Selected quad for the lemma: mind_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mind_n	body_n	nature_n	soul_n	5,248	5	5.1950	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54203	The reasonableness of toleration, and the unreasonableness of penal laws and tests wherein is prov'd by Scripture, reason and antiquity, that liberty of conscience is the undoubted right of every man, and tends to the flourishing of kingdoms and commonwealths, and that persecution for meer religion is unwarrantable, unjust, and destructive to humane society, with examples of both kinds.	Penn, William, 1644-1718.	1687 (1687)	Wing P1352; ESTC R23116	25,930	41

Vexations for the supposed Transgressions of the Mind and Will Laws that pretended to dive into the Breasts of Men and to discover Evil in their Thoughts as if enacted to torment the Souls of Mankind before their time In a word Laws that were abolish'd by Reason as soon as made for if Laws are grounded upon Reason and these Laws are contrary to Reason as it is plain they were for that Laws are made to redress not to increase the grievances of the People then were they null as soon as form'd For if Laws do not arise out of Natural Reason but are only made to avoid some greater mischief pretended to be foreseen we are not rashly to admit of such an Interpretation as to make that Sinful or Criminal which is otherwise Lawful Thus to seperate from the Church of England is a thing no way in it's self Unlawful and therefore cannot be made Criminal by a Law there being no natural Equity to make it so and consequently not Punishable by the Law. Nor can their Meeting in Conventicles be a Crime for that the Doctrine of men that teach those things which are Just and Honest can never be fear'd especially when they are exact in their Obedience to the Magistrate nor should their private Assemblies be envied or suspected as being Just and Innocent Men till they are convicted of being otherwise And therefore they that Persecute such People ought rather to be Prosecuted themselves for that by them the Law of Nature is brok'n in doing injustice to them that never offended and it is but natural equity to punish those that wrong their Neighbours without a cause Which Cause can never be found in a Law made contrary to Reason in a Law made to gratify the Ambition and Interest of a Single Party to the disturbance of the Greater part of the Nation which is contrary to the Common Good and consequently the End of Law. Moreover There is no Humane Law that can command or prohibit an Act purely directly and Secundum se internal And this is grounded upon the common Axiome Cogitationis Paena nemo meretur no man incurs the Punishment of Thought for the Law has nothing to do with Internal Acts and therefore because it cannot naturally and of it self punish those Acts therefere neither can it either command or prohibit them for the Legislative Power is Compulsive and if it cannot be Compulsive as to the inward Act neither can it make a Law in reference to it The reason of this Assertion is for that the Legislative Power among men is only ordain'd for preservation of the outward Peace and honesty of Humane Community to which those Acts have no Relation which are conceived in the Mind Then again this Power springs immediately from Humane Community it self by the means of Natural Reason Now there is no Humane Community that can grant a Power immediately and of it self over Actions meerly Internal as being altogether without the Limits of its Knowledge and without the Bounds of its Jurisdiction for no man is naturally subject to another in his Soul but in his Body Therefore said a Learned Schoolman He is in an Error who believes that Servitude lays hold of the whole Man the better part is excepted Our Bodies are lyable to our Superiours and Governours but the Mind is its own Lord and Master Then again The conditions of Humane Laws are That the Law must be Honest Just Possible convenient to Time and Place and conformable to Religion and Reason The Penal Laws are not Honest because they would enforce men to abandon the worship of God which in their Cons●●ences they have made choice of as believing it to be the most ●●●…e and conformable to Scripture and to submit themselves 〈◊〉 Ceremonies which they as firmly believe to be no way necessa●● for their Salvation but rather contrary to those Sentiments ●hich they have of the Truth of Sacred Adoration They are not just because they would bereave men of that Christian Liberty which all men have a priviledge to claim and which the most zealous promoters of the Penal Laws would take most heavily to be themselves depriv'd of In the Second place They ought to command those things which may be justly observed but these Laws would enforce men to Sin against the Dictates of their Consciences the Consequence is easy to any Thirdly The Penal Laws are not agreeable to Religion for they prohibit what the Laws of God allow which is Liberty of Conscience and uphold what the Laws of God prohibit which is Spiritual Tyranny and Dominion in matters of Religion Fourthly The Penal Laws are contrary to Reason and the common benefit of Civil Society for it is not rational that People should be Imprison'd Fin'd and Banished and common security of Liberty and Property be infring'd even to the loss of men lives and the depopulation of a Kingdom for pretences over which the Civil Magistrates pretends