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
Scripture plainly declares viz. That the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and that he is sent by the Father and also by the Son but whether he proceeds from the Son or by the Son the Scripture being silent they ought to have been so too as to that Question and 〈◊〉 they had avoyded the unhappy breach which ensued thereon But is it possible this Answerer should be Ignorant of the sad Persecutions and Divisions which have been amongst Christians upon the account of Rites and Ceremonies imposed as conditions of Church-Fellowship and Communion which neither Christ nor his Apostles ever required For not to instance in those between Austin and the Monks of Bangor with others we read of in ancient story what thinks he of the unhappy Breaches and Divisions which have been thereby occasion'd even in this Church ever since the Reformation he that is Ignorant thereof must be something more then I am here willing to express But he tells us the difference between the Eastern and Western Churches about the observation of Easter can by no means be applyed to the present case of the Church of England and those that separate from its Communion Nor have I heard of any that ever so apply'd it and yet for any thing he says to the contrary it may be applicable enough For his presuming does not prove That every National Church hath a more indispencible Power over its own Members if as we have Reason to believe he takes every one for such who is born or Inhabits within that Natâ—on than either the Western Church had over the Eastern or the Eastern over the Western And Secondly There is no such wide difference as he alledgeth between the conditions of Communion required in the Church of England and those that were between the Eastern and Western Churches about the Celebration of Easter For if as he tells us the one was about a trivial inconsiderable business the other being about indifferent things only cannot certainly be thought very considerable But says he every Church hath a Power to Guide and Govern its own Members in all indifferent things pertaining to its Communion which if true yet is not every Member bound to believe all things to be indifferent which their Ecclesiastical Guides or Governours shall call so and if they require other conditions of Communion than their Members shall approve of or Judge lawfull 't will undoubtedly cause differences and divisions amongst them What Rites the Church of England tenders as conditions of Church-Fellowship to those within her Pale we meddle not with our Query being only Whether the requiring other conditions of Church-Fellowship and Communion then Christ or his Apostles did have not been the main inlet of all the Distractions Persecutions and Divisions in the Christian world which but for asking we are judg'd Criminal though the Reverend and Learned Dr. Stilling fleet sticks not to affirm That the main Inlet of all the Distractions Confusions and Divisions of the Christian world have been by adding other conditions of Church Communion then Christ hath done And hath this Answerer the confidence or impudence rather to suppose this Reverend Dr. herein chargeth the Church of England with all the Distractions and Divisions that now abound in this Nation or that he causelessly and falsely accuseth a whole Church and Kingdom as the Fountain of all the Distractions and Divisions that abound in it or will he not himself be found to be the false accuser he speaks of The Church of England being no more concern'd in this Assertion or Query then the Church of Scotland or the Church at Geneva or any other Church whatever unless this Answerer will say she requires other conditions of Church-Fellowship and Communion than Christ or his Apostles did which neither the Doctor nor the Gentleman have yet said But to conclude he tells us St. James acquaints us with another cause of Wars and Persecutions then the Imposition of a few Rites and Ceremonies in matters of Religion which are from mens Lusts which war in their Members But may not the Imposition of those Rites and Ceremonies proceed from those Lusts they first rebelling against the Law of their minds and then against the Law of their Maker And whether argues the greater Pride the imposing upon mens Judgements or the leaving unto every man that Judgement of discretion God hath given him and requires the exercise of in all the duties of Religion and will not as the Reverend and Pious Bishop Davenant hath told us hold those excused who with a blind zeal follow their Leaders The removing Old Land-marks with Innocent and usefull constitutions is but the old objection of the Papists against the Reformers and of them borrowed by this Answerer to help to fill up his Pamphlet And though he cannot as he tells us forbear mentioning one passage more it 〈◊〉 seems to be but to usher in his following Rime as a grave and gracious Author has it One verse for Sense and one for Rime Is sufficient for one time Yet are we more beholding to him for this than for most of his preceding Answers which have neither Rime nor Reason in them Query XXII Whether Jesus Christ who came to take away the Yoke and Burthen of Jewish Ceremonies appointed by God himself hath given Power and Authority unto any to Institute in their room such others as they shall think good Reply to the Answer to this Query NOthing is more evident in holy writ than that God will be worship't but in the way and by the means of his own appointment and that no Service is acceptable unto him but what is performed in obedience unto his commands it may not therefore be unreasonable or unseasonable