5. 3 12 13. of which we have given account already They may not despise or set at nought a Weak Brother but I hope being invested with a just Authority you will allow them to reprove and upbraid such as are wilfully ignorant upon a supine Carelesness or something worse Upon such an account sure they may say with the Royal Prophet Psal 94. 8. O ye fools when will ye understand and have they not our Lords example to say to such O fools and slow of heart to believe and they have the great Apostles practice I am sure to bear them out if they should say to such as trouble and disturb the Peace of the Church O Gal. 3. 1. foolish Dissenters who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth But so far are they from putting a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in their Brothers way that they endeavour to put him into the right way wherein if he has eyes in his head and will follow their Direction he shall be sure not to stumble But when our Superiours they have made the way plain and smooth and easie according to the truth of the Gospel If such as this Reconciler shall throw in their Rubbish and Stones of offence to obstruct it and then these Brethren will dash their foot willingly against it and stumble at it Their Fall is willful and they must thank themselves for the hurt they take by it I deny not but Governors in some sense are concerned to please the Subjects But a man may please others both to his own and to their destruction as Theod. ad Rom. 15. 1. I must not gratifie him in his Schism and Sedition to please him for that would betray him to damnation I must please him only to his good to his edification in the obedience of the Gospel that he may be saved to this end it may be a Governors Duty to grieve him 2 Cor. 2. 2 for there is a godly sorrow which worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7. 10. And he that can bring a soul to this tho his methods may seem severe yet among wise and sober Christians his Discipline as well as his Liberty will be well spoken of When he tells us of destroying him with our meat for whom Christ died that to return him some of those Givilities which he bestows on his Meisner is but one of his repeated fooleries for it can concern no man but a Jew or a Jews fellow in whose account some meats and drinks are still common and unclean and this Reconciler does acknowledge p. 74 75. that now the Apostles instructions of forbearance are out of date as to them their stubbornness having cut them off from all Title to our Charity in that kind And for the Roman-Catholicks tho they abstain sometimes from such and such meats yet they profess they do it Non quod conscientiam polluant suâ immunditie sed inobedientiâ Conte ad Rom. 14. And therefore when we eat with them we see they are in no more danger to be destroyed by our liberty than we are upon the account of their forbearance And thus it was among the Christians in Theodorets * Hee consuetudo in hunc usque diem mansit in Ecclesiis haec quidem abstinentia amplectituri ille vero omnibus esculentis absque ullo scrupulo vescitur nec hic illum judicat nec ille alterum reprehendit sed eos claros insignes reddit Lex Concordiae Theod. ad Rom. 14. Lat. ver Parisiis 1608. time See the Margin If that would serve his turn we readily grant that S. Paul was most certainly an excellent Church-Governor and had as much power as any of his Successors in Church-matters and we will allow him something more but did he never vary his Rules and shift his Battery according to the condition of the Persons whom he attempted to subdue to the obedience of the Gospel He did sometimes condescend when it was Prudence and Charity so to do but when out of weakness he perceived men became Head-strong when from tenderness they grew restive and obstinate then he became resolute and positive He was a notable Orator as S. Chrysost observes of him and used all the innocent Haec autem dicit ut eos anticipet blandiendo ut laudum Cupidine capti tales praestare se studeant ut digni possint haberi quos efferant omnes Laudibus prosequantur Inter. Theophilact ad Rom. 15. 29. Arts of Rhetorick to insinuate and gain upon the people and many times he used Hyperbolies vehemency and excesses of expression that his perswasion might be the more powerful and make the deeper impression Such is that to the Galathians for I bear you record that if it had been possible Gal. 4. 15. ye would have plucked out your own eyes and have given them to me And such is that to the Thessalonians So being 1 Thes 2. 8. affectionately desirous of you we were willing to have imparted unto you not the Gospel of God only but also our own souls because ye were dear unto us Such is that 1 Cor. 8. 13. to the Corinthians Wherefore if meat make my Brother to offend I will eat no flesh while the world standeth lest I make my Brother to offend And of the same 1 Cor. 9. 19 20 21 22. kind is that For though I be free from all men yet have I made my self servant to all that I might gain the more And unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews to them that are under the Law as under the Law that I might gain them that are under the Law To them that are without the Law as without Law being not without Law to God but under the Law to Christ that I might gain them that are without Law To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some Here was great truth and sincerity in these Condescentions but we must understand these pro hic nunc When he had to deal with a Jew apart he treated him with all possible lenity and sweetness and Christian compliance and so he did by the Gentile when he had him by himself but this was by way of Dispensation to draw them in to embrace the Gospel But when the Jew and Gentile came together these methods of compliance were useless and unpracticable we have the very Case reported by S. Paul himself upon the congress of the Jew and Gentil Christian at Antioch where the Apostle was not nay he could not be so compleasant as to be all things to all men He withstood S. Peter to the face c. Gal. 2. 11 12 13 14. And thus a man may carry himself toward Dissenting Parties he may privately Coax and Flatter a Dissenter in his errors and comply with his weakness thinking
both ears and the people shall be acquainted with it to judge of their gross neglect But of this we shall have a more fit occasion to discourse anon At present we are to observe That tho the Apostle did declare that the things which the strong did eat and the weak were offended at were lawful in themselves de jure and that he was so perswaded by the Lord Jesus yet he did not de facto presently determine the general use of them because the weak ones were not as yet so well perswaded This is the sense of all Commentators as well Ancient as Modern The Gentil Christians lived with Ad Rom. 14. great freedom saith Pet. Martyr as a People not tyed to the Laws of Moses They understood those Ceremonies of Hellenisme as he calls it to be vain and out of date But the Jews who knew the Law to be given by God himself they could not presently be perswaded that it was to be abolished Wherefore they demurr'd upon it and would not easily suffer themselves to be drawn from the observation of it And therefore they abstained from meats forbidden by the Law among which were things Offered to Idols Exod. 34. 15. which therefore does not vary the Case at all and observed the Jewish Festivals All which practices shewed them to be still weak in the Faith For they are the weak in Faith who do not understand the use of things indifferent saith Conciliat Con. 885. Pusilli habendâ— sunt illi qui non sunt sufficienter instituti circa libertatem â—ostram Joan. Thaddaeus Now tho the Law of Moses was abrogated and consequently the things prohibited by that Law were purified from their uncleanness that is were become lawful de jure yet God had not Amesius Cas Consc l. 5. c. 11. an 14. then clearly and authentically promulged the Abrogation of it de facto among these Christians at Rome and therefore the eating such meats and keeping such Festivals by them that knew their own Liberty was a scandal given to such as Illorum infirmitatem tum acriter taxabant tum irridebant P. Martyr knew it not especially if they were sensible of their ignorance and yet did wittingly and willingly deride and affront them for their weakness as is believed they did But admit that had been a scandal taken and not given yet the Reconcilers and therefore tho is perfect Non sequitur unless his skill will serve him to draw quidlibet ex quolibet what he list out of every thing or out of nothing and can make the Cart to drag the Horses after it For there is a vast disparity betwixt that Case of those Jews and this of our Dissenters And Amesius himself Cas Cons l. 5. c. 11. n. 17. does acknowledge it Non est tale periculum scandali saith he in humanis inventis negligendis quale Apostolus fuisse olim tradit in ceremoniis legis negligendis Nulla enim conscientia talis potest haberi de inventis hominum qualem Judaei habebant de institutis Dei There is no such danger in neglecting Humane inventions as the Apostle tells us there was of old in neglecting the Ceremonies of the Law For there can be no such Reckoning or Conscience made of Human Inventions as the Jews made of Divine Institutions Tho he would make the Ordinances of our Superiors odious by the name of humane Inventions yet he sufficiently declares the difference between the Case of the Jews and our Dissenters 'T is well observed by Beza De hac ignorantia hic agi quae tamen possit verbum Dei praetexere Erat enim hic delectus ciborum dierum de quo hîc agitur ex verbo Dei institutus adeo ut iis qui Christianam Libertatem ignorabant non esset res indifferens sed observatu necessaria ex