Subscriptions and Declarations to give the Magistrate assurance that he is Orthodox and Peaceable m Mr. Newcomen Serm. at Pauls Feb. 8. 1646. p. 40. Possibly they will all say They are of the same Opinion with the Reformed Churches in Fundamentals as well as we and their differences are but in minutioribus Now supposing this to be true as it may be in some of them why do they then transgress the Apostles Rule why do they not if it be in matters of lesser moment wherein they differ from us why do not they keep their Opinions private and have their Faith unto themselves before God why do they upon so small Differences if the Differences be so small withdraw from Communion with us and the rest of the Churches and gather themselves into distinct and separate Churches n Vt supra p. 21. Had all that Profess the Gospel in England made Conscience to be of the same mind and the same Judgment with their Brethren and the rest of the Churches of Christ as far as possibly and where they cannot where there is a necessity of differing had they made Conscience to keep their Differences from appearing in Publick to have their private Opinions and Faith to themselves and not intangle the weak with their doubtful Disputations forbearing to judge or despise those that are not of their Opinion loving them still as Brethren not censuring them as Prophane Antichristian Fighters against God men that will wilfully shut their eyes against the Light had these things I say been attended to on all hands our Breaches had never been so great as now they are nor should the lovers of Truth and Peace have had so much cause to lament them But o Mr. Baxters Cure of Church divisions pag. 254. O the deceitfulness of the heart of man Little do many real Separists who cry out against the spirit of Persecution suspect that the same spirit is in them whence is Persecution but from thinking ill of others and abhorring them or not loving them And do not you do so by those whom you causelesly separate from p Mr. Newcomen ut supra p. 40. Who are they that brand their Brethren with the Title Proud Time-servers Prelatical Tyrannical Antichristian And what is this less then Persecution q Rom. 2. 1. Therefore thou art inexcusable O man whosoever thou art that judgest for in that thou judgest another thou condemnest thy self for thou that judgest dost the same things r Matth. 7. 3. 4. 5. And why beholdest thou the More that is in thy Brothers eye but considerest not the Beam that is in thine own eye Or how wilt thou say to thy Brother let me pull out the Mote out of thine eye and behold a Beam is in thine own eye Thou Hypocrite first cast out the Beam out of thine own eye and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the Moat out of thy Brothers eye I have a fair occasion could I allow my self the liberty of its improvement to return my Brethrens Argument upon their own heads by assuring them and I beseech God to give them grace to consider and bewaile it that the Persecution so much complained of lyes at their own Doors they being not innocent Sufferers but injurious Aggressors These I know are very harsh and unpleasing words but the Truth of them will appear when we shall have remembred that there are more sorts of Persecution then one of which St. ſ Lib. de Vnit Eccles contr Peril Epist cap. 17. Augustine thus informes Gravius persequitur filius Patrem male vivendo quam Pater filium castigando Et gravius ancilla Saram persecuta est per iniquam Superbiam quam eam Sara per debitam Disciplinam Et gravius Dominum persequebantur propter quos dictum est zelus domus tuae comedit me quam eos ipse cum eorum mensas evertit eos flagello de templo expulit There is you see Persecution of the Tongue and of an irregular Life as well as of the Hand and if my Brethren are not at present guilty of this latter whether through restraint or their own good nature I shall not determine I am sure the former is their constant Practice For to insist only upon that 't is even amazeing to mention what bitter Taunts rude Sarcasmes unmannerly Jeers fabulous Stories scandalous Reproaches are their daily exercise whereby they vex the Righteous Souls weaken the Hands discourage the Endeavours of their honest Orthodox Conforming Brethren Are not all Places all Companies all Occasions sufficient witnesses of this Truth Really 't is very sad and to be lamented with Tear That the great work of Religion the Preaching of the Gospell and the Salvation of Souls should be thus obstructed by these unfortunate practises But I hope no faithfull Son of the Church will be discourag'd at these Things or in the least neglect his Duty though all the World should be offended at him The Rule is fixt We must obey God rather them Man 'T is our Dear Lords case in whom there was no Sin neither was Guile found in his mouth and yet he was accus'd for a Wine bibber a Glutton and that he had a Devill t Math. 10. 