to ask Whether Jesus Christ hath given Power or Authority unto any to Institute in the Worship and Service of God such Rites and Ceremonies as they shall think good And to this our Answerer tells us The words cited by him from Mr. Hooker would be a sufficient Answer which we deny not according to his way and method of Answering Queries otherwise they are far enough from it for though many things which God hath Ordained have been changed and that for the better they have been still changed by himself only or by Jesus Christ whom he hath sent And if seven Churches as he saith have declar'd That Ceremonies of humane Institution are Lawfull in the worship of God it does not follow that Christ hath given Power as he affirms to some Persons to Institute in the room of the Jewish Ceremonies such others as they shall think good And as little to the present Question is any thing in the words of the Ingenious Gentleman he commends to his Reader To all which I shall oppose as more pertinent to the matter in Question the words of the but now mentioned Reverend and Learned Dr. Stillingfleet who speaking of the Meekness Sweetness and Gentleness of our Blessed Saviour
it the visible Unity of Christian Communion in the external Administration of Gods Sacred Worship in a National Church only that is the main Principle of all Christian Amity and affection certainly if variety of Rites in a National Church cause divisions of Judgement and of affection variety of Rites in the Universal or Catholick Church will cause the same also so that it is a visible Unity of Christian Communion in the external Administration of Gods Sacred Worship throughout the Universal or Catholick Church that is the main principle of all Christian Amity and affection experience telling us what sad Divisions Feuds and Animosities have and do daily arise among Christians from the variety of Rites in the external Administration of Gods worship enjoyned by particular Churches of several Denominations even to the destruction of that external as well as internal Unity which is the great Essential of Christianity and which Christ so earnestly recommended to his Church So that if the Internal Unity of the Church as well as External Unity of Christian Communion in the publick Administration of Gods Sacred Worship be desirable as most certainly they are and ought to be They are no otherwise to be attained then by all Christian Churches Universally adhering to the Rule of the Gospel and enjoyning no other Rites or Ceremonies in the external Administration of the worship of God and requiring no other conditions of Church-Fellowship and Communion then that enjoyns and requires Nor hath our Answerer more reason to say That many Assemblies of Christians Independent one 〈◊〉 of another though living under the same civil Government do weaken and will at last destroy Christianity Than others That National and Provincial Churches rejecting at the Popes Supremacy destroy the Unity of the Church and endanger the very being of Christian Religion Nor yet That from such small beginnings and Independent Communions there would have been no more possibility to have spread and propagated Christianity in the world than an Army divided and scatter'd into Parties could be able Encounter with another that was Vnited and observ'd all the Orders of the chief commander since as the Apostle tells us God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty and experience hath told us That from such small beginnings and Independent Communions Christianity hath been spread and propagated over the world But if as he intimates An Army divided and scatter'd into Parties is not able to Encounter another that is Vnited and observes all the Orders of the chief Commander How will those National and Provincial Reformed Churches which are but divided and scatter'd Parties of the Christian Army and Independent one 〈◊〉 of another be able to Encounter the Papacy which is United and observes all the Orders of their chief Commander So strangely does prejudice and Partiality blind men as that they see not how they argue against themselves unless they are of that Army whose Principles and Practices they embrace and follow while they would be thought to skirmish with it This Answerer may therefore know if he pleases That though the Church be compared to an Army it is not in being like Officer'd as having a Leiutenant or Vicar-General Major-Generals Colonels c. or such like subordination of Officers depending upon or centering in one and yet th◠is not without her Officers who though at the head but of single Companies observing all the Orders of their Chief Commander are and have been able to Encounter the United Power of Men and Devils making War against the Lamb and his followers But our Answerer having explain'd as he tells us One of the main vitals of Christianity viz. The Vnity of the Church advises his Reader farther to consider That in the days of Christs abiding upon Earth there could not possibly be any Law for the preservation of its Vnity for the reason he mentions and therefore Jesus Christ gave Power and Authority to his Apostles and their Successors to Institute such Ceremonies and Rituals in Religion as they in their own Prudence should judge most agreable to the manners and Customs of the Nations they should convert and which tended to promote true Piety and goodness in their hearts and lives But for this the Reader is desired likewise to consider we have but his bare word he not offering the least proof of any such Power committed by Jesus Christ to his Apostles and their Successors the Commission he gave unto his Apostles being but to teach the