Dei mandato ad Rom. 14. v. 2. The Jews might very reasonably be offended because the Divine Law according to their Present Opinion then in force was broken but here is no such Divine Law pretended to be in force among us and this the Dissenters know and are very well assured of and yet they are offended To make the difference more fully appear I argue thus either the Jews who are supposed to be those weak Christians knew that the Ceremonial Law was abrogated or they knew it not If they knew it to be abrogated then they were grosly Superstitious in their adherence to it and were not to be tolerated in it but to be restrained from it if they knew it not to be abrogated then they look'd upon the freedom the strong ones took contrary to the prohibition to be a breach of the Divine Law in force and that was Scandalum Datum as was said even now a Scandal given But with us these Dissenters have no Divine Prohibition to rescue them from the contempt of Authority no negative Precept to alledge to justify their refusal of Conformity but a Humane Constitution made according to Gods Ordinance is presumptuously broken contrary to a Divine Law in force which commands obedience to our Superiors for the Lords sake Pag. 78. But let the Reconciler go on if he can to run down Dr. Womock as he indeavours in these words When therefore Dr. Womock saith that the Scandal mentioned here is to be understood of an Active Scandal designed as a Mouse-trap set and baited on purpose to entice and catch the unwary Mouse * Hemmingius has the very same notion of the word Scandalum propriissimè significat tegillum in instrumentis quibus capiuntur mures c. Hemming Syntag de Scandalo This saith he is indeed an Exposition well becoming Cajetan and Tirinus from whom he doth confess he had it but most unworthy of a Minister of God For can any man of Reason think it lawful to do an unnecessary and uncommanded action which he knows will minister occasion to the Damnation of many thousand souls provided they by it be destroyed without his formal or express designation of their Ruine especially when the souls ruined are as much ruined by his action as if he had performed it to that end Does S. Paul say If meats make my Brother to offend I will not so eat as to design his ruine No but I will never eat whilst the World stands lest I make my Brother to offend Here the Reconciler quarrels at the critical Interpretation of a word tho the Learned and Pious Dr. Hammond does the same thing He observes that Mat. 11. 6. at note c. the word for Scandal signifieth a Trap a Gin a Snare Let the Reader consult him if he please For Cajetan and Tirinus they are not such contemptible writers with the Author of the Synopsis And why may not such an Exposition become Cajetan and Tirinus as well as Hemmingius Beza or any other Calvinist Certainly the expression of putting a stumbling-block in our Brothers way does denote a voluntary and deliberate action
and Seditions as at this very day says Gualter many render our Religion suspected and odious to Princes upon the very same account For this reason the Apostle does so frequently extol Authority and so earnestly inculcate and press that Subjection and Obedience which is justly due to it Thus St. Peter commands the Jews 1 Pet. 2. 13. to 17. Tit. 3. 1. 1 Tim. 2. 1. to obey Kings and such as Governed by their Commission And St. Paul enjoyns Titus to admonish those under his charge to obey the higher Powers And Timothy to make publick Prayers for them And this he does with the greatest care and concern when he writes to the Christians at Rome because their Animosities and Disputes about their Christian Liberty were high and nothing could be acted by the Professors of the Gospel there that looked so like Sedition without the apparent hazard of the whole Church And this Doctrine saith he is no less needful now than heretofore to repress the rage and madness of those turbulent Spirits the Anabaptists and Libertines who abuse their Christian Liberty to overthrow the Power of the Civil Magistrate For they presume They are Abraham's Seed too not Semen Carnis but Semen Foederis The Spiritual Israel of God and his peculiar People and consequently intituled to all the Prerogatives which the Scripture attributes to those under that Character And being puft up with the conceit of their Spiritual Dignity they look upon all Princes as Gods Enemies and Usurpers of a Spiritual Jurisdiction which they think does not belong unto them Hereupon they are ever ready to mutiny and raise Sedition to shake off that Yoak which they falsly conceive to be Tyrannical and to assert that Lawless Liberty which they mistake for their Christian Priviledg Does not the Reconciler too much favour such Factions and encourage the like Anabaptistical Outrages and run into the same excess of Riot upon the like unjust account of Christian Liberty I am sure he has given the Alarm to awaken the Jealousie of Princes by abetting such peevish quarrels at their commendable Impositions For what is his Practice and the business of this Book He speaks faintly of the Subjects Duty but falls foul upon his Superiors whom he condemns for their care to keep out the Wolf and the little Foxes and attempts to overthrow their Authority by such weak and fallacious Arguments as have been baffled twenty times over or else they are nothing to the purpose or may be retorted with greater force upon the Party he takes upon him to plead for For 1. He supposes men to be weak and then he pleads stifly for a Toleration for them yea he supposes them to be such weak ones and under such circumstances as those were in S. Pauls time and then alledges S. Paul's Arguments on their behalf These are gratis dicta and false suppositions which he can find no ground for among all the Fathers he heaps together to countenance his Hypothesis for which of them did ever condemn the Customs and Ceremonies of the Church in their times upon the account of any thing delivered to the contrary in St. Paul's Epistles Yet 2. He supposes a Multitude of Rites and Ceremonies among us and such as have nothing in them of real goodness or of positive Order Decency and Reverence but such as are burdensome and scandalous and these unjustly imposed which would be true enough if he could prove them to be such and then as such he disputes against them And indeed his design is to destroy all Authority in matters of indifferency and to extend this false and Seditious Doctrine to the utmost to blind and harden such as have rashly I will not say maliciously kickt at their Governors and taken a vain occasion to stumble into Schism He reckons not only the symbolical protestation of Christianity by the sign of the Cross but the external worship of God by bowing and kneeling amongst things indifferent p. 39. 76 iii. We are therefore concerned to take into consideration 1. The Persons supposed to be weak and 2. the Things they take occasion to scruple at I. Men may be weak either in their Faith or in their Morals These last come not under our consideration in this Controversie Him that is weak in the Faith saith Rom. 14. 1. the Apostle Faith is here taken for knowlege of Divine matters especially Rom. 12. 3. 6. of our Christian Liberty that a man understands the difference of days and meats establish'd by the Ceremonial Law of Moses to be taken away by Christ under the dispensation of the Gospel Calixt ad Rom. 14. 1. The Apostles observation was that all men had not this Knowledge And these were the 1 Cor. 8. 7. Apostles weak ones For 1. they had been bred under another dispensation the Discipline of a Ceremonial Law which stood by Divine Right and being of Gods own appointment it had the greater force and tye upon the Conscience and prevailed the more by bearing the Image of a venerable Antiquity for Custom which had inured them to the practice of it had a Prepossession and made it little less than Natural 2. On the other side they were called off to another Dispensation which totally evacuated the force of that Law and rescinded all those Rites and Ceremonies to which they had been so long accustomed Now that an Institution established with so much Grandeur Dread and Majesty should quite lose its Authority and that they should have a power to shake off that Yoak which had been put upon the Necks of their Reverend and Holy Fathers by God himself this was the great stumbling-block and the Objection they scrupled at They were but Novices in Christianity but newly called to the Profession of the Gospel and they did not perfectly understand the Nature of the Christian Liberty this was their weakness and their persons are recommended to us under the title of little ones of Babes in Christ and of weak Brethren Such little ones tho their judgments were weak if their hearts were sound and their Faith unfeigned Christ had a great compassion for them Take heed ye offend not one of these little ones that believe in me And so S. Paul for his Babes in Christ Him that is weak Rom. 1â— 1. in the Faith receive into your Communion but not so as to encourage him in his own prejudices to quarrel with the course of other mens Conversation But did either St. Paul or Christ cocker them up in their childish weakness and indulge them to continue Babes always as our Reconciler does Did not our Blessed Lord chide his Disciples Duncery in his School O ye of little Faith How long shall I be with you how long shall I suffer you O fools and slow of heart to believe Luke 24. 25. And did not St. Paul check the dulness and non-proficiency of his Disciples And I brethren could not speak unto you as unto Spiritual but as unto Carnal