24. c. The Disciple is not above his Master nor the Servant above his Lord. It is enough for the Disciple that he be as his Master and the Servant as his Lord if they have call'd the Master of the house Beelzebub how much more shall they call them of his Houshold Fear them not therefore Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the Soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell I cannot now stay to expostulate with my Brethren otherwise I should tell them there is such a thing as Scandal and that Christ hath little ones the meanest of whom if they offend hinder from their Duty and stop them in their way to Heaven by speaking Evil of the Ways of God it were better a Milstone were hanged about their necks and they cast into the midst of the Sea But I shall only desire them to consider that of Saint James If any man among you seem to be Religious and u James 1. 26. bridleth not his Tongue but deceiveth his own heart this mans Religion is vain w Mr. Baxter ut supra p. 245. And yet how contrary is the practise of no small number of the Religious In all Companies how forward are they to talke of the sins of Princes and Parliaments of Courtiers of Nobility and Gentry especially of Ministers And not onely of the scandalous that are guilty indeed but of the Innocent that are not of their way whose faults they rather x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make than find I have done and must intreat the Readers Charity in pardoning those excesses of my Pen which whilst I was intent upon the matter may possibly have
there be no Divisions amongst them perfectly joynd together in the same mind and in the same judgement If therefore upon inquiry it do appeare That the Magistrate hath Power to make Constitutions for the better ordering of those Circumstances about which Scripture hath determind nothing whether wee must use or not use them and if Offenders against these Constitutions are justly punishable it undenyably follows that in punishing such Violaters of his Laws the Magistrate doth not Persecute but execute Justice and that those Persons who are thus reflected upon are not Persecuted as Saints but Punishd as Malefactors The very Case of our Nonconformists here in England The Summary of these Conclusions that my Reader may the better apprehend them to be both Consequent and Evident is this Preaching and Praying are necessary Duties Which cannot be performd without Circumstances These are not determind in Scripture Nor must be left undetermind Therefore by the Supream Magistrate Who to effect this makes Laws and Constitutions These have Penalties annexd to be inflicted on the Disobedient The infliction of these Penalties is the execution of Justice and the Magistrates Duty But no Persecution Therefore those Persons that suffer these Penalties are not injuriousely Persecuted but justly Punish'd Quod erat Demonstrandum I cannot at all doubt but the weakness of my Brethrens Argument to any unprejudic'd Reader begins now to appear However I will repeat their Syllogisme once more and then let the World judge who is in the Right Preaching and Praying are necessary Duties But N. C. are punish'd for Preaching and Praying Therefore They are Punish'd for necessary Duties and consequently are Persecuted I Answer first by distinguishing the Major Preaching and Praying quoad Substantiam are necessary Duties i. e. It s necessary that these Duties be perform'd Quoad Circumstantias they are not necessary i. e. though these Duties be perform'd yet it is not necessary to perform them in such or such a manner Thus though Prayer be necessary yet that it should be Extemporary or without a Form is not necessary or that the Minister should be without a Surplice is not necessary So for Preaching though it be a Duty yet to preach or hear a Sermon in a Conventicle of two or three Thousand or to expose my self to Sufferings and perhaps a long Imprisonment to the neglect of my Profession and thence the ruine of my Family for which I am bound to provide I say to throw my self upon all these Inconveniencies only to hear a Sermon from A. B. or C. D. when I may safely hear a much better from an Orthodox Minister is so far from being necessary that it may justly 〈◊〉 Who hath required these things at your hands That Secondly I Answer by denying the Minor which is utterly false and untrue They are not punished for Preaching and Praying they being punishable for their neglect but they are punished for not observing those Circumstances about Preaching and Praying which Authority requireth of them or they are punished for not performing these Duties in such a manner as their Governours require or more plainly yet they are punished for not observing and submitting to those Constitutions which their Governours have Established for the better ordering of these Duties The Obligation of which Constitutions because they are much oppos'd I 'le endeavour to confirm by this one Consideration Bonum non oritur nisi ex integrâ Causâ There must be a concurrence of all requisite