all the sacred writings and mysteries gave him order with what Sacrifices and upon what days and in what places the Rites of Religion were to be perforwed had it not been a violation of his Religion to have us'd other Sacrifices upon other days in other places and with other Rites then he appointed And if among Heathens as he farther observes both publick and private Mysteries were all determined by the Chief Priest that it might be known where the Common People might repair to worship their Gods lest there should be any disorder or confusion in Religion either by neglecting the sacred Rites of their Country or introducing any that were Foreign and Strange Shall not we allow the Lord Jesus our High Priest to determine the sacred mysteries of his Religion with all Rites and Ceremonies thereof that under pretence of Order and Decency there may not be introduced that disorder and confusion in the Christian Religion we see at this day through the neglect of those sacred Rites of his Institution and the introducing such as are Forraign and strange into his worship Let not therefore those that abhor Idols commit Sacrildge And if Heathen Romans as he observes were so careful that none but the Roman Dieties might be worship'd â—nd that after no other manner but that of their own Institution How much more careful and concerned ought Christians to be that none but the Almighty the Holy one of Israel be worship'd and that after no other manner then that of his own Institution and appointment And since as this Answerer observes That wise people were so jealous and careful least any Innovation should be made in their Religion and least its Vniformity and Integrity should be dissolved by the Customs and mixtures of other Countries How much more ought Christs Disciples to be jealous and careful that no innoventions be made or humane Inventions added to Christs Institutions either as to matter or to mannes beyond the orderly observance of such circumstances as necessarily attend such Ordinances as Christ himself hath Instituted least the uniformity and integrity of his worship should be dissolv'd by the Customs and mixtures of other Countries in the establishing of different ways and modes of worship according to the variety of mens Inventions and Fancies And since not only Grotius from St. Anstin observes That the Romans were successful in their Arms because they had a hearty respect and veneration for Religion But the Apostle tell us That Godliness hath the promise of this life as well as of that which is to come surely it can be against no rule or form of Justice or Prudence nor any violation of the Law or light of Nature for Christian Princes to be as zealous for a true Religion as the Heathens were for a false one But as the wise man says He that Answereth a matter before he hear it so he that Answereth a Question before he understands it It shall be â— folly and shame unto him And now we are told of the zeal and care the holy Kings and Governours of the Jewish Nation had of Religion which will never prove That to execute before Judgement is no violation of the Law and light of Nature Nor in the least prejudice any Principle these Queries labour to support When he shall inform us What Davids ordering the turns and courses of the Priests and setting up Musick in the Temple it is to this Query it may be consider'd of or if he would inâ—er from it That civil Magistrates without particular Warrant or Commission from God may order or appoint in the worship and service of God what they please or shall Judge conduâ—ive to the Honour and Glory of God or the â—ecent and Orderly performance of Divine worship 't is a Question we are not at present â—oncern'd in and shall therefore pass it by Asa did not any thing which was by any â—enyed to be his duty nor commanded ought in others which they did not acknowledge â—â—kewise to be theirs And notwitstanding â—ur Answerers asserting the contrary The Covenant which Asa and all Judah and Benjamin and the Strangers with them enter'd into was voluntary in all parties for it is said They did it with all their heart and with all their soul and again v. 14. They sware unto the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with Trumpets and with Cornets And all Judah rejoyced at the Oath for they had sworn with all their hearts and sought him with their whole desire and he was found of them There cannot well be greater evidence to prove any action to have been voluntary For God is not found of those who seek him not in sincerity and with a willing mind who draw nigh unto him with their lips while their hearts are far from him Let none therefore too hastily credit this Answerer in ought he says but like the noble Bereans search the Scriptures whether it be so oâ— no. Jehoshaphat we are told used his Coercive Power in taking away the High places and groves dedicated to Idolatry and what did he therein which all Judah acknowledg'd not to be his duty And who did ever deny it to be in the Magistrates Power to send Teachers to instructâ— the People in the Law of the Lord or Judg'd it a violation of the Law or light of Nature so to do And what did Jehojada in putting Athalia to death and in making a Covenant between him and between all the People and between the King that they should be the Lords People And iâ— breaking down the Altars and Images in the House of Baal and slaying the Priests thereof before the Altar which he had not good Authority to do and which all Judah approv'd not of The Reformations of Hezekiah and Josiah were very eminent but nothing done by either of them or by any of the good Kings of Judah doth in the least oppugne ought in this or in any of these Queries What did Hezekiah in opening the Doors of the Temple that had been long shut up in cleansing the City and Kingdom from Idols in restoring the Priests to their Offices and dues in reviving the Sacrifices which had been long neglected and celebrating the Pass-over with great magnificence more then what every mans Conscience told him was right and necessary to be done And did Josiah in making a Covenant before the Lord to milk after the Lord and to keep his Commandments and his Testimonies and his Statutes with all his heart and with all his soul to perform the words of the Covenant which are written in the Book of the Law of the Lord and causing all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it yea in making all that were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God Do ought which any acknowledg'd not to be both his and their duty and how made he them to do all this was it by secular force and Power or by reading unto them
