themselves to their directions and when they came into their presence made Obeysance before them upon their Faces to the ground Likewise having Offices distributed and assigned severally unto them by sundry Kings they executed the same in the service of the Temple accordingly And as while they did their duties they were cherished so upon any notorious offence committed by them they were censur'd and punished Solomon deposed Abiathar from the High Priesthood and placed Zadok in his room And Josiah likewise thrust all the Priests from the Altar of the Lord in Hierusalem who had burnt Incense in the high places Placet eis CAN. XVIII IF any Man therefore shall affirm either that the Priests in the Old Testament were not as rightly and properly subjects to the civil Governours as the rest of the people or that when they any ways offended they might not be punished as lawfully by them as any others he doth greatly Erre Placet eis CAP. XIX AS we have said of the people that when the Kings of Judah were to succeed one another their Duty was to come together with joy and gladness to receive them for their Kings as sent unto them as from God himself and accordingly to submit themselves unto their Authority and Government so at such times the Priests for the most part besides their general duties as Subjects had some further service to be then by them perform'd the parts of which service are all of them manifest in the advancement of King Solomon to the Royal Throne of his Father King David where the Priests by King David's direction did give thanks to God and prayed for King Solomon they offered the peoples Sacrifices of Praise and Thanksgiving to God for their new King and Zadok the High Priest did himself anoint him Howbeit this their service thus by them perform'd did neither give to King Solomon any Right or Title to succeed his Father nor to themselves any priviledge or exemption from their subjection and Obedience unto him Abiathar the High Priest did anoint Adoniah to have succeeded King David and no Duty of likelyhood was omitted which was to be done in such a solemn action but thereby Adoniah received nothing but a badge of Treason against the King his Father which he carried with him to his Grave and Zadok the High Priest notwithstanding that he had anointed King Solomon was afterward as much subject and as dutiful unto him as he had been before unto his Father King David Nay the greater the services are of any persons to their Soveraigns the greater is and so ought to be their subjection and obedience unto them CAN. XIX IF any Man therefore shall affirm either that Adoniah was ever lawfully King of the Israelites because Abiathar the High Priest had anointed him or that King Solomon received from Zadok or from the holy Oyl which he poured upon his Head any Interest to his Fathers Kingly Seat which he had not before by the Ordinance of God and his Fathers appointment or that Abiathar might not justly have been condemn'd for a Traytor in that he anointed Adoniah as is aforesaid the Right of the Kingdom being then in King David and in him by God's appointment to be disposed of and bestow'd upon his younger Son Solomon or that it had not been a traiterous offence in Zadok if being commanded thereupon by King David to anoint King Solomon he should have refused so to have done or that either Zadok or any other Priest who afterward according to their duties anointed the Kings of Judah were thereby more exempted from their subjection and obedience unto them than were the rest of the people by their joy and applause when their Kings were newly advanced to their Kingdoms he doth greatly Erre Placet eis CAP. XX. AS it is apparent in the Scriptures that the Israelites generally as well the Priests as the People were equally bound as Subjects personally to honour reverence and obey their Kings So is it there also as manifest that the Authority of their Soveraigns over them did not only extend to civil Causes but in like manner to Causes Ecclesiastical For as it was then the duty of Parents so by the Law of Nature was it of good Kings and Civil Magistrates to bring up their Children and Subjects in the true service and worship of God as having a care committed unto them not only of their Bodies but likewise of their Souls In which respect the chief charge that all Subjects and inferiour Persons of what condition soever should diligently observe the said Law of Nature being the very same in substance that God writing with his own Finger gave unto Moses and stiled by the name of his Ten Commandments was principally imposed upon Kings and civil Rulers They were to provide that their Subjects had no other God but him who made Heaven and Earth that they made to themselves no graven Images nor bow'd down to them nor worship'd them that they did carefully meet at certain times to serve honour and magnifie the Name of God and that they might not be negligent in the observing of the rest of his Commandments And albeit through the sin of our first Parents both Kings and Subjects were become unable so to perform these their Duties of Piety
from them and is not God's Ordinance originally descending from him and depending upon him he doth greatly Erre Placet eis CAP. III. BY the sin of our first Parents Adam and Eve both they and in them all their Posterity being so fallen from God as that they were not able by any natural power or faculties in them to discharge their duties towards him or rightly in any sort to know him as they ought unto Salvation or duly serve his Divine Majesty it pleased Almighty God in mercy besides the Law of Nature left in them to propound unto them another kind of Doctrine than Nature could ever have taught them viz. the Mystery of Salvation through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ how the Son of God who created them when they were not should in fullness of time take upon him their Nature and reconcile to God again as many as should believe in him the ground of which Doctrine God himself did lay down as the foundation of the Church of Christ when he said that the seed of the Woman should break the Serpent's head CAN. III. IF