observation of such things as he had commanded them so far was he from leaving it to them and much less to the prudence of their Successors to Institute and appoint such Rituals in Religion as they should think good These things therefore are fondly and groundlessly asserted and no less inconsistent with what himself but now said than repugnant to the Gospel For if those Rites which were agreeable to one sort of People would not be so unto others and the Governours of the Church were to appoint as he says such Rituals in Religion as in their prudence they should judge most agreeable to the manners and Customs of those Nations they should convert what becomes of his main principle of all Christian Amity and Affection The visible Vnity of Communion in the external Administration of Gods Sacred Worship which he but now told us ought to be uniform and undevided 〈◊〉 it is so far from being impossible that in the days of Christs abode upon Earth there should be as he says any Law made for the preservation of the Churches Vnity that it is altogether impossible as hath been demonstrated that any but Jesus Christ or less then an omnipotent Power should be able to Enact any such Law Neither hath our Lord Christ Instituted any Rite or Ceremony in Religion but what will very well suit with the Manners and Customs of all Nations He would never else have commanded his Disciples to teach all Nations to observe all things whatsoever he commanded them Yet so fond is our Answerer of his fancies as to repeat them in telling us That when Christ made void the Law of Ceremonies in the Jewish Church he intended though he gives us no evidence of such his intention to inspire the minds of his Apostles and their Successors with so much soundness and integrity of wisdom and understanding that they should be able by their own Reasons to Enact such Laws and Orders as should preserve the external Vnity of the Church and render Religion so amiable as that it should not be quite naked and destitute of all external Ornament and Beauty In which he expresses but his own vain and carnal thoughts of Religion Christian Religion being certainly most amiable when most suitable to the simplicity of the Gospel the beauty of whose worship consists not in external Rites and Ceremonies in which even where they most exceed it comes far short of the Ceremonies and Ordinances under the Law and yet the
Persons become Members of the Church of Christ are two different Questions and even this which is his own he answers not distinctly for by his first way They become Members only of the Catholick Church visible By his second They become Members also of the Holy Catholick Church the mystical Body of Christ so that without distinguishing what is here and there meant by Church we are not like to be much edified by this Answerer That a visible Profession of Christianity Entitles men to the Priviledges of the Church in the second acceptation of the word may be true which yet with his good leave their Debaucheries and Immoralitys may again deprive them of notwithstanding the Church at Corinths delay in casting out the incestuous person But 't is not every vice or error in a Member of a particular Church that Unchurches them St. Paul therefore might very well own the Church at Corinth for a Church notwithstanding the Debaucheries and Immoralities that were in some of its Members But the tolerating them was certainly a Crime which the Parable of the Tares and Wheat will never justifie for though they were to grow together till Harvest it was not in the Church but in the world for so our Saviour declares the field to be Nor will the parable of the Net and good and bad Fishes contained therein give any more countenance to this fond Assertion that Debaucheries and Immoralities are or may be tolerated in a Christian Church or that Debaucht and Immoral persons are not to be debarr'd the Priviledges thereof If that be as it seems to be this Answerers meaning the Apostle commanding that the Incestuous person be delivered unto Satan i. e. cast out of the Church the Kingdom of God into the world the Kingdom of the Devil Query III. Whether the Parochial Churches within these Nations and the worship therein us'd be according to Christs Institution or the Rule and Order of the Gospel Reply to the Answer to this Query THis Query relating to the former hath respect unto the means whereby Christians become a Church of Christ and aim'd at their Information or satisfaction who doubted whether Co-habitation or mens living together within such or such a Precinct having a Priest or Curate so and so set over them be the formal cause of an Instituted Church of the Gospel And whether such Societies meeting to worship God by certain set or prescribed Forms of Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments be according to Christs Institution or the Rule and Order of the Gospel which this Answerer not thinking good to speak to requiring only the contrary to be showne leaves his Reader therein as much unsatisfied and to seek as before while he troubles himself with enumerating such particulars as are not here questioned nor were ever intrâ—ded by the Query which respected more the manner then matter of worship and formal cause only of an Instituted Church of the Gospel Query IV. Whether it be not the duty of every Christian to withdraw from every Brother that walks disorderly and not after the Traditions received from the Apostles Reply to the Answer to this Query WE have an affirmative answer here which could not well be denyed us since it is but what the Apostle commands But then he tells us from an excellent Expositor what disorderly