not to have any Jurisdiction Add to this That to rendering Laws effectual there are required all the three parts or sorts of Justice First Justitia Legalis whose Office is to aim at the Common Good and consequently to preserve the due priviledges of all the Subjects in general Secondly Justitia Commutativa which requires that the Legislator command no more then lies in his power Thirdly Distributive Justice which takes care that the private good of a few be not respected more then the public good of the whole Body In all which parts of Justice the Penal Laws being defective it follows that they were not duly made consequently invalid and no way obliging And this is the Opinion of all the Famous Casuists Aquinas Sctus Medina Caster Tolinus Panormitanus and others conformable to that of St. Austin himself l. 19. de Civit. Dei. c 21. The perverse Constitutions of Men are neither to be accounted nor to be said to be Laws when that is only to be accounted right and just which flows from the Fountain of Justice Now that it is the intrinsic end of all Laws duly made to aim at the Common Good is plain from the Laws of God themselves which are such that tho ordain'd by God himself to his own Glory yet he seeks therein not his own advantage but the good and benefit of men In like manner as all Humane Laws are imposed upon a Community of People so ought they to be made for the general good of that Community otherwise they are irregular for it is against all Justice to reduce the Common Good to Private Interest or to subject the whole to the part for the parts sake Another reason may be deduc'd from the end it self for the end must be proportionate to the Act its beginning and efficacy Now the Law is the common Rule of Moral Operations therefore the first Principle of Moral Operations ought to be the first Principle of the Law but the end or happiness is the first Principle of Moral Operations for in

Embassador for the use of the Eucharist in both kinds had so much kindness for Toleration that he gave for answer to the Embassador That he had always thought the use of the Sacrament in both kinds and liberty for the Priest-hood to Marry were things indifferent and as depending rather upon the Decrees of the Fathers then upon Divine Authority might be altered according to the constitutions of Times and alteration of Customes And in the Council of Trent several of the wisest and chiefest of the Prelates stiffly argu'd against the Prohibition of the Use of the Cup affirming those to be void of Christian Charity who stood so strictly and so nicely upon a particular Ceremony the granting of which might prevent the Effusion of much Blood and recover into the Bosom of the Church many that were fallen from Her. And thus what Scripture and Humane Authority justify Common Reason is no less ready to uphold For first If the word of God be the sole Rule of Faith and no Humane Authority be so highly impowr'd as to bind up our Assents to whatever Interpretations shall be propos'd then of necessity it follows that every Christian indifferently has an equal Interest in the will of the Creator so that no particular Person has a right to impose a force upon the judgment of his Brother Thus one holds the Baptizing of Infants to be necessary another deems it lawful a third denies both these Opinions yet admitting that it may but that there is no necessity it should be done therefore they conferr Texts and examine the Original yet after all diligence used they still are but where they were Now what reason can there be to advise Persecution for such a difference as this Besides There are several Disputes upon various Points of Christianity that cannot be cleard to any man by Arguments meerly natural as being matters of Fact such are the Miracles and Resurrection of Christ the Real Presence c. For the belief of which therefore there is a need of Faith which is the Gift of Grace and not of Nature which being so and seeing more-over that it is not within the power of Man to give a reason why some Men believe and others are of a contrary Opinion it cannot fall under the Imagination of Man that either the defect or surplusage of belief which may perhaps glide into Superstition which of the two so'ere be the cause of the difference should be subject to the Punishment of Human Laws for tho both have the same outward helps and means to inform themselves yet the potent cause is in the will of God who will have Mercy upon whom he will have Mercy and whom he will he hardens And therefore for this cause it was that Tertullian avers that the New Law of the Gospel does not call for the Sword to revenge the Injuries done it And Sisibutus King of Spain was justly tax'd for compelling the Jews to Christianity by the coercive power of the Sword when he ought to have won them to the Faith by meek and gentle Perswasions In the next place this violent and rigorous Proceeding and tyrannizing over the Consciences of Men is contrary to the purpose of God in the Order of the Creation who made and ordain'd all Man-kind free from Bondage and never advanc'd him over all the Works of his Creation to be a contemptible Slave to the Will of his fellow Creature even in things Temporal much less in matters Spiritual and relating to Eternity So that this same actual Violence of Imposing by force in matters of Faith Worship and Duty to God of one Man upon another or of some Persons over all is