but in words or very narrow seem more material wide and dangerous than they are and shall hereupon proclaim their Brethren to be heretical or blasphemous and use to revile them and renounce Communion with them and would silence the Pastors if it were in their Power These under the Name of the Ministers of Christ do powerfully militate for the Devil against the Love and Peace of Christians and are the pernicious Incendiaries in the Churches of Christ. Q. 5. What is the Magistrates Power and Duty about Religion and the Churches and Ministers of Christ Answ. I shall say more as to their Power than as to their Duty because I know not how it will be endured or how that counsel will be taken or followed which is not desired It more concerneth us to consider of our own duty to them 1. All the forcing Power about matters Ecclesiastical whether by corporal Penalties or forced Mulcts belongeth only to the Magistrate Besides what Parents and Masters may do And if any Pastors use it it must be as Magistrates receiving it from the Soveraign And the Sword is so unseemly in a Pastors hand and so ill taken by the people and so adverse to the persuasive Loving Government which he must exercise and hath ever been of such unhappy effects to the World that it were to be wished that Princes would keep their Sword from the Clergy to themselves and commit it to such Officers as have not so much other work to do and are not so likely to abuse it 2. If any Pastors will declare that Princes are bound to punish men meerly as Excommunicated by them without any tryal of the Cause before themselves or Officers and will Excommunicate Magistrates for not Imprisoning Banishing or Burning or otherwise afflicting those whom the Clergy have Excommunicated or judged to be so used Much more if any will teach and declare that Excommunicate Kings are no Kings yea though a Foreigner that hath no Power over them Excommunicate them or that they may be kill'd as Tyrants or that the Pope or any other have Power to depose them and dispose of their Dominions see the Council at Lateran under Innocent 3d. Can. 3. and the Council at Rome under Gregor 7. If such be Subjects they are injurious to the Civil Power If they are Foreigners they are open declared Enemies 3. The Office and Power of Kings and other Magistrates is from God and their lawful Commands are to be obeyed for Conscience sake and not to avoid their Punishments only 4. Their Office is to promote Obedience to God and to his Laws by making Subordinate Laws of their own and to be a terrour to Evil-doers and a Praise and Encouragement to them that do well 5. The Clergy as well as others must be subject to Kings and Magistrates Nor is it tolerable Doctrine which would exempt their Persons or Estates except it be by the King's consent 6. Princes must not only promote natural Obedience to the true God but also the special Faith and Obedience of the Gospel by means which are suitable thereunto 7. Princes may make Laws forbidding the Publication of all pernicious Damning Doctrines and the Practice of Idolatry and of all great and notable Crimes against the Law of God and may Correct the Offenders by convenient Penalties with Prudence and Moderation 8. If heretical covetous or lazy Pastors corrupt God's Word and Worship notoriously or neglect their certain Duty to the betraying or endangering of the Flocks or are persons uncapable of the Office the Magistrate may drive them on to their Duties and moderately and prudently punish them for their negligence and unfaithfulness and may forbid the uncapable to exercise that Office 9. Such Circumstances of Worship and Orders of Assemblies before instanced as are fit for Common Determination and Agreement in all the Churches being such whose Determination is not proper to the Pastors Office may on moderate terms and by religious advice be determined of by Magistrates And all their lawful Determinations must be obeyed 10. There needeth not the device of Popes or Patriarchs to call Councils or to keep Peace among the Pastors of the Church For the Magistrate must do it as a great part of the work of his Office Every Soveraign may call such Pastors unto Councils as are his Subjects And several Princes by agreement may call their respective Subjects together when there is Cause And proper Universal Councils as is shewed are things which never were known nor are not to be expected And it must be a very extraordinary necessity which must warrant the Pastors of several Kingdoms to hold Councils together when they are forbidden by their Kings Princes also may correct Church-Tyrants and Usurpers and Destroyers of Faith or Piety or Peace They ought to restrain such Pastors as would raise Seditions or Rebellions or Persecutions of the Innocent or that pretend Religion for the open and obstinate revilings of their Brethren and are proved to be unquiet Firebrands to kindle Dissentions and destroy Mens Love to one another or arbitrarily to oppress the Flocks 11. When any question Who must be Iudge in cases of Heresie Infidelity or Idolatry as divulged or practised the true