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A41779
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A friendly epistle to the bishops and ministers of the Church of England for plain truth and sound peace between the pious Protestants of the Church of England and those of the baptised believers written with the advice of divers pastors and brethren of the baptised congregations, by Tho. Grantham.
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Grantham, Thomas, 1634-1692.
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1680
(1680)
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Wing G1534; ESTC R10561
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15,630
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42
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A Friendly Epistle TO THE Bishops and Ministers OF THE Church of England FOR Plain Truth and sound Peace BETWEEN The Pious Protestants of the Church of ENGLAND AND Those of the Baptised Believers Written with the Advice of divers Pastors and Brethren of the Baptised Congregations By THO. GRANTHAM Follow Peace with all Men and Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. Heb. 12. 14. London Printed in the Year 1680. THE PREFACE TO THE READER THe Complaint is both great and just that Christians are so divided amongst themselves that it 's hard for an impartial Christian to find where to fix for his own comfortable Society And this Calamity is much aggravated by the backwardness of each Party to offer any thing to accommodate these Differences each expecting rather that their Opposites should wholly conform to their Sentiments and relinquish their own And what may be thought in that case of this present Overture we cannot certainly divine nor will be too confident that there is nothing of that nature in it But of this we will be confident that the things here desired do carry much of their reasonableness in the very nature of them and have their approbation both from the sacred Word and the Works of those to whom they now address themselves for a Christian Compliance But it will be said What are the Men that make this Overture Our Answer is We are the Servants of the Living God or We are Christians and having seen the Discords and Ruines which have befallen the Christian Nations do heartily desire those Breaches may be made up And as it is not so 't is hoped it will not be deemed any Transgression of the Law of God or man for any Christians to seek for Peace one with another in the Truth notwithstanding their differing Circumstances in respect of worldly Honours or the disparity of their Education seeing they ought all to be cloathed with humility the strong to bear the infirmity of the weak and not to please themselves The Brother of high degree to rejoyce in that he is made low and the Chief to become Servant to the rest When Paul heard of the Divisions which happened in the Church at Corinth how does he blame them for their Carnality as the cause and bestir himself to recover their Unity in the truth which at first they had received 1 Cor. 1. 10. Now I beseech you Brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no Divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same Judgment Referring them to the Foundation and Rule of all Christian Unity that only Christ was Crucified for them that Christ is not to be divided and that they were baptized in the Name of Christ and that therefore they should not follow any Man but as he follows Christ But it seems this great Apostle did not live to see an end of their Divisions as appears not only from the close of his last Epistle to them 2 Cor. 12. 20 21. but also from the Epistle of Clement who survived him which he wrote upon the occasion of that ungodly Sedition so he calls it which had kindled among them through pride and self-love which he vehemently laboured to extinguish by many Arguments but specially by reducing them to the blessed Example of Christ their Leader and the practise of such as lived after a godly sort His words are these Christ Jesus our Lord the Scepter of the Majesty of God came not in vain boasting of Arrogance and Pride although he could do all things but in humility of mind according as the Holy Spirit had spoken concerning him See beloved Friends what an Example is given unto us for if the Lord was so humble what shall we do who are come under the yoke of his Grace let us stick to these therefore who live godly and peaceably and not to them who hypocritically only seem to desire Peace for somewhere he saith they blessed with their Mouth but with their Heart they cursed for their Heart was not right with Him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant Now if the Points in Controversie among the Christians at Corinth were of as great moment as ours as that may be made evident then 't is as rational for us to seek for concord each with other as it was for Paul and Clement to seek to unite them And hence we are the more desirous to make this present Overture for Christian Amity with the pious Protestants in the Church of England for divers Causes And first As it is very evident there hath bin a great departure from the simplicity of the Gospel both in the Form and Power of it since the plantation of it in the World by Christ and his Apostles so also it is certain that many good Men in Ages past as well as in this present Age have still bin labouring and that often-times under great tryals for the Restoration of the Truth to its Purity some in one point and some in another more especially And here the English Protestant hath bin as active as others some in reforming divers things in Doctrine and Practice others in keeping the ground they have gained against the opposers of Reformation Now this Work as it is of God ought to be carried on in the Nations of the World to its perfection Namely till the Truths of the Gospel be delivered from all humane Innovations which have incumbred it to the disturbance of the peace of Christians in all ages since they found opportunity to croud themselves into the Service of God But the great obstruction of this work of Reformation has bin the falling out of the Reformers among themselves And this is the case of the sober Protestant and the Baptised Believer in this Age and Nation the latter not so honouring the first as he ought with respect to what God hath done by him and the former despising the latter by whom God is pleased notwithstanding to bring to light some antient Truths which the former overslip'd or took not due notice of And by this impatience and disrespect in each towards other they prove inimical to the very Work which in the main they both design to promote It is the way of ingenuous Men in reviving decayed Arts to honour their Predecessors though inferior to themselves and to encourage those that succeed to attempt things more excellent Why are not Christians as ingenuous in their endeavours to restore decayed Religion There is nothing in the Authour of our Profession or the Profession it felf but candor and ingenuity Wherefore if we intend the furtherance of the Work of Reformation hitherto carried on through manifold Afflictions let us timely consider our common Interest which is to make one Shoulder to defend what our Ancestors have worthily atcheived as also to joyn our industry for the restoration of every Truth which