Had there not been such Persons among them they could neither have been observed nor avoided Non quod condemnatione digna non agat ne ipsum judices he does not forbid judging upon this account because he had done nothing worthy of Condemnation as Bruno and Oecumenius Theophylact Infirmitas non ad corporis imbecillitatem sed ad animi superstitionem referenda Bullinger ad Rom. 141. in margine and so Hyperius and others and our Modern Commentators And among the best of those weak ones the Apostle was so tender of there were faults enough to be blamed 1. Ignorance of that Liberty wherewith Christ had made them free 2. Superstition in adhering so stifly to the Ritual Law of Moses and 3. Vsurpation of Authority to Censure and Condemn others who were better Christians than themselves Here was matter enough for the Cognizance of a Court of Judicature but Authority was wanting there were no Governors establisht for had there been such they had had power to judge which is the second thing that is to be proved And for this we can look no where but we may be furnished with Evidence for what was the Power of the Keys given by Christ to his Apostles but a Power to bind and loose to Inquire and Judge And having made Timothy Bishop of Ephesus and set him to Govern there He instructs him what to do in point of Judicature 1 Tim. 5. 19 20. Against an Elder receive not an Accusation but before two or three witnesses them that sin notoriously rebuke before all that others also may fear He does the like by Titus whom he ordained Bishop of Creet A man that is an Heretick after the first and second Admonition reject Tit. 3. 10. And was it not the Apostles own practice 1 Cor. 5. 3 4 5. For I verily as absent in body 1 Cor. 5. 3 4 5. but present in spirit have judged already as tho I were present concerning him that hath so done this Incestuous Deed In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together and my Spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ To deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his soul may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Do not ye judge them that are 1 Cor. 5. 12. within the Pale of the Church and your particular jurisdiction C. Catharinus his Argument is not so Ipse Paulus contra mandatum facientes jâ—dicavit aliis judicandi tribuit facultatem Hierom. Ad Rom. 14. Tu quis c. extremely frivolous as our Reconciler very rashly and ignorantly makes it For he that has a Governor may give an account and may be called to an account by him and must stand or fall by his sentence when he is accused before him 1 Tim. 5. 19 20. 1 Cor. 5. 13. 2 Cor. 2. 6 8. But when there is no such Superior or Governor set over me by our Common Master then I may justly expostulate with my Rash Censurer 'T is his right to Judge me who is Governor or Lord over me Consider thy own business for I am not under thy Jurisdiction as Aretius hath it Thou art a private Christian as well as my self Par in Parem non habet imperium thou hast no command over me No Tribunal to cite me to no Authority to Judge me Who art thou that judgest c. where thou art neither certain of the badness of his action nor of his intention nor hast any Authority or Jurisdiction over him to meddle with or question any action of his whatsoever A Paraphrase and Annotations Anonymus This was the very fault that was condemned here by this Apostle that they Judged without Authority and so David Dicson understands it Iniquum est alienum servum sine vocatione à Deo judicare 'T is a wicked thing to judge another mans servant without a Call and Authority from God to do it How darest thou challenge the right to thy self when thou hast no Law of the Lord for it Thou dost presume too much in usurping that which does not belong to thee as our Synopsis has it out of Grotius and Tollet Aretius a Learned Protestant shall conclude this Argument who saith the same in effect with Grotius upon Rom. 16. 17. Mark and avoid them Because the Church then had no Ordinary Magistrate by which he means Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Governor Privatis ostendit viam quam sequantur Therefore he shews private Persons what course they should take which is the thing that was asserted by Dr. Womock after Grotius But has not this Reconciler taken a great deal of pains to make himself a transgressor and does he not teach the People to arraign their Governors And to give a good example for it he sets himself up a Tribunal and treats his Prince and Bishop as if they were his Servants and under his Jurisdiction What saith S. James He that speaketh evil of his Brother and judgeth his Brother speaketh evil of the Law and Judgeth the Law so he does by consequence but if thou judge the Law thou art not a Doer of the Law but a Judge Jam. 4. 11. Now this Reconciler does directly speak evil of his Governors and the Law too and does freely Judge and Condemn them both and consequently he 's not a Doer of the Law but a Judge He should do well to learn what S. Paul says to his weak Brothers Censure Rom. 2. 21 22. Thou which teachest another teachest thou not thy self Thou that Preachest a man should not steal dost thou steal Thou that saist a man should not commit Adultery dost thou commit Adultery Thou that sayst a man should not judge dost thou judge Thou that abhorrest Idols dost thou commit Sacrilege He robs his Governors of their Authority which is Sacred and usurps it to himself for while he disputes so fiercely against judging in his superiors he does not stick to judge them to censure their Laws and condemn their Innocent Impositions If it be never Lawful for the Christian of what degree or rank soever he be to judge the Person whom God has received to walk uncharitably towards his Brother as he saith p. 72. much less to carry himself thus towards his Superiors why then does he so rashly and insolently judge his Governors either he thinks God hath not received them and then he walks uncharitably towards them or else he believes God has received them and then his judging of them besides the incivility and sawciness of it is unlawful by his own Rule and so he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like the Heretick Tit. 3. 10. condemned at his own Tribunal But 't is nothing with him to break his own Rules we shall find him at it again in handling the next Argument which the Dr. confesseth he had not the least hint of from any Author but took it upon trust from the words of the Apostle Hast thou Faith have it
use of it in hopes to gain this weak Brother Well I obey him and lay it by But then a Conformist comes in and observes me to officiate without it hereat he is offended and tells me it grieves him to see Authority contemned the Laws violated Christian Liberty betrayed by the superstitious forbearance of a thing indifferent to gratifie a Faction set up against the Government This he will say does weaken his faith and makes him question the sincerity of such as profess the Gospel and the Religion established among us By this Instance it is evident I cannot please them both I must unavoidably offend one of them Can I prevent them both from taking offence This affair is attended with such perplexity that the performance is impossible Cas Cons l. 5. c. 11. n. 18. and therefore it cannot be a Christian Duty And for this I have the suffrage of Amesius tho in his time a stiff Dissenter Nulla datur talis perplexitas ut necessarium sit pio homini sive hoc vel illud faciat sive non faciat scandalum alicui dare There can be no such case of perplexity that it should be necessary for a pious man to give any man scandal whether he does this or that or does it not But how to avoid such perplexity we must find out some better Rule among the Casuists than this Reconciler has yet prescribed or found out for us To shew his Ingenuity towards Dr. Womock or his artifice of concealment I shall let the Reader see how this Argument pag. 114. was managed in the Verdict where he takes notice from the Apostle that one man will observe a day another will not one man will eat Swines-flesh another does abhor it I Rom. 14. 5. cannot satisfie them both for both are scrupulous and both respectively offended at one anothers practice To eat and not to eat to esteem a day and not to esteem it these are perfect contradictions and 't is impossible for any Charity to reconcile mans practice to both their scruples S. Paul himself at last found this so perplex'd a case that the difficulty was insuperable This he learnt by experience upon the congress of the Jew and Gentile Converts at Antioch Gal. 2. of which we have given some account already wherefore instead of a prudent and charitable expedient which in this case was impossible to find out He withstood S. Peter to the face and with great Integrity and Stoutness asserted the truth of the Gospel and the extent of Christian Liberty And herein he left us his own practice for an Example to maintain our Privilege and not to govern our selves by the timorous squeamishness or pretended scruples of superstitious men which may be contradictory and endless but by the solid Rules of Truth and the prudent Resolutions of Pious and Careful Governors I shall conclude this with the words of Rollock When we are conscious to our Comment In Joan. 5. 9. selves in our actings that we aim at Gods glory above all things and do not transgress the limits of our Office and Calling we may act confidently tho all the World be offended at us and after we have done what we ought and what we were able to do if the success does not answer our expectation so happily as we could wish yet let us not be dejected at it but enjoy that good Conscience which the Apostle glories in 2 Cor. 1. 