answer is obvious and easie 1. In regard of publick Ecclesiastical judgment and the Sentence of Excommunication or Absolution the Pastors of the Church are the proper Judges by virtue of the power of the Keys 2. In regard of publick civil judgment in order to corporal forcible punishment or impunity as there is just cause the Magistrate is the only publick Judge 3. In regard of that private judgment of discerning by which every rational person must know his own Duty both to God and Man and discern when and how far to obey Man without disobeying God every such rational person is a Iudge that is a Discerner of what he ought to do And Christ always the final Judge 12. Yet may not the Magistrate invade the Pastoral Office it self nor Ordain or Dâ—grade Ministerâ— in that Spiritual Sense as it is committed to Church-Guides nor Administer the Sacraments nor exercise the proper power of the Church Keys which Christ committed to Church Officers by such Excommunications or Absolutions as are proper to that power nor may they hinder the â—astors from the due performance of their Office in matter or manner Nor forbid the necessary Preaching of the Gospel or publick worshipping of God by all or any of his Ministers But are bound to promote it with studious diligence as Patrons of the Church 13. But if they should forbid us the necessary Preaching of God's Word or necessary assembling for God's publick Worship as we must not account those seasons and circumstances necessary which are unnecessary so that which is necessary indeed we must not desert till we are disabled to perform it seeing it is greater Sacrilege if we alienate a person consecrated to God in so sacred an Office than if we should alienate conseorated Goods
Power and Duty about Religion and the Churches and Ministers of Christ and the Peoples to Magistrates further opened in a Treatise of NATIONAL CHURCHES Chap. I. The Necessity of Concord THE Judgments of all wise and sober men must needs disallow both the Practice of Division and unwarrantable Separation from the Churches of Christ and the common Liberty for Gathering Churches out of Churches now pleaded for and too much practised by many and also the Occasioning of Divisions and Separations by over rigorous proceedings with tender Consciences and imposition of unnecessary things and too much severity against those that through infirmity are guilty of some culpable Divisions and Uncharitableness For it 's not this Oil that will quench these flames In order to the healing of our dangerous Divisions I think it meet to deliver my thoughts in the ensuing Method 1. To shew the Evil of our Divisions and of the common practice of Private Separated Churches where in Publick there are able godly faithful Ministers and such Publick Churches as may lawfully be owned For I meddle with no other case 2. To shew what the agreeing Publick Ministers should do on their parts for the prevention and cure of these Distractions 3. To give you the true state of the Differences that have occasioned them 4. To propound those Terms by which a safe Reconciliation may be made 5. To which I should add if it were not for being thought too bold or confident the Magistrates Duty both in order to our Agreement and in case we will not be agreed I. Though I take not a Private Meeting or a Tolerated Private Church for so odious a thing in it self considered as some do but confess that such may be Good or Evil as the Cause of the Assemblies the Aspect of the Times and other Circumstances and Accidents shall make them and doubt not but there may be warrantable Separations from one or many particular Churches where the blame may lie upon the Churches and the Private Assemblies sometimes may be more justifiable than the allowed Publick ones yet as unnecessary Separations and Divisions are a great transgression so what the Aggravations of that transgression are and what wrong the Cause of God receives from the Differences among the godly themselves and the Divided and Private Congregations that are gathered by occasion of these differences in many parts of England I shall briefly shew 1. When in one and the same Parishes the boundaries of the ordinary Churches as to habitation there shall be divers Churches one Publick and one Private it will ordinarily cause great Disaffection and Contention among the Christians of that place There will be Pastor against Pastor and People against People and one will be accusing another according to their several apprehensions and making the waies and consequently the persons of each other to he odious or unacceptable to others And hereby Christian Love will be much quenched and Unity and Concord much overthrown and all the Effects of Love abated and the odious remnants of Uncharitableness Malice and Emulations will revive Too common and sad experience puts this out of doubt Alas what Factious Doctrine for Parties and against Parties are usually managed in Publick and Private where these Divisions once appear What unconscionable Censures pass too often on one side or both What bitter unchristian taunts and