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A70493 A vindication of the primitive Christians in point of obedience to their Prince against the calumnies of a book intituled, The life of Julian, written by Ecebolius the Sophist as also the doctrine of passive obedience cleared in defence of Dr. Hicks : together with an appendix : being a more full and distinct answer to Mr. Tho. Hunt's preface and postscript : unto all which is added The life of Julian, enlarg'd. Long, Thomas, 1621-1707.; Ecebolius, the Sophist. Life of Julian. 1683 (1683) Wing L2985; ESTC R3711 180,508 416

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two-fold death one by the Law of God and another by the Law of Man The Thebaean Legion so frighted our Author that he cannot get them out of his mind Poor men they were to sacrifice or be sacrificed They never heard the Doctrine of Resistance preached to them but professed another Doctrine which they received according to the commandment of Christ and practised after his example suffering patiently for well doing They never were in Scotland to learn that there was a reward due to them that should kill tyrannical Princes They never had the examples of a Christians killing Julian and being commended for it in Ecclesiastical History These glorious lights and atchievements were reserved for our blessed Age whereof notwithstanding the Scripture foretold that in the latter days there should be traitors heady high minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof And many such who have called themselves good Protestants have made a shift to die in Rebellion under the pretence of their Religion But the comfort is as our Author says That can never happen to us but by our own treacherie to our Religion in parting with those good Laws which protect it and in agreeing to those that shall destroy it What needs then all these Celeusma's and barbarous clamours of Ho-up against a Popish Successor which may never come or if he should can never do us hurt without our own consent Queen Mary her self could not so much as out a Parish-Priest till she had procured a Parliament for her turn and still kept the Church-lands and by Parliament had the Supremacy setled on her as far as any of her Predecessors enjoyed it And if such things can never happen but by our treachery in parting with those good Laws as protect our Religion and agreeing to such as shall destroy it why are we so willing to part with those whereby that otherwise-impregnable Fortress and Bulwork against Popery is preserved and to make new ones for Comprehension Indulgence and Toleration even of Popery it self as well as other Sects and Factions which is the ready way cast up by our Adversaries to bring us to confusion When it is come plainly to this Dilemma That we must agree to obey our Superiors or perish we must agree among our selves as Brethren or be swallowed up by a common Enemie Yet no Law of God or man can prevail to keep us in obedience to our Governours or Charity among our selves Is not this as neer a way to ruine as our Adversaries can chalk out P. 76. It is a general Notion among the Fathers that we ought to spare our persecutors and not suffer them to be guilty of Murder Gregory gives that as a very good reason of Marcus his flight from Arethusa Gregory gives a better reason than that viz. that he was moved by that Precept of our Saviour Matth. 10.23 When you are persecuted in one City flee ye to another and p. 88. he foresaw that if he had tarried the people might for his defence have risen against the Officers and Souldiers of the Emperour and if they had died then they had been felo's de se To prevent their destruction therefore as well as the guilt of their Persecutors he quietly yielded himself into their hands and though he endured great torments yet as if he had been a felo de se is he as little pitied by Gregory as by his Persecutors for Gregory having noted that this Mark was one of them that saved Julian's life when Gallus was slain for this one thing saith Gregory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he suffered those things deservedly and was worthy to have suffered more This Passive Obedience is an abominable thing In the same p. he relates a passage of Chrysoslom and infers from it that David meant no more than onely to prevent the effusion of innocent bloud as appears by the several opportunities he had to cut off Saul but the sense of his duty made him to abhor the least thought of it This I like so well that I shall transcribe a little more concerning David's behaviour towards Saul out of the excellent Book of Homelies P. 287. Now let David answer to such demands as men desirous of Rebellion do use to make Shall not we being so good men as we are rise and rebel against a Prince hated of God and Gods enemy and therefore likely not to prosper either in war or peace but to be hurtful and pernicious to the Commonwealth No saith good and godly David Gods and such a Kings faithful Subject and so convicting such Subjects as attempt any Rebellion against such a King to be neither good subjects nor good men But say they Shall we not rise and rebel against so unkind a Prince nothing considering and regarding our true faith and painful Service nor the safe guard of our posterity No saith good David whom no such unkindness could cause to forsake his due Obedience to his Soveraign Shall we not say they rise and rebel against our known mortal and deadly enemy that seeks our lives No saith good David who had learned that lesson which our Saviour afterward plainly taught that we should do no hurt to our fellow-subjects though they hate us and be our enemies much less to our Prince though he were our enemy Shall not we assemble an Army of such good fellows as we are and by hazarding our lives and the lives of such as stand with us and withal hazarding the State of our Country remove so naughty a Prince No saith godly David for I when I might without assembling force without tumult or hazard of any mans life or shedding a drop of blood have delivered my self and Country of an evil Prince yet would I not do it Are not they say some lusty and couragious Captains that do venture to kill and depose their King being a naughty Prince and their mortal enemy They may be as couragious as they list yet saith godly David they can be no good or goodly men that so do for I not onely have rebuked but commanded him to be stain as a wicked man which slew King Saul my enemy though he being weary of his life desired that man to slay him What shall we then do to an evil and unkind Prince an enemy to us hated of God hurtful to the Commonwealth c. Lay no violent hands upon him saith good David but let him live until God appoint and work his end by natural death or in War by lawful enemies not by traiterous subjects So far our Homily and if good and godly men answered No to all these Questions they are not of the godly party though they call themselves so who answer Yea to them although it be not against a wicked malicious and Apostate Prince as Saul was but a pious and gracious one P. 77. We are to suffer persecution 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if need be as St. Peters words