12. This will be of great force and efficacy to our comfort and rejoycing in the time of adversity and this we cannot but obtain if we keep within the bounds of our Profession and Calling and set the glory of God before our eyes in all our actions Thus saith R. Rolloc and herein he appears to be a better Casuist than our Reconciler hath expressed himself upon this occasion But let us hear what he hath to say further against Dr. Womock which is as followeth Secondly whereas he adds that the scandal here spoken of is in a matter of our own choice and power Pag. 79. and it is to be understood in a matter wherein Authority hath not interposed her determination This he grants is very true and the natural Inference from it is this c. Here the Reconciler fully acquits Dr. Womocks Doctrine in this point of scandal who pleads only for those things wherein Authority hath interposed her Determination Why then is he so peevish and froward towards the Dr. when he seems to acquit The reason is this he would set up the Liberty of the Subject in matters of Religion against the Authority of the Prince and Bishop which is establish'd in the same Charter of the Gospel by a divine Grant precedent to that Liberty and because Dr. Womock hath endeavoured to vindicate the Authority of our Superiors against his design therefore he is thus offended for he finds he shall never be able to prove what he calls the natural Inference from Dr. Womocks words but let us see what it amounts to Since therefore says this Reconciler no Authority can be supposed to interpose to determine our Superiors to the Imposition of these indifferent things or to hinder their abatement of them by the same power which imposed them in order to prevent the ruine of so many souls as are involved in a wretched Schism by the continuance of that Imposition since they declare 't is in their own choice and power to command or not to command them this case must by his own confession be good against the Imposition of them tho it does not hold good against obedience to them when Imposed In which words of his there are very many things observable 1. 'T is a great truth That the case he puts does not hold good against obedience to the things in difference among us when imposed 2. That 't is good against the Imposion of them is not the Drs. Confession but his own Inference which the Doctor is confident he can never make good being but one of his usual Paralogisms and false Reasonings 3. He confesseth that this wretched Schism of the Dissenters is damnable otherwise how could he object the ruine of so many souls as are involved in it But to save them harmless he lays their fault at the door of their Governors and to Commute for the Disobedience of the Dissenters he would be content to send our Governors to Hell in their stead 4. He can propound no way to prevent the ruine of our Schismaticks but to take down our Governors Authority by the abatement of their Impositions But if a Nation be addicted to Drunkenness is there no way to cure them but to root up their Vines and burn up all their materials that will afford strong Liquors A wise man sure will think it better and more rational to teach them temperance and the moderate use of those wholsom and comfortable Creatures In like manner when there are any Impositions which some men are led by their
own ill temper or an ill example to take offence at I should think it might be sufficient to discharge a good Conscience to declare and teach the sober and beneficial usefulness of such Impositions whereas the abolishing or changing of them upon any light suggestion or Factious importunity may breed more mischief than it will prevent 5. When he says That no Authority can be supposed to interpose to determine our Superiors to the Imposition of these indifferent things what does he mean a new occasional and prophetical Authority that needs not for they have an ordinary Apostolical Authority such as is John 20. 21. conferred upon Church-Governors and that 's derived from Christ and they have their own humane Judgment with the advice of Common Council wherein Acts 15. 28. matters of such a general and publick concern should be determined and that is assisted by the Holy Ghost and this determines the case according to that 1 Cor. 14. last Apostolical Rule Let all things be done decently and in order But because this Reconciler cannot tell well how to shake off obedience he attempts to pull down Authority and his Superiors are much beholden to him for his kindness in giving them a Writ of Ease to discharge them from the troublesom task of Government St. Peter was once willing to be quit of the like trouble at Antioch and to that end he Gal. 2. 11 to 14. dispensed with the profession of his own belief but what came on 't Barnabas was carried away with his dissimulation and the faith of others began to stagger and the truth of the Gospel was like to be brought in question thro his silence and gratification of their weakness But we know St. Paul did very boldly rebuke St. Peter upon that occasion * Petrus coelesti visione edoctus discrimen ciborum esse sublatum reprehensione meritus est quia quae à Deo didicit in publico Consilio docuit non observavit scandalum Judaeis Gentibus praebuit Joan. Tâ—addaeus Conciliat n. 885. and in justification of him therein Mr. Calvin well observes this was not a trifling business neque vero hîc agebatur hominum negotium sed venerat in discrimen Evangelii puritas ne Judaico fermento inquinaretur for it was not the meer concern and business of men that was then and there acted but the purity of the Gospel was brought in danger lest it should be corrupted by the Leven of Judaism And is it not so with us Do not the Dissenters look upon the things they scruple at as unclean and refuse them upon that account and so run into a Jewish Superstition This cannot in reason be denied But the Reconciler has prepared a P. 156. 157. salve for this sore Let our Superiors abate their Impositions not as sinful to be practised or with a protestation that they do not esteem them so but purely for the sake of peace and unity This saith he will be satisfactory to those who scruple the use of them and he conceives it may be the duty of Superiors to condescend nor will it be sufficient â— 326. to excuse them when they neglect to cut P. 78. off this occasion of their Brothers Scandal to say that their weak brother acts unreasonably if it be lawful for them to dispence with their Impositions c. Here the Reconciler shews himself an excellent contriver for the ease of Government and a tender Conscience but he plays the Mountebank and teaches the People to go upon their heads with their heels upwards for 't is evident his attempt and project is to set up Subjects above their Governors And whereas they pretend to be offended he could not but take notice at p. 58 59. which is a Confutation of the rest of his Book That 't is because they may not have their own Will not that they see any sin in the Impositions which they quarrel at For if they had any sense of weakness in themselves or any veneration for their Superiors why should not they have so much deference to their Judgment and Authority as to believe them when they tell us that the practice they enjoyn is very innocent and the fears of them who think otherwise very superstitious which is the Confession of this Reconciler But to prove that the Head must stoop to the Feet and the Law bow down to its trangressors that all Parliaments must take their measures from the Rabble and the wisest Shepherds from the silliest P. 3. 24. of their stragling sheep he pleads St. Pauls practice and Authority For he saith he never doth enjoyn the weak to be of the same Principles and Apprehensions with the strong * This goes beyond all the fooleries he has observed in Meisner but always does command the strong to restrain his own liberty that he may minister no scandal to the weak and this he says the Apostle confirms by his own practice in like cases But what does the Reconciler Burlesque the Apostle to shew his wit and gratifie the scoffing Atheist I am sure he seems to be prophane and to blaspheme as well the practice as the Doctrine of St. Paul What! would not the Apostle have these weak ones he conversed with be of the same Principles and apprehensions with himself who can believe it What would he make of them by his Ministry What is the meaning of his passionate wish before Agrippa I would to God that not only Acts 26. 29. thou but also all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am except these bonds What did he mean by that other wish in behalf of his Brethren his Kinsmen according to the flesh I could wish that my self were accursed Rom. 9. 3. from Christ Was this that they might still continue Jews or turn Gentiles This is his exhortation to the Phil. 3. 17. Philippians Brethren be ye followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an Example That he might prevent the suspicion of being Ambitious he cares not whom they propound to imitate Modo se forment ad illam puritatem cujus ipse erat exemplar Calvin provided they would frame themselves according to that purity whereof he was so eminent an example Does he not pray for the unanimity of these Romans and doth he not conjure Rom. 15. 5 6 1 Cor. 1. 10. the Corinthians that they be perfectly Joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment and that they speak the same thing to prevent Schism Vult autem cohaerere in unâ mente unâ sententiâ consensum verbis profiteri saith Calixtus he would have them agree together in the same mind and in the same meaning and to profess their consent in the same words And when unto the Jews he became as a Jew was it to confirm them in their Judaism no but that he might gain them