Spirit of Pride and BLOOD-THIRSTINESS from amongst the Christian People And let all that are called by that Name be ashamed that ever such wrath hath bin found amongst them and let them be humbled before thy Majesty in the remembrance of it O Lord we beseech thee Most Gracious God we confess unto Thee we are not worthy to undertake any thing in behalf of the Peace and Vnity of divided Christians But thou O God that despisest not the base and weak things of this World be intreated to bless our present Enterprise as it is consistent with thy pleasure to the good of thy People universally That they may be one in Truth and Peace according to thy Word which is Truth We beseech thee to bow the Heart of the Mighty the Wise and Honorable in the Christian Nations to study Truth and Peace to condescend to any thing for thy Glory and thy Peoples Happiness and we pray that none who are called by thy Name may any longer be puffed up for one and against another O teach those that love Thee to strive together with one mind for the Truth and Power of Religion according to the Gospel Good Lord be intreated for thy Names sake in behalf of all those that are of pious meaning in these Nations especially that their Hearts being intirely knit together in the great and more necessary parts of thy Worship they may Glorifie thy Name with one consent by a charitable forbearance in things which are not sinful in thy sight We intreat Thee our God make us thy Servants ever to be ready on our parts to evidence by act what here we propose in words and grant thy Spirit to enable us herein to serve Thee and all such as fear Thee and love thy Testimonies And grant that none of thy People may uncharitably censure this our undertaking for Concord amongst thy Servants Grant them Patience to consider what is here offered and where we may seem deficient herein lead others to supply what is wanting that through thy Blessing upon our united Endeavours the Good here intended may be prosperously promoted to thy Praise O Lord to the great increase of Charity and therewith to the true comfort of thy People throughout the whole World Even so Lord God Almighty Even so Amen A Friendly Epistle TO All the Bishops Ministers OF THE Church of England Reverend Sirs MAy it please you in the meekness and gentleness of Christ to lay aside a little those exterior Honours which are conferred upon you and to condescend to Men of low degree and in that Condescention seriously to ponder what is herein with Humility and Sincerity submitted to your Consideration We do seriously account it a part of our Infelicity to see the Distractions and Divisions which are in our Land about things relating to the Worship of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ and therewithal it is too evident that the Power of Godliness is much neglected and the Ways of Christianity greatly depraved whereupon many that love the Lord Jesus are so estranged among themselves as to become Adversaries to their own Peace and the Comfort of each other May it then please God to lead us all to the Consideration of these ill Effects and to remove the Causes of them And seeing we may perhaps be under worse Apprehensions concerning one another than there is real cause for let it be calmly considered on both parts that our greatest differences are about Ceremonies And those also of Humane device as we conceive the best of which are not worth the loss of one Soul and therefore in no wise fit to adventure the breach of our Peace and Christian Concord for their sake which may be the cause of perishing to many May it therefore seem well pleasing to you the Bishops of the Church of England with your Brethren of the Ministery to admit of some friendly and free Debate with the Bishops and Teachers of the Baptized Churches in this Nation to try if by any means a way may be found to bring us to Christian Concrd in the Gospel of God To effect this is either impossible or difficult only Not the first sith our differences lie not in the doctrinal part of any Foundation-Article of the Christian Religion so much as in the application or practick part of them For to touch a little the grand points about which we differ viz. Sacred Baptism and the Discipline of the Church of these we spake the same thing for thus you teach That in Baptism there is an inward and spiritual Grace and an outward and visible Sign And that Repentance whereby we forsake Sin And Faith whereby we stedfastly believe the Promises of God made to us in that Sacrament are the things required of all Persons that are to be baptized And hereunto we do most heartily subscribe And touching holy Discipline your Doctrine is That the manner of proceeding in Excommunication is first by gentle Admonition and that once or twice given with the Spirit of meekness if the fault be not notoriously known and next by open reprehension afterwards by publick sentence of the Church to put him from the company of the faithful to deliver him to Satan to denounce him an Heathen and a Publican if no Admonitions will serve and the crimes be very offensive To this Doctrine like wise we do give our full consent Nevertheless it must be granted a very great difficulty as things now stand to reform what is really amiss on your part in the practice relating to those two points of the Christian Religion especially seeing that the worldly interest of so many carnal-minded men seems to depend upon the continuation of the Errors which have befallen you in the practice of these holy Institutes Howbeit this Difficulty is not greater than it was to reform what was as really amiss in that great Ordinance the Lord's Table whether we consider their Error who for many Centuries gave the Communion to Infants or theirs who by their Transubstantiation destroy the very nature of the Sacrament Nor shall we here forget but thankfully remember the great Travel and Sufferings of your Martyrs and the pious Zeal which appeared in many of them when called to reduce that holy Ordinance of the Lord's Supper from many corruptions by which it had been prophaned But yet we must needs condole their shortness in not looking with like diligence into the pristine purity of the other Sacrament By which oversight we which survive them are exposed the more to our present Difficulties And hence we may borrow that passage in 1 Chron. 15. 13. Because ye did it not at the first therefore the Lord our God made a breach upon us for that we sought him not after the due order And here we ought to learn that seeing God would not indulge his Servant David in such an oversight when yet his intention was very pious will have his own Methods duly observed in things pertaining to his Service