his blessed Will to us in his holy word What us does he mean For we cannot but think it all mens duty with the Psalmist still to pray That God would open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of his Law There being an Illumination of the Spirit of God necessary for the right understanding of those things that are revealed in the word of God which is it seems a revelation this Answerer is yet unacquainted with for though the Gospel be written the saving Truths thereof are hid to those whom the God of this world hath blinded This Query therefore grounded on tâ—e Apostles advice to the Philippians intends only the Revelation there mentioned which we hope is no Enthusiasm By saying In doubts relating to Religion men would do better to resign up themselves to the Fathers of the Church and seek satisfaction from the Prists lips then attend to the Dictates of their own dark minds He plainly enough tells what he would be at and that 't is blind obedience he would bring us to But before we thus resign up our selves both Soul and Body unto any let him tell us who amongst the many pretenders are those Fathers of the Church to whom he would have us thus to resign up ourselves our Blessed Saviour himself having commanded us to Beware of false Prophets and the Holy Apostle not to believe every Spirit but to try the Spirits whether they are of God By which 't is evident there belongs by Divine Right unto all Christians notwithstanding their dark minds a private discretive and self-directive Judgement by vertue whereof they not only ought to prove all things recommended to them by their Teachers but even to judge of their Teachers themselves between the true and the false between the Messengers of Christ and the Messengers of Antichrist so far is it from the mind of God that any should pin their Faith upon their Teachers sleeves Captivate their Judgements unto theirs and believe and do whatever they shall think meet It were indeed happy if men could receive satisfaction from the Priests lips as those which should keep knowledge But it may be said to too many of them in our days as the Prophet said to them of old Ye are departed out of the way ye have caused many to stumble at the Law ye have corrupted the Covenant nant of Levi saith the Lord of Hosts therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the People according as ye have not kept my ways but have been partial in the Law Query XVIII Whether in these duties whereon Eternity depends it be not the highest absurdity to force any against their own light to be guided by others who are not infallible Reply to the Answer to this Query 'T Is no very pleasing imployment to have to do with those who either do not or will not understand the Questions they take upon them to answer But 't is that we must be content with in this Contest What this Answerer finds in this Query inferring a necessity of Infallibility in all Guides and Governours whether Sacred or Civil we are yet to seek there being as we conceive some difference between being guided in duties of Religion by those that are fallible which we never thought unreasonable and being forced to follow them therein against a mans own light and knowledge which is the thing here question'd It being an implicit Faith and blind obedience only and even the worst of these a mans acting against his own light and Conscience and only in the concerns of Eternity that this Query opposeth And where hath this been as he tells us before answer'd Or to what purpose doth he here tell us It is no higher absurdity in these days of the Gospel for men in matters of Religion to be guided by a Learned and Pious Minister and much more by all the Governours of a National Church then it was under the Mosaick Oeconomy to seek the Law at the Priests mouth who was the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts since we never denyed either but say that blind obedience was never to be yielded unto any much less that any ought to be forc't in any Religious duties against their own light The Priests lips indeed should keep knowledge and they should seek the Law at his mouth but as hath been before said they departed out of the way they caused many to stumble at the Law and corrupted the Covenant of Levi So that a Judgement of discretion was then as well as now to be exercised by the people and they were not always to hearken unto the words of the Prophets that Prophesied unto them their directions and instructions therefore with this Answerers good leave might sometimes be rejected And since our Blessed Saviour hath himself commanded us to Beware of false Prophets and the Apostle not to believe every Spirit but to try the Spirits whether they are of God it is undoubtedly the duty of all Christians to examine the Authority and Mission of their Teachers and to Query who are the true and who the false who the Messengers of Christ who of Antichrist that so they may receive the one and reject the other with all their Doctrines and Instructions if upon trial they square not with the Rule by which they are commanded to prove them Yet does not this render as he says the Ministry of the Christian Church much less all Offices and Dignities of the Commonwealth void and useless It only cautions Christians not to esteem of them above what is meet in yielding that blind obedience the Gospel Prohibits and which is unbecoming the nature and being of a Rational Creature to give when therefore God commands the people to obey those that have the Rule over them and to submit to them as they that watch for their Souls It is to be understood so far forth only as they Teach according to the Rule of his word their Authority as we have before told you from the Reverend Dr. Stillingfleet Being only directive and declarative and in matters of duty can bind no farther then Reason and Evidence brought from Scripture by them doth But he goes on with his Infallibility and says the Argument holds as much against any Judge or Magistrate in the civil concerns of Humane life as against the Ministry of the Church But he may be therein mistaken for 't is all mens Interest to acquiesce in the Determinations of civil Judicatories in the concerns of Humane life how Erronious or unjust soever they may apprehend them to be for the preservation of a greater good publick peace and quiet but that will never make it reasonable in the concerns of Eternity which admit of no compensation for a man to put out his own eyes to be guided by others who perhaps see no better it may be not so well as himself For we do not say it is absurd for a man to be