Impostores quo prius persuadeant quam edoceant Impostors have an Artifice whereby they do perswade before they do instruct The truth doth perswade by teaching not teach by perswading saith Tertullian And therefore Adversus Valentin 1 Sam. 12. 23. t is incumbent upon Governors to teach their Subjects the good and the right way To this effect they are obliged to speak and they must not hold their peace Be instant in season out 2 Tim. 4. 2. of season rebuke reprove exhort Some are so Ingenuous and quick of Apprehension that a word spoken in season shall prevail to that effect for which it is designed but the deadness of affection in some and the dulness of Capacity in others 1 Thes 5. 14. may require the Spur not only of a quickning Exhortation but of a pungent Admonition and Reproof and Tit. 2. 15. sometimes there are such refractory Spirits as must be bridled by Authority These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all Authority And when the worthy Governor sets himself upon the great work of subduing Vice and Error in order to the advancement of Truth and Piety no man ought to be so Prodigal of his own Salvation as to undervalue his Person or slight his Office Let no Church-man despise thee saith S. Paul to Titus â— Joan. Crocium 〈◊〉 locum But this is not all the Duty of a Church-Governor He must Watch and Ward as well as Instruct his Flock Feed thy Flock with thy Rod saith the Lord to his Prophet and if their mouths must Mic. 7. 14. be stopped who subvert whole houses shall theirs be kept open who endeavour to subvert whole Kingdoms It belongs to the Pastors Office saith Bishop Davenant Tit. 1. 11. who was a Pastor himself Ad Colos 24. not only to instruct his Flock in sound Doctrine but to arm them against the wiles and treacheries of Seducers For he is set as a Watch-man wherefore he is bound to give notice of the approach of the Enemy and to discover his Snares and Stratagems otherwise à Pastore exigetur quicquid per inertiam non custoditur saith Saint Cyprian after the Holy Prophet Ezek. Ezek. 3. 33. Chapters 33. 8. Great attention and diligence is required to preserve our selves from the Machinations of Seducers that we be not surprised through the Cunning Craftiness whereby they lie in wait Gualter Ad Rom. 16. Hom. 95. to Deceive The Apostle knew that Impostors were wont with admirable Artifice to insinuate themselves into Families to see who they could draw into their Nets and therefore we are to keep a strict Guard upon our selves against them And though this be every private mans Duty yet it is much more incumbent upon the Pastors of the Church whom God has Ut supra Ezek. 3. 33 chap. made and appointed to be Watchmen for the common Salvation The very Title of Bishops under the New Testament does admonish them of their Duty And they are in Holy Scripture compared to those vigilant Sentinels of the night who by their officious Alarms betray the approaching Thief and Robber and admonish us to avoid the ruine they would bring upon us There is another part of the Office of Church-Governors and that is given in charge to Titus A man that Tiâ—â— 3. 10. is an Heretick after a first and second Admonition reject If he does seriously and heartily love and favour Piety he will not be an obstinate Recusant such good and wholsom Admonitions will prevail with him saith Calixtus but if he does Maliciously and Stubbornly oppose any fundamental point of Faith or Practice against the common consent of Church and Scripture Joan. Crocias and propagate the contrary whether he remains in the Bosom of the Church or Schismatically depart from it he is one of these Hereticks and 't is as hard for the Author and Broacher of such Heretical Pravity to return into the way of truth as it is for the Blackamore to change his skin or the Leopard his spots 'T is the observation Joan. Agric. ad locum of Joannes Agricola The Magicians of Aegypt Etiam digito Dei confusi non resipiscunt They repented not though the finger of God himself had appeared to their Confusion For Impiety as St. Chrysostome saith is many times Confounded but seldom Convinced And this St. Paul intimates After a fruitless Admonition reject such a Person Knowing that he is subverted or condemned of himself And he concludes thus Faxit Idem Deus ne idem nobis contingat in novarum Opinionum Authoribus qui novos errores coeperunt in Ecclesiâ serere God grant the same happens not among us in the Authors of Sects and Opinions who began long agoe to sow the seeds of new Errors in the Church Satan has his Impostors saith Gualter Ad Rom. 16. Homil. 95. Hypocrites who whether for private gain or to get themselves a name do circumvent men with their new Doctrines and privately draw them from the way of truth and publickly raise up tumults and scandals in the Church And the higher the Persons station is the more pernitious is his example his Dignity adds weight and aggravation to his scandal which like the Dragons tail Hemmingus de scand n. 12. Ut enim quo ingentius fuerit saxum Cadens ab altâ rupe eo plura fragmenta facit ita quo dignior fuerit persona in sublimiori dignitatis culmine constituta eo plures in lapsum secum trahit cum cadit quare majorem poenam meretur Ad Rom. 14. 14. in the Apocalypse sweeps the pendulous Meteors down from the firmament wherein for a time they seemed to be fixt Whether the Reconciler has been such an Instrument I leave the Reader to judge by these few instances 1. He undertakes to argue out of Rom. 14. 15. but perverts the Apostles meaning And though he does acknowledge for his own part that those Rules laid down by the Apostle to govern the present practice of the Romans do equally bind himself yet he does violate and break them all with great Study and Deliberation This is no small sin in it self but the Guilt is greater in one that makes himself an Advocate for a tender Conscience Si re aliquâ Deum credamus offendi nihilominus ab illa non abstinemus id magno indicio est nos pluris uostram voluntatem facere quam Legem Dei saith Peter Martyr if we believe God to be offended in any thing and yet do not abstain from it that 's a great sign that we value our own will above the Law of God This is in general Particularly 1. The Apostle saith Him that is Ad Rom. 14. 1. weak in the Faith receive but not to doubtful Disputations Prohibet Apostolus odiosas contentiones quae animos infirmorum alienant potius quam aedicant saith Peter Martyr He forbids all odious wranglings which do rather alienate
Brother be he Jew or Gentile to offend For Kneeling and bowing whatever Mat. 4. 1. mean Conceit the Reconciler has of it The Divel was not so much an Ass as to offer all the Glory of the World for a trifle He knew it to be God's due and a part of his External Worship and so he valued it and was desirous to purchase it upon that account And I am of Opinion it cannot be totally taken away from God's Service without Sacriledge And if we can take the Confidence to abolish this let us never blame the Church of Rome for taking away the Cup from the Laity in the Lord's Supper for the Sacrament in ' its integrity is but a part of External Worship and the Cup but a part of that part And the taking away of Kneeling utterly out of God's Worship seems to be a greater Offence than taking away the Cup because that is a Part of the Law of Nature whereas the Sacrament is but of positive Institution and consequently not so strictly binding And being an undoubted part of God's External Worship and a piece of Natural Religion we certainly do well to use it at the Sacrament as an Acknowledgement of Christ's Divinity which now a-dayes is so professedly impugned by the Socinians And We shall allow our Governours very little to do about matters of Religion if they may neither Ordain a Ceremony nor so much as appoint a special time for the performance of an undoubted Part of God's External Worship That some of the Dissenters act out of Pride Malice Obstinacy the Reconciler fears is too true That all of them Pag. 108. are of that Temper Dr. womock is so far from affirming that he thinks 't is very false He does not pretend to set up a Tribunal in any Man's Heart to Judge the secret Operations of his Mind But he is very well assured That good meanings can never Sanctify wicked Actions and we need no Window in some Men's Breasts to read their inward Dispositions Fides Incredulitas cordium sunt fateor ea nemo hominum judicare potest saith Bullinger Faith Ad Titum 3. 10. and Unbelief I confess are the Secrets of the Heart which no Man can judge Ex Dictis vero Factis ijsque manifestis debent fieri hominum judicia We must Judge of Men therefore by their Words and Actions which are manifest and apparent Our Saviours Rule cannot fail Us if we take it aright and he tells Us more than once By their Mat. 7. 16. Deut. 32. 32 33. fruits ye shall know them What Harvest have we had of these Thorns What Figs have we reapt from these Thistles Have not their Grapes been Grapes of Gall and their Clusters bitter Has not their wine been the poison of Dragons and the Crud venome of Aspes 'T is Gualters Observation and I desire Ad Rom. Homil 87. cap. 15. 5 6. the Reader to take Notice that in this Discourse I make no use of Jesuits to offend the Reconciler or his weak Brethren but such Protestants as are the most likely to favour the Cause of the Dissenters if there were any Reason or Colour for it Hi ut Ecclesiam turbant it a dei cultores esse non possunt cum Unitatem scindant quâ ille imprimis delectatur He speaks of the Sowers of Dissentions and Authors of Sects and Factions who as they disturb the Peace of the Church so they cannot be the Servants of God seeing they rent that Unity which he is chiefly delighted with We are told by the Apostle That Schism it self is a Work of the Flesh and excludes the Schismatick from the Kingdom of God But when the tender Conscience Gal. 5. 