hope will be sufficient to discharge me from the Reproach of an Innorator As for their Matter and Way c. God must be Judge of it and not Men. Let there therefore be given to Men a Power to Congregate and in their Respective Congregations let them choose what Men they think fit to dispence their Charity and to be Judges of the Lives of their Fellows so as to Expell them their Congregations if Occasion require Let them call these men by what Names they please But let there be no Laws amongst them but those of Reverence and Respect of Shame and Fear which are the best and only Laws which Christians ought to have in their Oeconomy But if they break these gentle Bonds Then Currat Lex let the Secular Power take Place This for the ordinary part of the Administration to be performed by ordinary men or men in Common As for the Extraordinary which is the Administration of the Word and Sacraments to be performed by Men separated and of better Capacities let it be thus When the Supream Power of each Christian Nation have set themselves in Statu quo dissolved all Ecclesiastical Governments and resumed from the Church her usurped and destructive Power and Revenues the first must be never given her again the last put to better Uses Then I say let them build and Erect in the midst of each Respective Nation Magnum Collegium Christianum a large Christian Colledge and Endow it with such Priviledges and Conveniences as may be thought fit and Proper c. Then let the Wisdom of each Nation after having asked their Willingness choose a considerable number of Youth of the hopefullest Constitution of Body and Mind and after publick Addresses made to the Living God by Fasting and Prayer for an auspicious Election let Lots be Cast and on whom the Lots do fall let them receive an Order from the State to Enter into the said Colledge to Fit and Qualifie themselves to be Preachers and Ministers of the Gospel and after such a Term of years continuance as shall be thought fit let a certain number be brought forth and the question of Willingness being asked and Addresses made to Heaven as afore-said let Lots proportioned to the National Wants be cast and on whom the Lots do fall let a convenient and honourable Allowance be setled and let them receive their Commission from the State to Preach the Kingdom of Heaven and Jesus Christ Crucified and Minister the Word and Sacraments in a plain decent and orderly manner as near as possible they can to the first Institution And when the Judges set out in the King or States Name to distribute Justice and determine Law let them also per Order of the King or State Preach the Kingdom of Heaven and the Gospel in the same Itinerant and Circular manner through all the Cities and Towns of each Respective Kingdom instructing the People in the most pure Doctrine and Belief of the Holy Jesus and in all the most Necessary and Fundamental Points of his Religion a definition of which 't is possible Volente Deo may be the Subject of another Discourse and let their Subjects be levelled against Sedition and Rebellion Exhibit Peace in its best Apparel Extoll Justice Mercy and Charity and whatever may tend to the Glory of God or Peace and Well-fare of Man-kind and not at all to meddle with Law the State or Government always remembring they are not appointed Ministers of State but of the Gospel And if a distinct performance was allotted for such and such a Circuit it would not do amiss viz. Instructing and Proselyting for one Baptizing for another and giving the Sacrament for a Third or varying these as may be thought most fit and convenient doubling the first or intermitting the last Or if from the said Colledge having Twelve Gates they should go out every Month and Heal the Nations which Scripture indigitates nothing can be thought of more convenient This way and method I hope will easily be allowed me to be sufficient for the Salvation of Souls and would but the Princes and States of Christendom consent to settle such an oeconomy the plain Consequences thereof would be Popery that wicked thing so much hated and abominated by Protestants not only for its own innate Evils but also its Collateral and Accidental ones being the common Tool which all Parties use to set up or pull down one another would in a moment be buried in Oblivion and Heresy its Twin and Brother in Iniquity would be buried in the same Grave A new Heaven and a new Earth would suddenly appear all the Disturbing Names of Papists and Protestants Schismatick and Heretick would speedily cease we should have no Sides nor Parties of Christians no bitter Contentions which is the True Church the Indefatigable Pains of compassing Sea and Land to make Proselytes would be at an end and all the mischievous Consequences attending thereon Now all Sides and Parties are Industrious to make Converts and give their Reasons and Arguments and yet at the same time Interpretatively would not have them taken for none meets with greater Shame and Ignominy then Converts who if they obey