Conditions to make a thing good Now the Conditions required to the Validity of a Law are not unduely exprest by the four Causes Efficient Material Formal Final and That Law which is not Defective in any one of these is Valid and Obligatory But such are the Constitutions of the Church of England Therefore c. 1. Respectu Causae Efficientis there is sufficient Authority and Legislative Power 2. Respectu Materiae the things enjoyn'd are not unlawful as being contrary to any Law any former Obligation 3. Respectu Formae there is sufficient Promulgation 4. Respectu Finis Publick Peace and Safety by restraining Disorders Tumults Contentions which might arise from Difformity in Worship is the very Reason and End of their being exacted Object But is not Conscience violated and Christian-liberty infringed by these Ecclesiastical Constitutions since they determine us precisely ad unum in the use of Indifferent things which God and Christ have left free ad utrumlibet Answ I Answer referring my Reader for farther Satisfaction to Bishop Sandersons seventh Sermon ad Pop. pag. 384. That there is no Subject of England whatever is pretended to the contrary but hath the Liberty of his Conscience or to speak more intelligibly may worship God according to his Conscience i. e. in such a way and manner as his Conscience his judging Faculty judgeth most acceptable provided always that he keep his opinions to himself or to his Family and make them a Rule only for his own private Practice But if such a man will go publish his Opinions and entangle the Consciences of others and seek to draw Disciples after him and make a Party and cause Divisions and Dissentions amongst his Majesties Subjects and trouble the Publick he is to be restrain'd he is not to be tolerated Object l Mr. Calamys Ser. before the Lords Dec. 25. 1644. pag. 38. Will you allow the Magistrate to Tyranize over mens Consciences Answ By no means But I believe it is the Duty of Magistrates to keep men from infecting their Subjects with Soul-destroying Errours If thou hast an Heretical Opinion have it to thy self and the Magistrate will not nay cannot meddle with thy private Conscience But if thou labourest to infect others with thy Grace-destroying Opinions I doubt not but the Magistrate is bound to keep thee from spreading thy Infection to the undoing of the Souls of his Subjects If he may lawfully shut up a man that hath the Plague upon his body that he may not Infect others why not a man that hath the Plague of Heresie upon his Soul that so he may not destroy the Souls of Thousands Shall a Master in a Family have power to put away a Servant that is tainted with a grosse Opinion and yet not be called a Tyrant over that Servants Conscience And shall not the chief Magistrate of a Kingdome have Power to put out of his Kingdome at least to shut up from doing hurt one that is his Subject and polluted with Blasphemous Heretical Idololatrical Opinions Is not the Kingdom the Magistrates House and Family These are the means that are to be used to cure the distractions of England The Lord give us grace to put them in practice But this and the other party will reply That they are neither Heretical nor Turbulent and therefore what is all this discourse to them I Answer No man must be Judge in his own Cause every man therefore is to be supposed such that when his Place requires it refuseth by publick Oaths
Praise of them that do well 1. Pet. 2. 19. There be some that would blot out halfe your Commission and restrain this good and evill to Civil good and to evils only against men But this is against that generall Rule Non est distinguendum ubi Lex non distinguit Where the Law doth not distinguish there must not we distinguish Tell me I beseech you Shall it be lawfull for Magistrates to punish those that destroy mens Bodies but not those that destroy mens Souls Shall they be blamed for suffering men to draw people away from obedience to the Laws of the Land and to themselves and not also for suffering men to draw away people from the Truth of the Gospell and from the ways of God such as Hymenaeus and Philetus who overthrow the Faith of some and their words eat as a Canker shall Christian Magistrates take up the Maxime of Tiberius Deorum injurias Diis curae esse Let God himself take care to vindicate himself from injuries committed against God as for mee I will just like Gallio take care of none of these things Can Christian ears endure such Language Doth not God Prophesy Isaiah 49. 