20. sets up for Reformation we cannot easily forget the great Train of Mischiefs which follows it For upon this Pretence Did not that Party make an Insurrection against Moses and against Aaron and conspire to destroy both Church and State and we know they kept their Wicked Covenant in nothing else How malicious and eager were they to Root out the Royal Family and to anoint the Bramble to Reign over them Did not they affront the late KING of ever blessed Memory by Clamours and Seditious Tumults Did they not Persecute him by Votes and Propositions against all the Rules of Honour and Conscience Did they not Blaspheme his Person slander and defame his Actions Did they not usurp his Power and seize upon his Militia the only guard of it Did they not make themselves Masters of his Revenue his Ships his Forts his Castles Did they not pursue and fight him Drive him from house and home and at last Arraign and Murder him If we can pass these Crimes upon the Accompt of Humane frailty let us no longer blame the Church of Rome for her Doctrine of Venial Sins He that can impute them as the Reconciler is supposed to do to the Prejudices of Pag. 113. Education Mis-conception or Mis-interpretation of the sence of Scripture to the Want of better Information or to unreasonable Fears and Scrupulosities and excuse those execrable practices upon that score may easily be tempted to make an Invective against Moses and Aaron and a Panegyrick upon Corah and to turn the 30th of January as too many of the Party does into a Festival for the honour of our Unrelenting Regicides But the truth is All those gay Pretences viz. the Prejudices of Education the Want of better Information which cannot reasonably be alledged among us Misconception and the like we know are inconsistent with the state of Grace in Jewes and Turks and why not in Sectaries in whom after the contempt of sufficient instruction they do certainly degenerate into Pride Malice and Stubbornness and if they be not finally Corrected and subdued by Repentance they are damning But were their Clergy wanting in point of Education Were they ignorant of the sence of Scripture They would take it in great disdain to be thought so And yet were not they the most Vociferous Trumpeters of our late Rebellion Did not they study invent and publish the most desperate Principles of Sedition Who made the People the highest seat of Soveraignty and placed a Coordinate Power with that of the King in the House of Commons Who intituled them at least to an equal Authority with His Majesty in making Laws and in the command of the Militia And who animated all the Souldiers they could arm and Levy against the King and absolved them from their Oath of Allegiance to Act and Practise those Principles after their Doctrine and Example These are some of the Reconcilers Weak Brethren And for the Common sort were they not consenting to the Deeds of their Seditious Leaders Did they not abett and encourage them by their Addresses and Petitions Did they not approve and applaud them in all their Villanies And assoon as they had destroyed the Church and Government did they not swarm into Sects and Factions and hiv'd themselves
the Church for a perfect Cure that is in plain English I will tell our Dissenters that we are not under the Law but under Grace that the Rites and Ceremonies of Moses's Institution are out of Date and that under the dispensation of the Gospel there is nothing Common or Vnclean and Consequently nothing Scandalous but sin or that which has some notable Appearance of it That to such as have put themselves under Christs Discipline there is nothing can affect or Defile the Conscience but what is Acted or Omitted contrary to his Holy Laws and Institutions that among the rest of his Institutions he has Ordained Ministers to Order and Conduct us in his stead whose Faith and Practice we are therefore obliged to follow knowing that the End of their Conversation is the Salvation of our Souls Having thus instructed them with all Meekness and warn'd them to receive these things without Partiality I have discharged my Duty and delivered my own Soul After this Christian Condescention if a pretended Weak Brother will be peevish and Disobedient if He will be Singular and forsake his Lawful-Pastour if he will take offence which I have faithfully endeavor'd to prevent and go to Hell of his own Head because I wear a Surplice as the Badge of my Office in my Administration about Holy Things I have done no more than what becomes my Function if he will Perish his Blood must be upon his own head Again if he will be Peevish and Disobedient if he will be singular and forsake his Lawful Pastour if he will take offence and go to Hell because I sign my Child with the Sign of the Cross as the Badge of my own Christianity and as an Item to him of his Duty and Allegiance to his Crucified Redeemer I have done nothing but what does very well become my Christian Profession If he will perish in his Folly his Blood must be upon his own head I shall speak but this once more if he will be Peevish and Disobedient if he will be singular and forsake his Lawful Guide or Pastour if he will take offence and go to Hell because I fall upon my knees to say my Prayers to bewail my sins to Receive a Benediction and to adore my ever Blessed God and Saviour I have done no more than what becomes me for such invalueable Obligations if he will dye in his wretched Schism I am innocent his Blood will be upon his own head This Fraternal Admonition and Advice is what I Lawfully may do but if Men will make occasions to themselves in their own Imaginations and then take offence at them who can help it But this will not satisfie our Reconciler I know very well what he would be at The Governours must repeal their Laws and abate their Impositions or all is nothing Amesius saies All things are to be done or omitted without sin This he saies is the Obligation of Charity to avoid Scandal But he means Scandalum Pusillorum the Scandal of the Weak or Little Ones Not such Scandal as is taken by men of a Pharisaical temper When the Apostle was reported to affirm that we might do Evil to a good End He took it for a foul slander and saies Their Damnation is Just who practice such a Principle Works under Precept are not to be omitted to avoid scandal because every man as he is bound to love himself before another so is he obliged to avoid Sin in himself rather than in Another Are not Governours under the Obligation of that Rule Let all things be done Decently and in Order 'T is a part of the Governours Office doubtless to Establish Good Order For this Cause left Tit. 1. 5. I thee in Crete saies St. Paul That thou shouldest set in order the Things that are wanting This was the Burthen and Charge the Apostle laid upon Titus Vt Ecclesiis nondum rite compositis formam daret ut certam Politiciae rationem una cum Disciplina constitueret That he might Form and Fashion the Churches which were not yet well Composed and constitute a certain State and Manner of Policy with Discipline therein To that end Titus was setled there saies Calixtus that he might supply whatsoever was wanting that might conduce to the Conservation External Regiment and Ornament of the Church This is one Command that lyes upon the Person of the Governour and there 's another that lies upon him too not peculiarly as a Governour but as a Christian in General Rom. 4. 15 Let every Man be fully perswaded in his own Mind Is it not the Governours Duty to set things in Order in God's Church as the Apostle enjoynes and to be fully perswaded in his own Mind that he does well in it Shall he break God's Commands Shall he betray his Trust Shall he act against his own Practicall Judgment and Conscience He that can allow a Governour to do this may make a Ghostly Father for the Devil But he that sayes the Governour ought not to neglect his Duty or to betray his Trust or to go against his own Mind and Conscience he must lay his hand upon his Mouth and never move either for a Repeal or for an Abatement of the Laws in favour of Dissenters 'T is the Observation of Johannes Crocius Ad Tit. 3. 9. Loc. Com. 7. De Content N. 6. That they who under a Pretence of avoiding Contention do Transact with the Adverse Party unjustly contending to the Prejudice of Truth Or Disserting the Good Cause do comply too much with them they understand not the mind of the Apostle Tho he would have us cut off Foolish and Vain Questions yet he would not have us to forsake or Betray the Truth to avoid Contention In this case the Publick Benefit is to be considered but when any sort of Peace is purchased by the Loss of a Precious Truth that 's not to be accounted a Publick benefit for as Peace gain'd by such unjust means is Uncertain and Doubtful so there ever follows a certain Perturbation of Conscience an offence of God a scandal of Good Men the mourning of the Faithful great sadness of the whole Church lastly Multipli'd Punishments in this and the other World inflicted by Almighty God who indeed is the God of Peace and yet he is the Prime Verity and his Spirit the Spirit of Truth who never said Love Peace without Truth But Love the Truth and Zach. 8. 19. Peace together For the Collectors of the Tribute supposing he doth not mistake the Story I Answer 1. They were not so apt to Cavil as our Dissenters They did not question the Coyn or quarrel'd because it was taken out of the Fishes Mouth or that Peter had taken Pains to Angle for it 2. Christ tho he wrought a Miracle did not break a Law to gratifie their Demand as the Reconciler would have us do 3. Tho Christ had a Divine Prerogative that might exempt him from that Tribute yet that was not Commonly known