their own or are convinced by others Reasons are said to change their Religion as they call it and are hated and abhorred so that men in a great measure are under an obligation to stick to their Principles whether they be good or bad because of the Reproach they of necessity must meet with if they change them And alas These which they call their Principles and Religion are nothing but some fond and unnecessary Opinion which may be changed and no hurt at all done But then men would have no Temptation to change having no Party to go to no Sect to maintain and no particular Church to defend which are the common Themes of Christian men and at this time make but too great Part of their Religion and too frequently ministers matter of their Mutual Ruine Again Now most of our time is spent in commending our selves and our way and discommending others their way and Three parts of our Religion is made up of nothing but Vapour and Smoke of mere Talk and finding of Faults if we can charge and accuse and make others Guilty and our selves Innocent 't is Religion enough And amongst so many contending Parties of Christians 't is almost impossible any Justice should be done the Spirit of Partiality so reigneth amongst us But Terras Astraea Revisit Then Justice would run down our Streets like a mighty Stream and all the Parts the Piety and Learning at least wise Honesty which is certainly amongst most Parties of Christians would have their due Effects and appear in their own proper Colours when cleared from the Foggs and Mists of Contentious Disputes which confines them to their proper Orbs and will not suffer them to be Communicative or disperse their Rayes but give a dim and partial Light. Further Now no Oath can bind
himself against another when another is concerned he is a party and therefore cannot be Judge But all the several Sects and Societies of Christians are Parties therefore cannot be Judges neither can Reason Scripture Tradition Fathers Councils c. be Judges being interpreted by Parties neither is there a Judge on Earth but is a Party Our Agreement therefore must be concluded to be impossible and our Differences left to be judged by the God of Heaven who is only sufficient and competent for Judgment From this Impossibility therefore of a material Agreement proved from the infinite variety of humane Understandings as men and from the infinite difficulty of things as Christians I would lay a Foundation for a formal Agreement integral and compleat in all its parts towards God and towards Man but a further improvment I shall reserve to the foot of my Discourse and make Answer to a very necessary Question which may be asked me viz. Amidst so great Indeterminations and Irresolutions of men amidst so many Plausibilities and Probabilities and infinite Pretentions to Truth what Measures must Men take or what Rule must they walk by To which I answer That 's a Reason which convinces and that 's an Argument which perswades and that 's a good Sermon which makes men better besides those which are the best in their kind and in their own nature really so and he has understood Councils and Fathers and Scriptures right who understands them in a sense which assists him to mortifie a Lust crush an evil Affection or make him a better Man although he understand them wrong and differing from the original Intent and 't is possible for a man to understand wrong yet live right to be convinced by a slender Reason a weak Argument and edified by an ordinary Sermon Every one of these though not the best in their kind yet are equivalent to the best if they produce the Effect of the best And this will put a Check to a great Evil there is in the World viz the extravagant Commendation of Preachers Books and Discourses raised often to that height that Charity is infringed and the Peace endangered Why must the greatest and most sublime Reasons be pressed upon me when one of a lesser magnitude doth convince me And I be forced to hear and may be vilified for not commending such a Brave Preacher when one of another stile and another Method doth more operate upon me and give me better Satisfaction There is a necessity that Truth should be served no and addressed to men in various and differing VVays and Methods because there are Men of various and differing Understandings to be wrought upon and hereby all Books Comments and Discourses infinitely differing one from another according to the differing Capacities and Apprehensions of their Authors become useful and profitable And this in a great measure may serve for answer to the Question but that which must make it compleat is an honest Heart and sincere Endeavours of finding out the Truth and a ready and willing Disposition to comply with it when found And when men have done their best to please God and find out the Truth as every Party of Christians say they do if they mistake they mistake like Men and God will never punish them for it for that would be to punish them for doing their best which ought to be