walking is by which it seems we are only to withdraw from such as withdraw their Obedience from the Church and like disbanded Souldiers run away from their Colours where by the way disbanded Souldiers are improperly said to run away forsake the Service of their Superiours and Commands of their Bishops c. and with such he tells us we are not to have any familiar or friendly conversation But this withdrawing says he concerns only private Persons and yet private Persons are not totally to withdraw themselves from such disorderly walkers till so and so nay even then we are not interdicted all Society with such a Person So that we are little edified by this Answerer or his excellent Expositor as to our duty of withdrawing which they do not convince us ought to be only from the civil conversation of such as withdraw their obedience from the Church or as forsake the service of their Superiours and commands of their Bishops and not also from the Religious Fellowship and Communion of such Bishops and Brethren as in the Worship and Service of God walk not according to the Rule and Order of the Gospel Query V. Whether it be not the duty of every Christian to chuse the Communion of the purest Church And whether in the choice thereof is he bound to follow his own Judgement after the best information he is able to attain unto or other mens Judgements against his own Reply to the Answer to this Query LIttle of what hath been here said is to the matter in Question though in a peevish and froward manner he tells us If there be a purer Church they may betake themselves to it Whereby he seems to acknowledge That it is every mans duty to chuse the Communion of the purest Church Nor does he say that in the choice thereof a man is bound to follow anothers Judgement against his own and if he be not why are any molested for but doing their duty and though possibly they may be mistaken in their choice yet while they are so by misfortune and not their fault God will pardon it and men ought not to punish it at least while therein they hurt none but themselves Yea but says this Answerer They introduce confusion in all the Parishes of this Kingdom in setting up one Altar against another and removing ancient Land-marks expressly against a Divine Prohibition which is not saith he to embrace the Communion of the purest Church but to cast a mans self out of the Catholick Church But does this Learned and Judicious Answerer really believe That they who Separate from a Parochial or National Church do thereby cast themselves out of the Catholick Church Does he believe the French Protestants cast themselves out of the Catholick Church when they Separated from their Parochial Churches or from the National Church of France Or that the Parliament went expressly against a Divine Prohibition in removing an Ancieut Land-mark when they gave new Bounds to St. Martins Parish by taking Covent-Garden out of it And what do they who in this Nation worship God in Assemblies Separate from the Parochial Congregations more then all the Reformed Churches in all Popish Conntries in Europe both do and have done ever since they had a Being and yet I hope they set not Altar against Altar or if they do let him shew the evil of it His objection against Dissenters being let alone or snffer'd to go on in their way in that it will as he says administer occasion to the Enemies of our Religion to come and take away both our Place our Church and Nation is but the old objection the Chief Priests
this Answerer That the not punishing of these is prejudicial both to Church and State the one being thereby over-run with Factions and Seditions and the other as wofull experience tells us with Schisms Heresies and Contentions But our Answerer grows pleasant and plays with his Reader in telling him Dissenters are persecuted to what the Primitive Christians were persecuted from viz. Their Churches or Publick place of Divine worship for Dissenters are not certainly persecuted to their Churches though some may account it a persecution to be compelled unto his There hath been and may be great difference in the Causes as well as Degrees of Persecution but whoever suffers in any kind for his faithful adhering unto the plain and undoubted Commands of his Heavenly Soveraign the Authorâ— thereof will not be excus'd because others have been more barbarous and cruel than they And yet that even these are not as bad as the worst may be ascribed rather to the good hand and providence of God and moderation of those in Authority restraining them than to their good wills or desires The instance he gives us of a Father's correcting his child and the childs crying out Mâ—ther is very impertinent here Parents may correct their children and Princes their Subjects but as the cause makes the Martyr so 't is that must denominate it either persecution or punishment 'T is Christ alone knows who are his yet thus much we shall presume to say That they who persecute him in his Members will not speed better at the great day of account than they whom himself hath told us shall be then rejected but for not visiting and relieving his poor Members when in want in sickness or in any other adversity Query XXVIII Whether since offences will come it be not every ones concern to be more than ordinary careful he involves not himself in that dreadful woe pronounced against those by whom they come Matt. 18. 