charges as to Obey them that have the Rule over us and to submit our selves upon peril of Damnation I say when God first made these Laws he knew some would obey and some would not if then he thought that many would incur the Guilt of sin unto Damnation by their Disobedience he must have something of greater worth than the souls of those men to encourage him to make those Laws for had there been no such Laws there would have been none of that Transgression and consequently no Damnation for it This is Parallel to Mr. Baxters way of arguing and our Reconciler is much taken with such weak Popular Reasonings Rom. 9. 20. I could Reply with the Apostle Nay but O man who art thou that disputest with God But I will tell these men that God though he gave his only begotten Son to Redeem Souls yet having set up a Ministry in his Church to guide their feet into the way of Peace He has something of greater worth than such Stubborn and Disobedient Souls as neglect so Luke 19. 27. Prov. 1. 20. to the 32. great Salvation that is his own Glory and the Authority which he has delegated unto his Vicegerents and Stewards and establisht for the more regular Government of the World and it is that Glory of God which Governors do and are obliged to aim at and this Authority which they are concern'd to maintain to that effect The Reconciler goes on The Question who can tell may be answered by another Question which he puts thus Who can tell what doubts may arise and what Confusion may follow upon the refusal to abate these Impositions But in the mean time this he saith is certain That whilest our Schisms and Contentions about these Trifles do continue Religion is Blasphemed the Atheist and Sceptick is gratified the Jew the Gentile the Weak Christian is offended the Protestant Religion is Reproacht and Popery gets great advantage the Church and State are indangered the Peace Unity Charity Edification of the Church is much Obstructed and what mischief equal to all or any of these things can follow from an inconsiderable Variation in a Ceremony or an Expression used in the Liturgy it is not easy to conceive To which 't is Answered 1. That the Mischiefs which will ensue have been mentioned already Reason may suggest the rest and Experience has taught enough of it to very Ideots 2. The Mischiefs which he reckons up in this place are wholly from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dissenters Contention and Schisme not at all from our Governours Impositions which are the Churches Settlement 't is their Disobedience that is Malae rei exemplum as Tertullian calls it the ill example and that 's the Scandal to all the Parties mentioned 3. And that he confesses is about trifles and an inconsiderable Variation in a Ceremony or an Expression used in the Liturgy and are not they excellent Christians that will gratify the Atheist and the Sceptick offend the Jew and the Gentile and the Weak Christian bring a reproach upon the Protestant Religion give advantage to Popery endanger the Peace of Church and State Obstruct Unity Charity Edification and what not by contending with Authority about these things wherein doubtless 't is their Duty to submit and conform 4. His Question Who can tell what doubts may arise and what confusion may follow upon the refusal to abate these Impositions carries the face of a threatning in the Mask or Vizor of a Question I remember one of His Majesties Royal Ancestors had a very witty and significant Motto upon his Coine The Thistle incircled with this inscription Nemo me impune Lacessit Tho the Roses of York and Lancaster and Withred in their Old Stock and have lost their Scent and Prickles yet the English Lyon is not at all disarm'd If he be roused up by Threats and Tumults he may find Courage as well as Power to crush all the force of Schism and Sedition His Second Answer as he calls it is in the words of the Judicious Lord Verulam who saies Surely every Medicine is an Innovation and he that will not apply new Remedies must expect new Evils For time is the greatest Innovator and if time of Course alters things to the worse and Wisdom and Counsel shall not alter them to the better what shall be the end A froward retention of Custom is as turbulent a thing as Innovation And here 's break my Head and give me a Plaister But He that will not apply new Remedies must expect new evils is a little Preposterous the new evils should appear first and then we should think of the Application of new Remedies Here 's a pretty Lepid Knack of fancy out of a great Magazine of Reason But they are not the Diseases of a Crazy Body that we are to Administer to 't is the Distemper of a profane mind Irreverence in Gods Publick Worship and Service which calls for our Care if not our Cure To talk of Innovations upon this account has been cry'd out of as an Abomination And for our parts we are content with such Remedies as we find prescribed in Gods own Dispensatory Bowing Kneeling Prostration or what are allyed to such Institutions and Practices as are Warranted by examples in Holy Scripture These are suggested by the Light of Nature and were in use before the Law Micah 6. 6. They were in use under the Law too Psal 95. 9. Dan. 6. 10. Luk. 22. 41. they were still prescribed under the Gospel Act. 7. 60. c. 9. 40. Eph. 3. 14. Apoc. 4. 6. 7. Chapters and they will keep their force and vertue to the Worlds end Isa 45. 23. Rom. 14. 11. to what purpose therefore should we seek for new Remedies in this case Is Gods mind changed Or has Jesus Christ repeal'd his old and given us New Rules of Decency and Order There 's no ground or Colour for such an Imagination What shall we say then This Reconcilers Phantasie has been wandring in the New Atlantis and the Climate was so hot it brought him into a Calenture and that makes him Thirst so much for the Julip of a New Remedy and his Appetite will not be satisfied till he takes a surfeit of Novelties His Third Answer is this The Change here pleaded for so he professes that he pleads for a Change and no doubt he has had his Fee for his pains or if the Party has not done it his Governours whom he endeavours to take down are indebted to him for it This is his Plea the Change doth signify no more than a change of Habits and Fashions and of some Old Custom which has been found Irrational or Inconvenient and if this be very dreadful to the State all our Laws concerning the alteration of them may be so Or if for the advantage of our Trade or our Estates or for the benefit of the Subject in reference to his temporal Concerns we doubt not to make alterations in those kinds
of them of themselves apt enough to be troublesome and a Question put into their Heads and a power of Judging into their hands is a putting it to their choice whether you shall be troubled by them this week or the next for much longer you cannot escape LVI Every Minister ought to be carefull that he never expound Scriptures in Publick contrary to the known sense of the Catholick Church and particularly How far the Reconciler has praevaricated herein let the Reader judge of the Churches of England and Ireland nor introduce any Doctrine against any of the four first General Councils For these as they are measures of Truth so also of Necessity LIV. In your Sermons and Discourses Of whom speaketh the Prophet this Our Reconciler pleads for a change of Gestures Habits and Expressions and these make up the Subject of his Plea of Religion use Primitive known and accustomed words and affect not new Phantastical or Schismatical terms Let the Sunday Festival be called the Lords day and pretend no fears from the Common use of words amongst Christians For they that make a business of the Words of Common use and Reform Religion by introducing a new Word intend to make a Change but no amendment they spend themselves in trifles like the barren Turf that sends forth no Medicinable herbs but store of Mushrooms and they give a demonstration that they are either impertinent people or else of a querulous nature and that they are ready to disturb the Church if they could find Occasion LXI Let every Preacher in his Parish Does our Reconciler doe this take care to explicate to his People the Mysteries of the Great Festivals as of Christmass Easter Ascention-day Whrt-Sunday Trinity-Sunday the Annuntiation of the Blessed Virgin Mary because these Feasts containing in them the great Fundamentals of our Faith will with most advantage convey the Mysteries to the People fix them in their Memories by the solemnity and circumstance of the day And Adv. 25. he tells them Men are to be permitted to their own Liberty to the Measures of the Laws and Conduct Let the Recon note this Dr. Jeremy Taylor Bishop of Down and Connor of their Governours To this let me add the Doctrine and Advice of that Plous and Learned Prelate to the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons of Ireland Assembled in Parliament May the 8th 1661. In his Epistle Dedicatory he tells them thus Men pretend Conscience against They teach for Doctrine the Commands of men Obedience expresly against St. Pauls Doctrine teaching us to obey for Conscience sake but to disobey for Conscience in a thing Indifferent is never to be found in the Books of our Religion But Obedience is strong Meat and Nothing more easy then to obey will not down with weak Stomacks As if in the World any thing were easier than to obey For we see that the food of Children is Milk and Laws The Breast-Milk of their Nurses and the Commands of their Parents is all that Food and Government by which they are kept from Harm and Hunger and conducted to Life and Wisdom And therefore they that are weak Brethren of all things in the World have the least reason to pretend an excuse for Disobedience For nothing can secure them but the Wisdom of the Laws For they are like Children in Minority they cannot be trusted to their own conduct and therefore must live at the publick Charge and the wisdom of their