far from the thoughts of every good Christian so that 〈◊〉 they be not 〈◊〉 yet they may be safe safe I say from the Displeasure and Punishment of their Maker thought not of their Fellow-Creatures For when men have been diligent honest and sincere and used their utmost Endeavours to find out the Truth please God and save their Souls in comes an armed Band of humane Sanctions Laws Penalties and Compulsion to drive them out of this way which they have judged and pitched upon to be the only true way to Salvation which brings me to the second Head to be discoursed of in order to the Peace of Christendom and that is Law which I shall publickly and solemnly arrest as the grand Enemy and Disturber thereof For in the name of the King of Peace what has Law to do in Religion Religion ought to be the most free most voluntary and unconstrained thing in the World he that ministers in it ought to do it freely and willingly I and he that performs any Action in it ought to choose it and be fully convinced and satisfied in his Mind and no Method ought to be used either in the Administration or Propagation but Argument Reason and Discourse and it must be acknowledged as a most certain Truth That if the whole World joyn together to make a Law this Law cannot make a Reason a good Reason or an Argument a good Argument or make any Proposition either true or false and if we ask any party of Christians why they use such a Method or such a way in Religion Their Answer is Because they think it true Since Truth then is and ought to be the Standard and Measure by which men ought to determine their Choice and since it is most certain that Law cannot make or determine Truth Law by a plain and necessary consequence must be judged useless in Religion Again If Actions are not voluntary and Religion be not chosen there will be no Grounds lest for either Rewards or Punishments Nil ardet in Inferno nisi propria voluntas nothing burns in Hell but a Man's Will 'T is the VVill that makes men criminal and subject to be rewarded or punished but when there is a Law there is no Room lest either to will or to choose but it comes with a must with Authority and Power and puts both Religion our Wil and Choice out of doors And here one may easily discover the Paw of the Grand Imposter and Enemy of Mankind who when he foresaw what great Advantages the Religion of the Holy Jesus would bring to the Sons of Men by a sly and crafty Device spirited away the True Babe and left us a Changeling in his room he stole away Religion and left us a Law and so effectually brought about his cursed Designs and ruin'd us But further amongst Protestant Christians Law is the most absurd and vain thing in the world for they do and that truly acknowledge the Books of the Old and New Testament to be the Only Rule of Faith containing full and ample Instructions how to Worship God and perform all necessary Actions in Religion also that men in common are able to understand interpret and judge of these Books Now if these be their Rule and only Rule what have they to do with Law which is another Rule Our Saviour faith His Toke is easie his Burden light But Law is a Tyrant and Usurper of Christian Priviledges and lays on heavy Burdens contrary to the sweet and gentle Methods of the Gospel it neither is nor ought to be a Rule to Christians in their Religion and in things
Grace and Godliness and not of Empire and Dominion it claimed no Power being it wanted none its whole Design and Drift relating to things of another World or tending to promote Peace and Godliness in this and happy had it been for Christendom had its Nations and States only been called Christian and its Princes looked on this Religion only as good Qualities in their Subjects tending to promote Obedience and Peace in their Kingdoms and gave it an Establishment on this Account And the so much celebrated Name of Church had never been heard of in the Nature it has been used Also when they sent Judges to minister Justice to their Subjects had they with them sent Ministers to Preach the Gospel and continued it in such a sort of way to this Time I am perswaded the Author would never had occasion to write Expedients for Peace at this day But here lay their Mistake seeing its Ministry was of Grace and Godliness and not of Empire and Dominion they looked on the thing in them as divided from them and would needs give it a new Name and invest it with Power which though little at first by degrees rival'd their own and since has jostled many of them out of their Thrones And now they have Leasure to Repent themselves of their bad Logick in dividing the Accidents from their Subjects and setting up Non entities For the Church is nothing at all a mere Metaphysical Term and when Christian Princes Govern their People well they Govern the Church well for the Church is in the People or rather the People are the Church But if they set up a Regiment or a Government in their Kingdoms distinct from their own they do but Nurse a Viper in their own Bosoms