scorns and reproachful words When publick Writings so abound with these and the Press is become the common scold and the most unchristian Language is spoken so familiarly to all the Land and uncharitableness and fury are afraid of being concealed no wonder if in private among those that are pleased with such discourse the Preacher sit in the Scorners Chair 2. Uncharitableness and Divisions are as plainly urgently and frequently prohibited and condemned in the Word of God as almost any sins that are And Love and Unity Peace and Concord are prest as much as any Duty of Man to Man Certainly these Great Obligations are such as smaller matters cannot dispense with And wonderful it is that so many thousand that abhor the Popes dispensing with Oaths and Promises and Subjects Duties and with some of the positive commands of God can yet without remorâ—e of Conscience so easily so long so confidently dispense with the greatest Duties of Man towards Man even with Charity it self and the effects of Charity He that must owe nothing else must owe Love Rom. 13. 8. Love is the fulfilling of the Law Verse 10. Every Commandment of the Second Table is briefly fulfilled in Loving our Neighbours as our selves Verse 9. Yea he loveth not God that loveth not his Brother 1 Iohn 4 21. Love is of God and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God He that loveth not knoweth not God For God is Love 1 Iohn 4 7 8. If we love one another God dwelleth in us and his Love is perfected in us Verse 12. God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him Verse 16. If any Man say I love God and hateth his Brother he is a Liar For he that Loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he Love God whom he hath not seen And this Commandment have we from him that he that Loveth God Love his Brother also Verse 20 21. Every one that Loveth him that begat Loveth him that is begotten also 1 Iohn 5. 1. We know that we have passed from Death to Life because we Love the Brethren He that Loveth not his Brother abideth in death Whosoever hateth his Brother is a Murderer and you know that no Murderer hath Eternal Life abiding in him 1 Iohn 3. 14 15. Yea we ought to lay down our Lives for the Brethren Verse 16. This is the New and frequently urged Command of Christ that we Love one another Iohn 13. 34. and 15. 12 17. Gal. 5. 14. Iam. 2. 8. This is it that we must provoke each other to Heb. 10. 24. and that must continue Heb. 13. 1. We must Love one another with a pure Heart â—ervently 1 Pet. 1. 2â— Yea by Love we must serve one another Gal. 5. 13. And Paul took this to be so Essential to our Sanctification that he tells the Thessalonians 1 Thes. 4. 9. that as touching Brotherly Love he need not write to them for they were taught of God to love one another And can that be the way of God that dispenseth with so Essential a part of Holiness or that secretly and unobservedly extinguisheth this holy Love Let Experience teach you whether the present way of private separated Churches be not the opening a Shop or Forge for Military Engines against each other And under pretence of defending Truth whether they be not the Nurseries of uncharitable Wars among the Servants of the Lord And then as Love is extinguished so the sinful fruits of the contrary Vice do by such Divisions prosper and abound And what weekly Bills of heinous sins might we see that are
whereby they are carried as for the interest of the truth to make their Adversaries be thought to be ignorant erroneous or bad and so to make one another seem less amiable to the ruine of Love and the division and danger of the Churches And because Love and Unity are so frequently and vehemently pressed in the Scriptures and Divisions or Schism so much forbidden 16. All these are sinful Schismatical Separations but in very different degrees 1. When the interest of some Heresie or lesser Errour and the disclaiming of some truth doth cause men to separate 2. When they slander a true Ministry as no true Ministry and so separate 3. When they slander a true Church as no true Church 4. When they separate because they accuse true worship to be Idolatry or lawful worship to be unlawful 5. When they falsly accuse the Churches Faith Worship or Order to be defective and to want some necessary part As the Papists do by the Protestants who take up with the Scripture-Religion alone 6. When they accuse some tolerable failing in the Church to be intolerable and such as maketh their Communion unlawful 7. When they separate from the Church because of the Holiness and Strictness of its Doctrine and just Discipline which crosseth them in their Sin or because they hate the Purity of its Worship and Obedience 8. When they separate because that they have not a part in the Government of the Church themselves in receiving Members or censuring them or because they may not be Teachers of the Church or otherwise invade the Pastoral Office 9. When Pride or Coveteousness maketh them separate through personal distaste at the Pastors or any Members for want of respect or honour or gain or upon supposed injuries 10. When the