any Man therefore shall affirm either that our first Parents after their Fall or consequently any of their Posterity could serve or please God truly by any natural Powers or Faculties that were left in them after the said Fall or that the Mystery of Salvation through Jesus Christ was not a secret whereunto our corrupt Nature could not attain or that our Saviour Christ is not the promised Seed that should break the Serpent's head or that any can possibly be partakers of Everlasting Life without Faith in him he doth greatly Erre Placet eis CAP. IV. AS the Son of God having created Mankind did ordain by the Law of Nature and Light of Reason that there should be some amongst them furnished with lawful Power and civil Authority to rule and govern the rest in things belonging to this natural Life and civil Society according to the true Rules both of Nature and Reason So did he also according to the supernatural Doctrine of the Gospel not only ordain that there should be some likewise in his Church to rule and govern it but also gave them another kind of Power Superiority and Authority which is termed Ecclesiastical both for the teaching and instructing of his People in the Mysteries hid from Nature concerning their Salvation through the Seed of the Woman and for the better direction and government of them in the Service of God touching their Duty towards God and their Neighbours The Institution of which Ecclesiastical Calling and Authority as also the Manner of the Worship of God through the blessed Seed from the Fall of our First Parents to the Flood although besides their Sacrifices Prayers and Preachings they be not expresly set down in the Scriptures yet it is not to be doubted but that first Adam for his time and afterward the Heads of every Family of the Faithful were not only civil Governours over their Kindred but likewise had the Power and Execution of the Priestly Office and that they were themselves instructed and taught from God as they afterward did instruct and teach such as were under them in the said Mysteries of Man's Restitution through the promised Seed by Faith and in the right Worship and Service of the true God CAN. IV. IF therefore any Man shall affirm that the Son of God having from the beginning a Church upon Earth did leave them till the Flood without Priests and Priestly Authority to govern and instruct them in those ways of their Salvation and in the right manner of the worship and service of God or that they might teach them any other Doctrine in that behalf than that which they had received from God himself he doth greatly Erre Placet eis CAP. V. AS all Mankind from the Creation of the World till the Flood descended from the Loins of Adam so after the Flood have they all descended from the three Sons of Noah Sem Cham and Japhet CAN. V. AND therefore if any Man shall affirm with any Pagan or profane Atheist either that there was not any such general deluge or that there is any Nation or people in the World that doth not descend from one of the said three Sons of Noah he doth greatly Erre Placet eis CAP. VI. NOAH lived after the Flood 350. Years and saw his Children's Children wonderfully multiplied during which term of Years he was the Patriarch or chief Governour over them ruling and ordering them by Virtue of that Superiority Power and Authority of the Sword of Justice which was given unto him by Almighty God and was also warranted by the Laws of Nature and Reason Touching this Patriarchal or in effect Regal Government of Noah there is more exprest in the Scriptures than there was before the Flood of the Power and Authority of Adam or of any of the chief Fathers and Rulers that were descended from him For now there is mention made by God himself of punishing Blood by Blood which was done by the Sword of Justice being the chief Ensign and Warrant of Supream and Regal Authority Also the Extent of this Right and Authority was so large as that he lawfully distributed the whole World unto his said three Sons and their Posterity So that his said three Sons after him were by the Ordinance of God the chief Authour of the said Distribution made three great Princes and also the Sons of those three great Princes of whom about Seventy are named were the Heads and Governours of the Families and Nations that descended from them according to their Tongues in their several Countries CAN. VI. IF any Man shall therefore affirm either that the civil Power and Authority which Noah had before the Flood was by the Deluge determined or that it was given unto him again by his Sons and Nephews or that he received from them the Sword of his Sovereignty or that the said distribution did depend upon their consents or received from them any such Authority as without the same it could not lawfully have been made or that this Power Superiority and Authority and all the Parts thereof which Noah's three Sons and their Children had as is before declared did not proceed originally from God or were not properly his Ordinances but that they had the same from the People their Off-spring He doth greatly Erre Placet eis CAP. VII IT is also certain that as the Civil Magistrates and their Authority continued after the Flood for the government of Mankind according to the Laws of God and Nature that thereby they might be kept in Order touching their Duties both toward God and their Neighbours agreeably to the said Laws written afterward more fully by God himself in two Tables so did the Priesthood and Authority Ecclesiastical also by the like Ordinance of God continue especially amongst the Off-spring of Sem both to govern them