according to the Imprecation of David against those that were enemies to so good a King Set thou an ungodly man to have rule over them Regis quando boni sunt muneris est Dei quando mali sceleris est populi When good Kings bear rule it is a token of Gods Favour when wicked ones it is the effect of the peoples Iniquity As Job says Chap. 34.30 juxta Septuag Regnare facit Hypocritam propter peccata populi God takes away good Kings in his anger and sets evil ones in their rooms yea many times for the sins of the people he permits good Princes to fall as he did David in numbring the people that they and their King might suffer under a common Calamity It is an observation of Aeneas Sylvius de Ortu Imperij c. 16. Deus saepe propter peccata Subditorum deprivari permittit vitam Rectorum When Rehoboam hearkned to evil Counsellors 1 Kin. 12.15 The Cause was from the Lord that he might bring to pass his saying c. Now who shall judge whether the thing commanded be for our good or not We have very plain precepts which require our Obedience to Princes in all things that are not against the word of God And we ought to have as plain precepts Affirmative or Negative for the things that we resolve to do or not to do according to the Kings command i. e. Nothing can justifie our disobedience to our Prince except there be as plain Scripture-proofs for the intrinsecal evil of the action commanded as there are for the necessity of Christian Obedience Where is it said Ye must needs disobey your Prince when he commands you to worship God in the publick assemblies or to pray uncovered or to receive the Sacrament on your knees as it is said Let every soul be subject to the higher powers and Submit your selves to every Ordinance of man and Obey Magistrates and them that have the rule over you In this one Common Good of Order and Government many good things are included for as Cicero said de Legibus 3. Without Government neither House City or Nation nor Mankind nor Nature nor the World it self could subsist And St. Chrysostom on Rom. Hom. 23. Take away the higher Power and all goes to wrack neither City nor Family nor Assembly or any thing else can stand the stronger will devour the weaker and all things be turned upside down It is therefore concluded by all Wise men That a bad Prince is better than none For a demonstration whereof the Persians after their Kings death permitted the people to live in a Lawless manner for five days together that after the experience of the outrages and violences committed in the interregnum they might be the more endeared to their Prince Consonant to which is that in Judges chap. 21.16 when there was no King in Israel every one did that which was right in his own eyes which made them on any terms to desire a King 2. We are to obey them that we may silence the ignorance of foolish men that think and speak evil of Christianity as if it set up Christs Kingdom against Caesars and a good Christian could not be a good Subject which slanders we should confute by our peaceable conversations and this will gain us favour at home by mitigating the Princes displeasure or toleration abroad if we be put to flie for our lives when it shall be known that we are of peaceable and patient Conversations The Christian Religion was from the beginning reproached as a disturber of the Secular powers and therefore it was the Care of Christ to clear his Disciples from this Crime by paying tribute and living in subjection to the Rulers of this world that he might give them no offence And the Apostles knowing that they were reported to be Seditious and such as would turn the world upside down have taken all possible care to undeceive the enemies of the Gospel by obliging the professors thereof to obey their Rulers under the greatest obligations that the wit of men could invent So that in case the King do command such things as are evidently forbidden by God we see what is then to be done we must peacebly acquiesce in the providence of God as Tacitus said we may bonos Imperatores voto expetere quoscunq tolerare l. 4. Submit to them as Instruments and Rods in the hand of God correcting or punishing us for our sins God hath the devil himself in a Chain and hath set bounds unto him as in the case of Job whose life he could not take away nor go beyond Gods Commission Commit your selves therefore to God in well doing who hath said Vengeance is mine and I will repay it And as David to Saul 1 Sam. 24.12 The Lord judge between thee and me and the Lord avenge me of thee but my hand shall not be upon thee or as in 1 Sam. 26.10 The Lord shall smite him or his day shall come to dye or he shall descend into the battel and perish the Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lords Anointed We may not impute all that we suffer to our enemies the hand of God is in it and we must as David did acknowledge it to be the Lords doing We must receive evil at the hands of God as well as good and bless him when he takes away as well as when he continues his Mercy to us Jer. 29.7 The Jews were commanded to seek the peace of that City though it were Babylon wherein they were Captives and to pray to the Lord for it for in the peace thereof ye shall have peace and doubtless in the disturbance of it they were like to be the first and greatest sufferers Obj. But may we not resist wicked Princes when they unjusty seek our destruction Ans This says our Author is the Mahometan Doctrine of the Bow-string which I think is a most scandalous if not blasphemous expression For this example our Saviour hath set us who though most innocent and most afflicted yet was most patient under all his sufferings and we must look to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith And it is directly contrary to 1 Pet. 2.19 where in the judgment of all Expositors we are in the same manner to obey Magistrates as Masters i. e. though we suffer wrongfully to take it patiently as our Saviour hath given example who when he suffered he threatned not c. Read chap. 4.12 13. and chap. 3.14 15 c. Those Christians who wrote their Apologies to the Emperours and Governours that were then persecuting of them would not dare to speak any thing but what was an apparent truth yet they all disclaim the practice of Resistance as contrary to the Doctrine that they had received viz. to be Subject to the Higher Powers c. Thus Justine Martyr Lactantius Athenagoras Cyprian c. I shall name one for all We are defamed saith Tertull. ad Scapulam touching the Imperial