23. That in the New Testament Kings shall be our Nursing Fathers and Queens our nursing Mothers And how can a Christian Magistrate discharge that duty aright if he hath not power from God to punish those that would poyson the souls of his weak Children with Heresies and soul destroying opinions Will you allow the Magistrate to Tyrannize over Object mens Consciences By no means But I believe it is the duty of Magistrats Answ to keep men from infecting their Subjects with soul destroying Errors If thou hast an Hereticall Opinion have it to thy self and the Magistrate will not nay cannot meddle with thy Private Conscience But if thou labourest to infect others with thy Grace-destroying Opinions I doubt not but the Magistrate is bound to keep thee from spreading thy infection to the undoing of the Souls of his Subjects If he may lawfully shut up a man that hath the Plague upon his body that he may not infect others why not a man that hath the Plague of Heresie upon his Soul that so he may not destroy the souls of Thousands Shall a Master in a Family have power to put away a Servant that is tainted with a gross opinion and yet not be called a Tyrant over that Servants Conscience and shall not the chief Magistrate of a Kingdome have power to put out of his Kingdome at least to shut up from doing hurt one that is his Subject and polluted with blasphemous Hereticall Idolatricall Opinions Is not the Kingdom the Magistrats house and Family a Ser. before the Comm. Octob. 22. 1644. p. 26. This is a certain Rule That all the Sins of the Kingdom which are committed by your connivence or allowance are the Parliament Sins and they call for a Parliament Repentance And therefore I beseech you search and try your hearts and consider how far you are accessary to the sins of the Kingdome that so you may be wrought up not only to a personall but a Parliament humiliation And if it doth appear that you have taken more care in setling your own Liberties then in setling of Religion If you have taken more care to build your own houses then Gods house this is a crying Sin and this makes you accessary to a Thousand Sins that are commited in the Kingdome Againe if you do not labour according to your duty and according to your power to suppress the Errors and Heresies that are spread in the Kingdome all these Errors are your Errors and these Heresies are your Heresies and they are your Sins and God calls for a Parliamentary Repentance from you for them this day You are the Anabaptists and you are the Antinominians and it is you that hold That all Religions are to be tolerated c. And these are your Errors if they sptead by your Connivence For the Sins of the Sons of old Ely are imputed to old Ely himselfe And when the People of Israel had prophaned the Sabbath Nehemiah contended with the Nobles of Judah for suffering them and tells them that it was they that did prophane it because they suffered the People to prophane it Neh. 13. 17. It was none of the Old cause that the People should a M. Ric. Baxter Holy Common-wealth Addition to Pref. Prop. 6. Lond printed for Tho Vnderhil at the Anchor and Bible in Pauls Ch yard 1659. have Liberty and the Magistrate should have no Power in all matters of Gods Worship faith and Conscience And as it is not the Old Cause so it is not a Good Cause For first it contradicteth the expresse Revelation of the will of God in the holy Scriptures Moses had to do in matters of Religion as a Magistrate and so the ruling Elders of Israel that assisted him And so had the Kings of Israel and Judah as is well known insomuch that in Asa's days they covenanted to put him to Death that would not seek the Lord God of Israel 2. It tendeth to the ruine of the Commonwealth and therefore it is no good cause How God was provoked By Aarons Calfe and by his Sons that offered strange fire which the Lord commanded not Lev. 10. what was the effect what benefit the Calves at Dan and Bethel brought to Israel and Jeroboams house and the high places and other Errours about worship brought to the Princes and People of Judah we need not particularly recite Law and providence are quite changed if Toleration of false Worship and other abuses of Religion tend not to the ruine of the Commonwealth If Magistrates must give Liberty for all to propagate a false Religion then so must Parents and Masters also for their Coercive power is rather lesse then the Magistrates then more and they are no more Lords of faith or Conscience But if all Parents and Masters should give such a Liberty it would be a crime so horrid in the nature and effects as I am loath to name with its proper Titles A pari it tendeth to the destruction of an Army to give liberty to all men to do their worst to draw them to Mutinies and Rebellion It tends to the ruine of Families that all have liberty to do their worst to tempt the Sons to Theft and drunkennesse and the wife and Daughter to whoredome It tends to the Destruction of the Commonwealth if there be liberty for all to perswade the the People to Sedition and Rebellion And therefore it must tend to the destruction of the Church and mens souls and consequently of the Commonwealth in the cheif respects if all have leave to do their worst to preach up infidelity Mahometanisme Popery or any false Doctrine or Worship against the great and necessary Truths I leave it therefore to the judgement of all men that are not fast a sleep in their security and utterly unacquainted with the advantages