7. Reply to the Answer to this Query QUoting the Text might have satisfied this Answerer That by offences here no more is understood then what our Blessed Saviour intended when he pronounc't that dreadful wo against those by whom they come and whether they be the persecutions which discourage Christians from owning of his name attending upon his Ordinances adhering unto his Truth or ought else that administers occasion to another to transgress any Law of God neglect his duty or obstruct him in a course of Piety and good works it certainly concerns every one to be more than ordinarily careful he involves not himself in that dreadfull wo pronounced against those by whom they come The Query indeed cautions all to beware splitting on so dangerous a Rock but chargeth none with running or driving others upon it Evil therefore be to him that evil thinks Mr. Baxter as quoted by him says very well That a Minister should not more fear offending his particular flock than offending the Catholick Church but this will neither justifie nor excuse his offending of either And notwithstanding this Answerer's hope he will not find a National Church of humane Institution to have that Authority over its Members even when it shall be determin'd who are so as a private Minister hath over the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made him Overseer Whether Dissenters take no offence as he says but what they bring upon themselves by their own perverted Judgements c. Let them see too who are therein concern'd and must one day answer for it There is no doubt but it may and often does so happen That one man is the occasion of another mans sin and yet the guilt of him who sins not to be changed upon him whose action occasion'd it which yet hinders not but that many may likewise occasion others to sin for which they must be accountable And yet none sure doubts but that as he says in the enacting of Laws Authority is not so much to consider what will please the humours as advance the benefit of those under its Charge and Protection Nor can we have so hard thoughts of any in Authority as to imagine they should make Laws thwart or contradict those that are Divine Nor yet who takes or gives offences for as every one must give an account of himself to God so let every one look to himself and his own duty And as he tells us the day is coming when all mens Disguises and Vizards shall be pull'd off and their most retired thoughts and actions laid open and manifest to men and Angels 〈◊〉 't were well if all men had a serious and due sense thereof and so liv'd and behav'd themselves in the whole course of their lives as to convince the world they spoke as they thought and believ'd as they profest But who are they this Libellous Answerer accuses of charging the Church of England with offences and denying the Magistrates Power and Supremacy in matters of Religion as by Law declared These Queries being no ways guilty thereof for as they respected so they were directed only to such as himself who against the Doctrine of the Church of England and Principles of the Reformation require an Implicit Faith and worse than blind obedience from the People And `t is beyond his Power and malice to find any thing in them inconsistent with their receiving the Holy Eucharist according to Law who scruple not the lawfulness thereof And who are they this Libeller would have to Question not only the Kings Coercive Authority but the whole Ministry and being of the Church of England and accuse her Government of more Tiranny and Persecution then ever yet was objected against her by the most violent of her Romish Adversaries Not those sure who are against secular Force and Compulsion in Religion which is the utmost import of these Queries for then the charge will reach all those Reverend and Learned Divines of the Church of England before mention'd with most others of Name and Fame in the Christian World who have decry'd the same as Unscriptural and Inconsistent with the Precepts of the Gospel and Principles of Christianity and will indeed argue him to be the Person of that evil and depraved temper of spirit he speaks of Yet I agree with him That men Eminent in their Country and such as have a reputation for Knowledge and Wisdom might do more good by their examples than in this Age the Church can do with its censures or Church-men with their instructions But let him be assured none shall ever have a Reputation for Wisdom and Knowledge who give not unto God the things that are Gods as unto Caesar things that are Caesars Fear to whom Fear aud Honour to whom Honour is due And let him not deceive himself in thinking Men of Wisdom and Knowledge separate from the Church because they separate from some Churchmen of vicious and depraved spirits or to have Enmity against that because they will have no Fellowship or Communion with these it not being
tells us His design was to ease men of their former burdens and not to lay on more That the duties he required were no other but such as were necessary and withall Just and Reasonable That he that came to take away the insupportable Yoke of Jewish Ceremonies certainly did never intend to gall the necks of his Disciples with another instead of it and if so did not certainly give Power or Authority unto any to Institute in their room such others as they should think good it would be strange says he the Church should require more then Christ himself did and make other conditions of her Communion then our Saviour did of Discipleship Then asks What ground there can be why Christians should not stand upon the same terms now which they did in the times of Christ and his Apostles Whether Religion were not sufficiently guarded and fenced in them Whether there was ever more true and cordial reverence in the worship of God What Charter Christ hath given his Church to bind men up to more then himself hath done And then tells us The grand Commission the Apostles were sent