Minor part separate because they have not their own will against the Major part in the choice of Ministers or in other Church-Affairs in which they have just cause to acquiesce 11. When they over-value their own Conceits and doubtful Opinions and their own indifferent Modes or words of Circumstances of Worship or Order so that they think it needful to separate to enjoy them 12. When they expect that the Pastors should Excommunicate or deny the Communion of the Church to such as they account unfit without any accusation and proof or true Church-justice And do separate from the Communion where such are received as unlawful for themselves 13. When they separate upon this false Supposition that their presence maketh them guilty as Consenters of all the Ministers Errours in the Doctrine or Method or words of his Preaching Praying or other Administrations 14. When they separate because the Church will not forbear the Singing of David's Psalms the Baptizing of Infants or some other such part or order of God's Worship 15. When they separate because they will not consent to the lawful Circumstances of Time Place Translation Metre Tunes Utensils or Methods which the Church doth use These all are unlawful Separations But the great aggravations are when they separate to set up Heretical Doctrine and Teachers or false Church-Orders and Worship corrupted in the Essentials or to promote ungodliness or to rail at others from whom they separate and to cherish Divisions to the injury of the common Christian Cause 17. These following are lawful Causes of Separation 1. When the Pastors are really no Ministers of Christ but uncapable or uncalled Usurpers or Hereticks or Infidels or open Enemies to Piety who do more harm than good and set themselves to destroy the Church of God and the ends of their Ministry 2. When the Church maketh not Profession of the Christian Faith or are not baptized or visible Christians 3. When the worship of the Church is Idolatry or such for the Substance as God will not accept nor it is not lawful to joyn in 4. When the Church renounceth or omitteth any Ordinance of God which the whole Church must ordinarily perform and which all things considered it is not lawful to omit 5. When after due admonition the Church is turned into a Theatre of Contention and a School of Malignity and reviling the Brethren and of destroying Christian Love to others or of promoting Schism to the intolerable wrong of the people and of others and of the Cause and Churches of Christ. 6. When after due Admonition and Patience the Church so far renounceth Discipline as openly to own and justifie such wickedness or heinous Sins as are inconsistent with the true Profession of Christianity and Godliness 18. And if the unsoundness badness or weakness of the Pastors and the faultiness of the Worship Order or Discipline be not so great as to make Communion with the Church sunply unlawful yet any free man whose Edification is greatly hindered by it and can elsewhere have far greater helps for his Salvation and joyn with a Church which walketh more conformably to the Christian Rule may lawfully remove himself to such a Ministry and Church when it is not to the greater hurt of others than his own good Especially such whose ignorance weakness and deadness maketh a lively and convincing Ministry more needful to their safety and welfare than it is to others For it is a Sin Caeteris paribus to prefer the worse before the better and a sin to neglect the best means for our Souls which we can lawfully enjoy And the Soul is more precious than to be hazarded or left in sin and darkness for an unnecessary Circumstance Nor is it any sinful Separation or Disorder for the Members of one Church to communicate occasionally with other Churches of Christ seeing our relation to the Universal Church is more strict and inviolable than to any particular Church as such Also in case of removal of our Habitations or change of our Family Relations or other the like Reasons it is lawful to remove from one Church to another without any unjust censuring of that which we remove from And if the first Church will not consent after due means for their satisfaction we may remove without their consent 19. He that is denied Communion with the Church unless he will speak or subscribe some falshood or take any false Oath or make any unlawful promise or commit any other sin is sinfully cast out or repulsed by the Imposer and is not guilty of Schism or sinful Separation by denying to commit such imposed sin And he that only removeth from the place of meeting with the Pastor and Church when they remove and doth not withdraw from the Church it self or that adhereth to his lawful Pastor and part of the Church when the rest of the Church adhere to an Usurper is not to be judged guilty of Schism for such avoiding of Schism 20. The principal care for the avoiding of Schism and for maintaining Unity and Love is incumbent on the Pastors of the Church whose first work must be to preserve this Love and Unity in their particular Churches to prevent withdrawing into separating Churches