any appearance of the face of Religion and may it not be feared that even the Turks and Heathens many of which do exceedingly reverence and honour those that administer their religious Rites and Service will rise up in judgment against many forward Professors of the Gospel who do on the other side as much contemn and despise their Ministers affording them neither countenance nor maintenance which is quite contrary to the Light of Nature and Reason whilst they pretend to the Light of the Gospel and supernatural Revelation The Apostle plainly shews even by Arguments taken from the Light of Nature 1 Cor. 9.7 that the Ministers of the Gospel who labour in the Lord's Vineyard should have due maintenance and encouragement As Tyranny in Church Officers is dangerous and destructive on the one hand swallowing up the liberties of Christian Societies so a Contemptible mendicant Ministry such a Ministry as is enslaved to the dictates and humours of the People is as dangerous and destructive if not more dangerous and destructive to Religion on the other hand as our own reason and daily experience will tell us Fourthly Societies for the solemn Worship of God being agreeable to the Light of Nature and Reason as well as to the Holy Scriptures we may hence gather that every Christian is under an Obligation to joyn himself to one Church-society or other where he may solemnly worship God according to his Judgment and Conscience and not walk at random without rule and order for as he should worship God in secret so being a member or part of the Church of God which is a Body politick he ought to manifest it by being visibly united to other parts of the Body And although Churches are much divided and corrupted at this day yet seeing there are many true Churches of Christ and some of them purer and more agreeable to his own Judgment than others he is bound by the Ordinance of God and this the very light of Nature and Reason will also suggest unto him to joyn and adhere to that Society which he judgeth to be most pure and most agreeable to the Rule of Scripture and his own professed Principles All Nations throughout the World that acknowledge a Deity are convinc'd even by the light of Nature that it is their duty to associate themselves with others for the participation of those Religious Rites and Ordinances that belong to the Worship of that Deity which they acknowledge Fifthly It is an irrational absurd thing and argues an Imposing spirit as any rational impartial man may easily judge to make that to be a ground and condition of Church Communion which the most holy wise God hath not required in His Word What will men be wiser than God will they lay Burthens on the Consciences of their Fellow-Christians where God hath left them free As this practice of theirs opposeth the Word of God and the Christian moderation of the purest Primitive Church so it riseth up with a high hand against the Light of Reason which would have us do no more to others in things of this nature than we would have them do unto us What reason can be given why Christians now should not stand upon the same terms and grounds of Church Communion which they did in the times of Christ and His Apostles Or that they should be bound up to more than Christ hath obliged them unto Or that any should be excluded from Church Communion who have Communion with Christ and shall be admitted into His heavenly Kingdom Surely this is unreasonable The question is not whether the things commanded and required be lawful or no nor whether Indifferencies may be determin'd by the Church or the Magistrate But Whether those persons do in a rational way consult the Advancement of the Protestant Cause the Churches Peace and Unity and the benefit of Brotherly Communion who suspend it upon such things as God hath not made the Ground of Church-Communion and is contrary to the Example and Practice of Christ and His Apostles for they would lay no other Burthen upon the Churches besides the things that were necessary Acts 15.29 Doubtless the main Inlet of those Divisions and Confusions that have been and are yet in the Christian World was and is by adding other Conditions of Christian Communion than Christ hath appointed Hereof none are more guilty though none more apt to accuse and condem others than the Schismatical Church of Rome who by adding to the Rule of Faith and to the true Grounds of Church Communion hath caused no small Trouble to the Churches of Christ which come to be establish'd in Peace not by rigorous Impositions but by mutual forbearance and condescention in such Indifferencies as are not determined in Scripture And this our own reason will tell us that the Unity and Peace of the Church lies not so much in a bare Uniformity in Opinion and Practice touching these things as in an unity of Love and Affection and a prudent forbearance and moderation for which Christian moderation the Primitive Church is much commended and herein we should imitate her She judged it saith the Ecclesiastical Historian (g) Sozom. Hist Eccles l. 7. cap. 19. and that very justly a foolish and frivolous thing for those that agree in the weighty matters of Religion to separate from one anothers Communion for the sake of some petty Customs and Observations For Churches agreeing in the same Faith often differ in their Rites and Customs And withall he tells us of many Cities and Villages in Egypt not only differing from the Customs of the famous Church of Alexandria but from all other Churches besides in their publick Assemblies on the Evenings of the Sabbath and receiving the Eucharist after Dinner And thus they freely allowed liberty unto and did not rigorously Impose upon dissenters in matters of this nature carrying themselves towards them with much moderation and sweetness of deportment without making such observances in Worship as were disputable and not clearly determined in Scripture the Indispensable Conditions of Communion with a particular Church And what reason can be alledged for such Injunctions Is not the Rule of Church Communion plainly laid down and fix'd by Christ himself to the things which he hath Commanded Matth. 28.19 20. After this when some persons would have impos'd the Mosaical Rites and Ceremonies for which there was yet more Ground than for our Impositions the Apostle bids the Churches stand fast in their liberty so as not to be the servants of men in these things yea and after the Apostles days when Victor Bishop of Rome would have imposed on other Churches in the point of observing Easter he was worthily condemned by Irenaeus and others If it be lawful for any persons or Churches to assign unscriptural conditions of their Communion will it not hence follow That Christ hath fixed no certain Rule of Communion among Christians which doubtless he hath done as appears plainly in the Scriptures And if