all the words of the Book of the Covenant that was found in the House of the Lord was it not by convincing them it was their duty so to do for it reacht no farther then to those who were present And who denies the like Power unto Christian Magistrates Nor needs there any great search in the Annals of time and History of Ages to know that Princes and People never more prosper'd then when Religion was countenanc't Idolatry punisht and the great Causes and occasions of Schism the requiring other Terms and Conditions of Church-Fellowship and Communion then God requires were unknown or removed Nor is there ought in the Instances before mentioned That needs any such constructions or evasions as this Answerer speaks of to reconcile them to the liberty in Religion pleaded for For who did ever deny unto Magistrates Power to command and require their People to serve God as God hath exprest and declar'd he will be serv'd or to remove such outward appearances and Monuments of worship as are evidently and apparently false and Idolatrous which in both instances was but the Case of the before-mentioned Kings of Judah But that which is excepted against Is the prohibiting any to worship God in such a way as none can say to be against the mind and will of God or displeasing unto him or the compelling any to worship God in such a way as they Judge sinful or are not satisfied in the lawfulness of And though the State of Religion under the Gospel be far differing from what it was under the Law yet surely Princes are not as he says in a worse condition by the coming of Christ then they were in the Jewish Commonwealth where they had no power to command ought in Religion but what God willed or commanded and so they may do still by all the ways and means appointed by God and useful thereunto But what is it this Answerer hath found in the 49 chap of Isaiah to prove the Magistrates Coercive Power in Religion Gods affectionate answer to his peoples complaint promising never to forget them will not do it neither his promise of delivering them from their Enemies and adding to their numbers nor yet that Kings should be nursing Fathers and Queens nursing Mothers to his Church For Nurses do not use to force and coerce their Children but nourish and cherish them But this place does indeed imply or promise that there should be Soveraign Princes who should nourish and cherish the People of God and take care that no hurt or violence be offer'd unto them or to his Church which is as much as the Metaphor will bear since true Religion cannot be forc't or upheld by Secular power 'T is Antichristianism that is so supported and maintain'd by those who give their power and strength unto the Beast And they carry the Metaphor too farr who would have Princes like Nurses to feed their Children Christ having appointed other Overseers of his flock for that works whom the Magistrate ought indeed to protect and defend in the performance thereof but not to dictate nor prescribe to them therein There may not be wanting expositors who as he says may conceive this Prophesie to have been fulfilled when Emperours and Kings became Christians and enacted Laws to secure the Faith of Christ from all Enemies c. though they have no great Reason for it it being but too well known that Christian Religion hath suffer'd more then ever it gain'd by pretended Christian Magistrates For if Constantine protected the Truth his Successor Constantius with divers others after him persecuted it Yea the generality of Christian Magistrates for above a thousand years together by the instigations of the Bishop of Rome were its great opposers and oppressors and though for several years past God hath blessed this Nation beyond most of the Nations of the Earth with Kings and Queens who have protected and defended the Truths of the Gospel and the people of God from the Tyranny and opprssieon of that great Enemy to both yet in respect of Christendom there is little cause to say that this Prophesie was fulfilled when Kings and Emperours became Christians As there have been Laws enacted by Kings and States in behalf of the Truth so there have been infinitely more enacted against it error too soon and generally prevailing over the Christian world which for a Protestant to Question were to deny his Faith He cannot be thought a Friend to Truth who shall oppose any means conducive unto its promotion But whoever shall consider how few of the Mighty and Noble of the Earth to whom wordly Power and Authority is committed are called unto the knowledge thereof must acknowledge likewise that where one Law bath been enacted in behalf of the Truth hundreds have been enacted to its prejudice It is not therefore in opposition to Truth but for the Truths sake that we plead for its standing upon its own Bottom and prevailing by its own strength and efficacy For as the Truths of the Gospel were at first planted and propagated throughout the world by the Ministry of the Gospel and influence of the Divine Spirit without the aid and assistance of the secular Power so by the same means and methods they are best secured and preserved nor is secular force and power a means by God appointed or in its nature conducive to the promoting of Truth since 't is conviction and not force must induce assent And though some Hereticks may have seem'd to retract their opinions upon the severity of penal Laws against them there is little reason to believe that any of them thereby became real converts for though force may make an Hypocrite it can never make a true Believer If we believe not the Donatists and Independants so nearly related as this Answerer tells us having but his say so without other proof and if we are not Convinc't That Austins changing his mind proves second thoughts to be always best it will not we hope be thought any violation of the Law or light of Nature 't is not unknown how that Pious Father was molested by that petulant Faction no wonder therefore he should approve of what ever delivered him from them But would it not be very pleasant for Magistrates to change their Laws as oft as Doctors change their minds and that every new opinion should be the ground of a new Statute And yet I fully approve of what this Learned and Pious Father That Kings as is commanded them from Heaven serve God in that Office when in their Kingdoms they Command what is good and Prohibit what is evil and that not only in things that belong unto humane Society but also unto Divine Religion So they command but what is known and allowed to be good and in mens power to do and Prohibit no more then what is by the light of Nature or some positive Law of God apparently evil And if there be more passages to the same purpose as this