out with was only to Teach what Christ had commanded them not the least intimation of any Power given them to impose or require any thing beyond what himself had spoken to them or they were directed to by the immediate guidance of the spirit of God What Power or Commission therefore any have since received to Institute such Ceremonies in the Worship and Service of God as they shall think good this Answerer or his Adherents may do well to inform us But instead thereof he tells us Nothing is more evident in the New-Testament than that Christ did intrust those whom he appointed in his absence to be the Ministers of his Church with the Government of it He did so and yet he did not Empower or Authorise them to Institute in the Worship and Service of God such Ceremonies as they should think good But says our Politick Answerer This Government could not subsist without the Enacting of Laws for its own and the Churches preservation for that Christ intended c. How does that appear we find nothing in his Gospel of any such intention nor have we reason to believe he intended any should Enact other Laws for the Government of his Church than what himself Enacted since 't were to deny the Scriptures sufficiency unto that end and its being a perfect Rule of our Faith and Obedience in all Gospel Duties and Administrations and in plain term's to tell us that Christ was not faithfull to him that appointed him as was Moses in all his House in that he left not as did Moses a compleat Volume of Laws for its Rule and Government We wish therefore this Answerer would acquaint us with the Instrument by which the Apostles made over their Authority of Enacting Laws for the Government of the Church to their Successors in that it would tend greatly to their conviction who have hitherto been in an error and very much deceived if the Lord Christ be not the sole Lord over and Law-giver to his Church and that the Apostles neither did nor could Delegate a Legislative Power to their Successors being themselves Ministers only of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Power of the Keys committed unto them not being a Power of giving Laws to the Church but a Power of Teaching and Ruling the Church according to the Laws which Christ himself had given and those as he says not to that present Age of Christians but to all Succeeding Ages in which his Church was to continue in the World they being evey way sufficient to continue and preserve upon Earth a visible Church untill his Second coming But so far this Answerer is in the right That there could have been no such Society if there had been no Law for its Vnity But he should withall have consider'd that there neither could nor can be any Law for its Unity but from an Universal Law-giver the obligation of no Law extending farther then the Iuâ—â—â—â—â—tion or Authority of the Legislator So that it is altogether impossible for any but the Lord Christ to Enact Laws for the visible Unity of Christian Communion in the external Administration of Gods sacred Worship since the Jurisdiction or Authority of none other can reach or oblige all Christians That our Blessed Saviour was greatly concern'd for the Unity of his Church none sure ever doubted But the words quoted by this Answerer from St. Johns Gospel relate not so much to the external visible Unity of the Church as to the internal mystical Union that is between Christ and his Members Yet he tells us That which he would principally have the Reader observe in them is The care that our Blessed Lord and Master took for that great Essential of Christianity the Vnity of the Church No doubt he did both for the internal and external Unity thereof and that not only in his frequent calling on his Disciples to Unity and to love one another making it a Caracteristical note of their relation unto him By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another But also in commanding them to teach the observation of all things whatsoever he commanded them which would all who would be accounted his Disciples likewise observe and do without setting up their Posts as the Prophet speaks by his Posts Unity would not be wanting among Christians nor yet throughout the Christian world a due uniformity in the external Administration of Gods Sacred worship which variety of Rites and Ceremonies in particular Churches destroys And it may be truly enough said by him That it is impossible for the Gospel to be propagated and upheld by Faith and Charity only as they are lodg'd in mens Hearts unless the Fruits of these Graces were exerted in some things that were visible and obvious to sense and therefore outward worship is required that the inward may be exercised and expressed for to talk of inward worship without any outward expressions thereof is but a Cloak for Atheism But for this Answerer to tell us That the Churches Vnity was the main thing that Christ took care of before his Crucifixion That it is the great Essential of Christianity the very being of Christian Religion depending on it And that the main principle of all Christian Amity and affection is the visible Vnity of Christian Communion in the external Administration of Gods Sacred Worship which ought to be Vniform and undevided and then conclude That variety of Rites in one National Church would cause Division of Judgement and of affection Is such an explanation of the Unity of the Church and visible Unity of Christian Communion in the External Administration of Gods Sacred Worship as I think the world was never before blest with For was it the Unity of a National Church only that Christ took such care of and which is the great essential of Christianity or is