as they should have done and that therefore the Priesthood was not only to instruct them in the mysteries of their Salvation hid from Nature but likewise to teach them that Grace did not so evacuate the Law but that still they were bound to obey it with this addition or interpretation That their Faith being grounded upon the blessed Seed of the Woman if they endeavoured to do that which God had commanded them that which either they did amiss or omitted should upon their Repentance be forgiven and not imputed unto them Yet this mystical and Heavenly Doctrine did no way release or set at liberty Kings and Princes from their Charge before mentioned but rather laid a heavier burthen upon them to provide that their Subjects might be train'd up both in the Doctrine of Faith and in such Obedience to God as his said Commandments so qualified by Grace as is before-mentioned did require CAN. XX. IF any Man therefore shall affirm either that Natural or Political Fathers Kings and Princes in the Old Testament had not a charge laid upon them by God to bring up their Children and Subjects in his fear or that the Institution of the Priesthood did more prejudice the Authority of natural Fathers or of Kings and Princes in that behalf than Grace did abrogate the Commandment and the Obedience of the Law or that Natural Parents Kings and Princes in those days were not more strictly bound by the Doctrine of Grace than they were before in respect of God's great Mercy unto them to provide that their Children and Subjects were not suffer'd either to have any false Gods among them or to bow unto or worship the likeness of any thing which they had made to themselves to blaspheme and take in vain the blessed name of God or to profane his Sabbaths or to neglect the observation of the rest of God's Commandments by committing of Murther Adultery Theft and such like Offences to the displeasure of God and disturbance of their Families Principalities and Kingdoms or that the Kings Princes or Governours of the Israelites being instructed in the Mysteries of their Salvation were not as much bound by the Law of Grace to bring up their Subjects in the true Doctrine that was grounded upon the blessed Seed as they were by the Law of Nature that they should carefully observe the moral Precepts and Commandments of God or that being so far bound they had not equal Authority to compel as need should require all their Subjects of every Calling and Condition whatsoever to keep and observe both the said Laws as well of Grace as of Nature He doth greatly Erre Placet eis CAP. XXI ALthough it were sufficient to have shewed that godly Kings and Rulers amongst the Jews had Authority from God as well in causes of true Religion as in other of their temporal Affairs yet if they had never put the same in practice some scruple in the minds of the simpler sort might thereby have risen to the prejudice of it But this point also is manifest in the Scriptures and ought always with due thankfulness for the same to be remembered It is true that the Dignity of the Priests in the Old Testament but especially of the High-Priest was very great and eminent howbeit the same notwithstanding had it not been for godly Kings and Princes Religion among the Jews after the first publick establishment of it would not have continued so long as it did without very great and intolerable Corruptions Moses did blame Aaron for yielding to the making and worshipping of Idols and reformed the offence And again when Aaron being consecrated High-Priest had with his two Sons Eleazar and Ithamar done amiss in burning the Sin-offering which they should by God's appointment have eaten and Moses being angry with them reproved them for it In the days of the Judges when the People fell to the worshipping of Baalim and Ashtaroth the Scriptures are silent what became of the Priests but it is apparent that during the lives of the Judges the People were by them restrained in some sort from that Impiety whereunto still after their death they greedily returned When Jehosaphat came to his Kingdom he found the People so destitute of Teachers as that he was moved in zeal to send the Priests and many of the Levites through all the Cities of Judah to teach and instruct them Ahaz the King of Judah was a very great Idolater delighting himself altogether in the Abominations of the Heathen and Vriah the High-Priest was a fit Instrument for him For what the one did wickedly command the other to the intolerable Profanation of God's true Worship was ready to put the same in execution In the days of Manasses and Ammon Groves were planted hard by the Temple Horses were kept by the entrance of the House of the Lord either to be offered as 't is thought for Sacrifices to the Sun or else to carry the Picture of it as an Idol to be worshipped The Priests sundry of them served in high places and many of the People burnt incense unto Baal to the Sun to the Planets and to the Host of Heaven all which abominations the godly King Josiah did abolish reforming both the Priests and the People and afterwards when the Kings of Judah did altogether neglect their Duties in Church Causes Religion decreased and went to havock Insomuch as the Scriptures rehearsing the causes of the Destruction of Hierusalem do set down this among the rest for one viz. All the chief of the Priests had trespassed wonderfully according to all the abominations of the Heathen and polluted the house of the Lord which he had sanctified Much more might be alledged to this purpose as also to shew how King David King Solomon and King Jehosaphat distributed the Levites and Priests into their Orders and prescribed certain Rules for them to observe in the manner of their Attendance and Service But to the purpose in hand this is sufficient CAN. XXI IF any Man therefore shall affirm either that the godly Princes and Kings in the Old Testament did not practise their Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical or that in such their Practice of it they did not that which they were bound to do or that amongst the Jews the true Worship of God was not very much furthered and continued by the godly Care and Endeavours of their Princes and Kings or that the want of such godly Kings and Princes was not then an occasion and an opportunity taken both by the Priests and by the People to follow their own fancies and to run into many Disorders false Worships Idolatry and sundry such Abominations He doth greatly Erre Placet eis CAP. XXII WHat we have said either of the Authority of Kings or of the practice of it in Causes Ecclesiastical among the Jews we would not have it extended so far as if we imagined that in matters of Religion Kings