and they cannot in Reason expect their Crowns should ever sit easie on their Heads amidst the unavoidable Emulation of two distinct Governments The Church and State are a Christian State and but one and so at first appointed by the God of Heaven and what God hath joyned no man ought to put asunder And I humbly conceive that Men professing Christianity ought to have no distinct Government from the State I am sure they were much better Christians when they had none The Apostles propagated the Faith of Jesus in the Gentile World and the Ecclesiae or Assemblies congreated to perform Acts of Devotion in the way which they had Taught are called Churches and when we read of the Churches of Asia or of this or that Church nothing else is to be understood but the Congregation of Believers met to pay Homage and Worship to their Maker in the Name of Jesus which was done in a plain and simple Manner never enterfering with or disturbing the Government of the Place Neither Power nor Policy or Skill can be needful for a few honest and innocent Men to meet together in a peaceable manner to Worship God all the Requisites in such a Case are only a Sincere Heart and a Willing Mind What need we then so much Ecclesiastical Policy and Church-Government Or if we must have it why must such Frames and Machines be called the Church This is to call the Scaffold the Building But after all 't is most certain that only True Believers and good Livers are the Stones which make up that Heavenly Building and are the only True Church of Christ against which the Gates of Hell shall be never able to prevail But we talk of setting up or pulling down Churches in as material a Sence as when we Erect or pull down Houses and one laments the pulling down such a rare Established Church and mightily opposes the Building of another and we all think our own Cottages Pallaces and are always commending our own Church and discommending anothers and such a stir we make about our Churches that makes us Ridiculous to all the World and no wonder Christendom has been so long Embroiled since we have had so many Churches that is so many Occasions and Causes of Disturbance There is but One God one Christ one Faith one Baptism one Religion and but one Church and the several Perswasions make but one Religion and several ways of Worship and distinct Congregations but one Church But we call the Parts the whole and a single House a Town and are in a continual Alarm in Defence of our little Respective Cittadels And to that height of Abuse is the Name of Church now Grown that to be of This or That Church is to compound for a good Life and Men think if they belong to such or such a Communion all will go well with them and having so many Parties amongst us and so many Interests to be served the necessity of proselyting Men to their side rather than to Goodness or Truth doth but too much contribute to it and some Guides are but too willing to indulge Men in their Vice so they will but be of their Party But hower we may value our selves one for being of this Church and another for being of that I am afraid if we live not good Lives we shall be found at last to be of no Church at all Our Saviour tells us he that doth Righteousness is Righteous and that the Tree is known by its Fruit if we Live well we shall be of God's Church and if we Live ill we shall certainly be out of the Church however we may be admitted by Men with the greatest Solemnity and Ceremony into that Society we call by that Name Templum Domini Templum Domini was the Cry of the Jews and now is the Cry of the Christians and sufficiently abused by both We all know the Fate of theirs and the Reasons and in knowing this we may easily Calculate the Fate of our own For their Temple and our Church exactly answer one another I mean our Political Hierarchical Church The Constitution of which is fixed in a Diametrical Opposition to Publick Peace and we can never expect Peace to flourish in Christendom so long as one Stone of this ill-built Fabrick doth lie upon another Then in order to the Pulling down this Mystical Babel I here most solemnly declare and protest against all the Present Constitutions and Ecclesiastical Corporations of Christendom as injurious to Publick Peace and Tranquility and very much disserving all Temporal Government thwarting and crossing the just Designs of Princes and on all Occasions ministring to Faction Sedition and Rebellion and against all differing Sects and Divisions of Christians whatsoever which are any way endowed with Immunities Priviledges or any Temporal Power Preferment or Benefices independant of the State. And since all the Princes and States of Christendom are in a Fermentation and Motion 't is my Opinion that if they would after an Act Passed for the Relief of the Present Incumbents seize all Temporal Endowments and Benefices appropriated to Religion or Churches and dissolve and make Null all Ecclesiastical Decrees Canons Charters and Constitutions They would do the greatest Service to