such persons or Churches may devise and assign new Rules and Conditions of Church Communion where shall the bounds and limits be set Reason it self will tell us that there will be no end no bottom of it some men especially being witty to devise a multitude of Ceremonies and outward Observances whereof Augustine himself complained in his days and which sufficiently appears in the Church of Rome in our days Sixthly The Light of Nature and Reason will also inform us that such as are admitted into a Church Society should freely consent to be governed by the Laws and Rules of it Nor can those be look'd upon rationally as stated members of a Society that will not submit to the Rules of the Society as they were constituted at the time of their entrance into it if they will partake of the Priviledges of a Society 't is but reasonable that they should submit to the Laws of it and perform those Duties that are incumbent upon them as members of it otherwise they do but weaken and not strengthen the Society whereof they are members Yea it is highly rational that in a well ordered Society every offendor should give an account of his Actions to the Governors of it and submit to the Censures inflicted upon him by them that so the Society may be preserved in peace and order and the Laws and Ordinances of it administred with authority and success And when a Christian is actually joyned in Church Society with others he should not upon slight grounds break off Communion but should continue still with them till his Communion become sinful for there is nothing in Scripture or Reason that can justifie a total separation from such a Society but the unlawfulness and sinfulness of continuing any longer in it Though there be many defects in that Society as there are in all the visible Churches of Christ yet if there be nothing Imposed upon him that is sinful but he may partake of the Ordinances of Christ without Sin he ought not to withdraw from such a Society A Christian may easily discern by the light of reason That if Church-members will withdraw upon every slight occasion and make themselves Judges of the Grounds of their withdrawing there will be no end of separation and withal this practice which is so common will at length be ruinous and destructive to the peace and order of every Church Society Indeed the Case is otherwise where a Church is guilty of great Corruptions both in Doctrine and Practice which it awoweth and professeth and also requireth the owning them as necessary conditions of Communion with her in such a case there ought to be a withdrawing from the Communion of that Church in which we cannot continue without Sin this is no Schism but rather the Duty of every Christian who ought to abstain from that Communion by which he will contract guilt upon his own Soul The departure therefore of a Christian from a Church is either lawful or schismatical according to the reasons and grounds of it which ought to be wisely and diligently inquired into before it be undertaken So long as we may communicate with a true Church of Christ of which we are stated members without Sin though there be some Corruptions tolerated but not imposed by her we should not utterly forsake her Communion but endeavour to preserve the Society and in a sober rational way to reform those Corruptions and Abuses according to our Places and Callings Seventhly The Law of Nature and Reason dictates to us That all things in a Religious Society should be administred with much seriousness and gravity and not in a slight superficial manner which causeth much lightness and vanity of Spirit in the members of it whereas the Governors and Ministers of such Societies should so manage the Affairs thereof that the Ordinances and ways of God may be rendered awful and majestical and not vile and contemptible in the Eyes of the People by their means God will be reverenced in Church Assemblies where nothing should be done or practised but what becomes the Majesty of God and his Holy Worship If there be much disorder and confusion neither Ministers nor People duly keeping their places in a Church Society this must needs be displeasing unto God as being very unsutable to the nature of his Church and Worship which requires the greatest order and seriousness Here certainly if if in any Assembly all things should be done decently and in order nor should scandalous vicious persons be admitted to the participation of the Sacred Mysteries of Christ in his Churches for if these things be promiscuously used and made common to good and bad they will in a rational way lose their lustre and become contemptible and so they are at this day in those Church Societies where no Discipline at all is exercised What 's the reason that Religion flourished so much and that there was so great a veneration of the Mysteries of Christ in the Primitive times but because they used much strictness and Christian prudence in their admission of Church-members as is fully described by Origen and others who tell us that they inquired into the Conversations of the People to discover their seriousness in the profession of Christianity and requir'd of them true repentance and reformation