Superiours is their Guide and their Security But saith he there are among us such tender Stomacks that cannot indure They strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel Milk but can very well digest Iron Consciences so tender that a Ceremony is greatly offensive but Rebellion is not A Sarplice drives them away as a Bird affrighted with a Man of Clouts But their Consciences can suffer them to despise Government and speak evill of Dignities and curse all that are not of their Opinion and disturb the peace of Kingdoms and commit Sacriledge and account Schism the Tender Conscience the pretence of the vilest men Character of Saints For tender conscience I shall not need to say that every man can easily pretend it for we have seen the Vilest part of mankind men that have done things so Horrid worse than which the Sun never saw yet pretend tender Consciences against Ecclesiastical Laws But I will suppose that they are really such that they in the simplicity of their hearts follow Absolom and in weakness hide If really weak yet not to be dispensed but instructed their heads in little Conventicles and places of separation for a trifle what would they have done for themselves If you make a Law of Order and in the Sanction put a clause of Favour for tender Consciences do not you invite every Subject to disobedience by Impunity and teach him to make his own excuse Is not such a Law a Law without an Obligation May not every man choose whether he will obey or no And if he pretends to disobey out of Conscience is not he that disobeys equally innocent with the Obedient altogether as just as not having done any thing without leave and yet much more Religious and Consciencious Quicunque vult is but an ill Preface to a Law and 't is a strange Obligation that makes no difference between him that obeys and him that refuses to obey But what course must be taken with tender Consciences shall the Execution of the Law be suspended as to all such Persons that will be all one with the Former for if the Execution be commanded to be suspended then the obligation of the Law by Command is taken away and then 't were better there were no Law made And indeed that is the pretention that 's the secret of the business they suppose the best way to prevent Disobedience Where there are no Laws there 's no Government is to take away all Laws It is a short way indeed There shall then be no disobedience but at the same time there shall be no Government But the Remedy is worse than the Disease and to take away all Wine and Strong Drink to prevent Drunkness would not be half so great a folly To think of removing the Disease by feeding the humour I confess it is a strange Cure to our present distempers I desire him who is of No Church breaks her Orders to gratify a Faction that Opinion besides the calling to mind the late sad effects of Schism to remember that no Church in Christendome ever did it It is neither the way of Peace nor of Government nor yet a proper Remedy for the Cure of a weak Conscience For the matter of Giving Offences Governours are not to be offended whoever be and the Disobedient rather than the Dutiful what Scandal is greater than that which Scandalizes the Laws And who is so carefully to be observed least he be offended as
the King And if that which offends the Weak Brother is to be avoided much more that which offends the Strong for this is certainly really Criminal but for the other it is much odds but it is mistaken And when the case is so put be-between the Obedient and Disobedient which shall be offended and one will I suppose there is no Question but the Laws will take more care of Subjects than of Rebells and not weaken them in their Duty in compliance with those that hate the Laws and will not endure the Government But The weak not fit to Govern others or to be Guides they that will be always Learning and never come to the Knowledg of the Truth they that will be children of a Hundred years old and never come to years of Discretion they are very unfit to guide others and to be Curates of Souls But they are most unfit to Reprove the Laws and speak against the Wisdom of a Nation when 't is confess'd that they are so weak that they understand not the fundamental Liberty which Christ hath purchased for them but are Servants to a Scruple and affrighted at a Circumstance and in Bondage under an Indifferent thing and so much Idolaters of their Sect or Opinion as to prefer it before all their own Nobler Interests and the Charity of their Brother and the Peace of a whole Church and Nation This is out of his Epistle In the Body of his Sermon his Doctrine and Advice is this You have no other way of Peace no better way to appease and quiet the quarrels in Religion which have been too long among us but by reducing all men to Obedience and all Questions to the measures of the Laws For they on both sides pretend Scripture but one side only can pretend to the Laws And they that do admit no Authority above their own to expound Scripture cannot deny but Kings and Parliaments are the Makers and proper Expounders of our Laws And if ever you mean to have Truth and Peace kiss each other let no man dispute against your Laws For did not our Blessed Saviour say That an Oath is the end of all Questions and after the Depositions are taken all Judges go to Sentence What Oaths are to Private Questions that Laws are to Publick And if it be said that Laws may be mistaken it is true but may not an Oath also be a Perjury And yet because in Humane Affairs we have no greater Certainty and greater than God gives we may not seek for let the Laws be the last Determination and in Wise and Religious Governments no Disputation is to go beyond them 2. But this is not only true in Religious Prudence and plain Necessity but this is the way that God hath appointed and that he hath Blessed and that he hath intended to be the Means of ending all Questions This we learn from St. Paul I Exhort that first of 1 Tim 2. 3. all Prayers and Supplications and Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men for Kings and for all that are in Authority For All for Parliaments and for Councils for Bishops and for Magistrates It is for All and for Kings above All. Well to what purpose is all this That we may lead a quiet and Peaceable Life in all Godlyness and Honesty Mark that Kings and all that are in Authority are by God appointed to be the Means of obtaining Unity and Peace in Godliness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all the true and Godly Worshippings of God No Unity in Religion without Kings and Bishops and those that are in Authority 3. And indeed because this is God's way of ending our Controversies the matter of Authority is highly to be regarded If you suffer the Authority of the King to be Lessened to be Scrupled to be Denyed in Ecclesiastical Affairs you have no way left to silence the Tongues and Hands of gainsaying People But so it is the Kings Authority is appointed and enabled by God to end our Questions of Religion Divinatio in Labiis Regis saith Solomon In Judicio non errabit os Ejus Prov. 16. 10. Divination and a Wise Sentence is in the Lips of the King and his mouth shall not Err in Judgment In all Scripture there is not so much for the Popes Infallibility but by this it appears there is Divinity in the Kings Sentence For God gives to Kings who are his Vicegerents a peculiar Spirit And when Justinian had out L. 8. Cod. de Veâ—eri Jure Enucleando of the Sence of Julian the Lawyer observed that there were many Cases for which Law made no Provision he adds If any such shall happen Augustum imploretur Remedium run to the King for Remedy For therefore God hath set the Imperial Fortune over humane affairs Vt possit omnia quae noviter contingunt emendare Componere Modis ac Regulis competentibus tradere that the King may amend and Rule and Compose every New-arising Question And it is not to be despised but is a great Indication of this truth That the Answers of the Roman Princes and Judges recorded in the Civil Law are such that all Nations of the World do approve of them and are a great Testimony how the Sentences of Kings ought to be valued even in Matters of Religion and Questions of greatest doubt Bona conscientia Scyphus est Josephi said the old Abbot of Petrus Cellensis Lib. de Conscientia Kells a good Conscience is like Joseph's Cup in which our Lord the King Divines And since God hath blessed us with so Good so Just so Religious and so Wise a Prince let the Sentence of his Laws be our last Resort and no Questions be permitted after his Judgment and Legal Determination For Wisdom saith By me Princes Rule by me They Decree Justice and therefore the Spirit of the King is a Divine Eminency and is as the Spirit of the most High God This is the solid Doctrine of that Learned Prelate The Reconcilers dealing by his Writings does sufficiently acquaint us what we are to expect in the Use he makes of all the rest which he alledges If they speak against the Laws or the Rites and Customs of the Church let him produce their Sayings out of such Discourses as they have professedly made to that effect otherwise their Reproof of Scandal in the general does certainly concern not only Schism and Sedition but all ill examples whatsoever and particularly Disobedience to the Impositions of Superiours than which nothing was lookt upon more Scandalous which our Blessed Saviour therefore wrought a Miracle to prevent Mat. 17. 27. Lest we should offend them This Pareus understands of a Scandal given and observes Scandala cavenda esse etiam cum cessione nostri Juris in rebus mediis That Scandal is to be avoided tho we depart from our own Right in things Indifferent to that effect and then especially when Authority calls for our Obedience which