of life before they were admitted to the participation of the Sacred Mysteries And Justin Martyr in his Apology speaking of the Celebration of the Lords Supper tells us That there was required of those persons that were admitted to the Lords Supper a profession of Faith in the Truths of the Gospel and a Life answerable thereunto without which it was not lawful for them to participate at the Lord's Table This causeth the Mysteries of God to be reverenced but where there is a promiscuous Admission and Administration and none excluded that will offer themselves this will in a short time take away that Majesty and Authority that should accompany such Holy Administrations in Church-Assemblies Eighthly The Light of Nature and Reason will tell us that there must be a way or means to determine and decide Controversies and differences arising in such a Society which immediately tend to the breaking the Peace and Unity thereof otherwise there would not be sufficient provision made for the maintenance and preservation of the Society Now this must in reason be supposed in all Societies That when they are first entred into it must be upon such terms as may be sufficient to maintain and keep up those Societies in peace and order The Body of Man is furnish'd by Nature not only with a receptive and concoctive faculty of what tends to its nourishment but with an expulsive faculty of what would tend to the ruine of it Thus it is also with Civil Societies they have not only ways to strengthen them but likewise a power to expel those noxious humours and qualities which tend to their dissolution and doubtless the Church of Christ which is a Religious
be born like a wild Asses Colt In the Hebrew there is an elegant Paranomosia Vain man or as the word may be rendered hollow or empty man though he be foolish and ignorant would seem to be wise and rational if he knew how Doubtless God will curse and blast that profane wit and knowledge which despiseth the simplicity of Christs Gospel and will not captivate it self to the obedience of Faith Fourthly When the reasonings or rational argumentations of men are unseasonably and excessively used in divine things the nature of the matter not requiring it then are such reasonings dangerous Hence some of the Fathers are justly censured and the Schoolmen much more for mixing and adulterating the Truths of the Gospel with the Reasons of Philosophers which are no better then Paralogisms and Impostures if mixed with and added to the pure Word of God and the great and glorious Mysteries of Christ Fifthly Then do men abuse their humane Reason and Knowledge when they use needless subtilties quirks and quidditties in debating the great Truths of the Gospel which should rather be humbly believed admired and adored then subtilly disputed Even amongst the Heathens themselves and in all Religions they have had some sacred Mysteries and Secrets that were to be adored and not curiously pried into and disputed by the subtil reasonings of men and whoever did profanely dispute thereof were severely punished Sixthly and Lastly Mans Reason is abused and perverted and proves to be of dangerous consequence when it is made not only an Instrument but a Judge in matters of Faith some there are that seem to depress Reason too much but on the other side the Socinians exalt it too high for they make it not only an Instrument but a Judge and thereupon reject and contemn the greatest mysteries of the Christian Religion because they cannot fathom and comprehend them by their Reason 'T is true there are some that say Religio est summa ratio and there are great learned Men that have endeavoured to prove the truth of the Christian Religion by the Light of Reason and certainly if we can by Reason prove that there is any Religion at all we may by the same reason prove the truth and excellency of the Christian Religion as I have shewed in this Treatise but yet mans Reason is but a weak glimmering uncertain thing in comparison of Faith Ratio recta est ratio lumine Spiritus sancti directa Nor must we confound the Instrument and the Judge Holy Truths Scripture Truths and Mysteries they are divine and supernatural though hammered out and improved by Reason As the Smith that takes Golden plate and beats it into what shape he pleaseth his Hammer doth not make it to be Gold for so it was before but only Gold of such a shape so Reason doth not make a Truth divine or add any thing to the divine authority of it but only holds it forth and declares it in such a way or method It is with Faith and Reason saith a Learned man as with the mould that is at the root of a barren fruitless tree take the mould out and throw in dung or other compost and then put the mould in again and it will much help the tree which hindered it before thus lay aside Reason at first and receive the Truth of God by Faith and afterward improve Faith by Reason and so it will be of excellent use to a Christian Divine Truths are not founded on Reason but on the Authority of God in the Scriptures yet Reason may help to bear them up as you see the Elm or Wall bear up the Vine but the Elm or Wall doth not bring forth the fruit only the Vine doth that As long therefore as the Light of Nature and Reason is not the Rule but ruled and squared by the Word of God as it ought to be there is no danger but when mans Reason is made the Rule and divine Mysteries are vassaliz'd and subjected thereunto this must needs be preposterous and dangerous and therefore to be abhorr'd and avoided by all sober Christians whose Faith should not stand in humane Wisdom and Reason but in the Demonstration and Power of the Spirit of God FINIS Books sold by Thomas Passenger at the three Bibles on London-Bridge A French and English Dictionary composed by Mr. Randolph Cotgrave Folio A Mirror or Looking-glass for Saints and Sinners shewing the justice of God on the one and his mercy towards the other Set forth in some thousand of examples by Sam. 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