an Act of the highest Presumption imaginable that goes about to subdue to Bondage and Slavery those that are Created by God to equal Priviledges and Immunities with themselves subjecting them by Oppression not to the Divine Will of the Creator but to the Will Ambition and Interest of Mortal Creatures no less fraile and subject to Error then they over whom they affect illegal Dominion A thing which is quite contrary to the most pure and perfect order of the Creation which was altogether blessed From which whatever is degenerated by Corruption or has deviated by Temptation from that pure and regular Order either in things Temporal or Divine must be included within the curse of Sin and be lookt upon as an opposing the Creator himself And of this nature is Compulsion exercised in Spiritual matters as being the highest product of degenerate Usurpation and the grandest swerving imaginable from the chief design of the Creation For without all question the Creator himself reserved and retained in his own power alone the priviledge of Supremacy over the Inward Man in all matters touching Immortality that he might be the only Lord in that case to give Spiritual Laws and to command the Souls and hearts of men in reference to his own Worship and that Obedience which is due to himself so that of necessity it must be a Usurpation of the Creators rightful Dominion a robbing Him of his Dignity and Prerogative an act of Violence against his Soveraignty and a bold intruding into his proper Right for any Persons to assume to themselves Dominion and Authority over others by Commanding and Imposing in Spiritual matters upon their Consciences in the Worship and Service of God. Add to this that Force is Punishment and consequently unjust unless the offence be voluntary but he that believes according to the evidence of his own Reason is necessitated to that Belief and to compel him against it were to compel him to renounce the most essential part of man his reason And that same injunction would be altogether vain To hold fast that which w● find to be best if after the most serious and deliberate Election we must be whipt out of our Consciences by Penalties 'T is but odly done to Preach a company of poor Souls into just so much Liberty of Scripture as may suffice to beget their torture and not permit them to rest where they find their satisfaction Either utterly prohibit the search or let them enjoy the benefit of it To believe what appears untrue is somewhat impossible but to profess what we believe untrue is absolutely damnable Nor is it one of the least arguments against Compulsion of Conscience that it breaks the bands of civil Society and annihilates all manner of Love Unity Fellowship and Concord among men Neighbours are at enmity among Neighbours Brethren with Brethren and Families are divided among themselves Princes and their Subjects Rulers and their People are at discord and debates that many times turns to absolute Disobedience and Rebellion while the one labours to Impose the other to keep off the Oppression Men says Zenophon resist none with greater animosity then those that affect to Tyrannize over their bodies more especially such as seek to establish an illegal Dominion over their minds and Consciences They contend pro Aris in the

Christians and under that Notion of all other Opinions that they pleas'd themselves As to Witches They gave this reason why the Inquisition should not meddle with them For that they were generally Women a poor People Craz'd in their Understandings and therefore more fitting to be instructed by the Minister then punished by the Judge As for Blasphemy the punishment of it belong'd to the Civil Magistrate and so for Bigamy and Usury As to the Toleration of Jews c. they argu'd from St. Paul That the Ecclesiastical Authority had no power over those that were not in the Church And in behalf of the Greeks they urg'd That the Difference and Disputes between the Greek and Roman Church were yet Undetermined and that therefore it was not sit the Church of Rome should be Judge in her own Cause Lastly Against the Prohibition of Books they pleaded That it was the way to stifle Learning and prevent the coming forth of many good Books necessary for the Instruction of Man kind That it belong'd only to the Civil Magistrates to prevent the Enormities of Scandalous Writers and therefore that the Ecclesiastie's were not to thrust their Sickles into other mens Harvests Thus we find the Venetians tho in other things Obedient to the See of Rome yet in the point of Toleration altogether Dissenting from it for they believe it to be their Interest to take care least the People being depriv'd of the Liberty of their Minds should be alienated in their Affections from the Government therefore they are contented that the People should enjoy their Liberty provided they do not disturb the Public Peace To return into Germany even in Vienna it self the chief City of the Empire the Emperour Maximilianus the Second allow'd the Evangelic's the free exercise of their Religion in the Monastery of the Minorites which tho it were deny'd them by his Son Rudolphus the Second was again by the Indulgence of Matthias the Emperour restor'd them so that they had their public Assemblies at Hornals a Village close by the City within the Walls of which they had besides the freedom to Baptize Administer the Sacrament and Marry according to their own forms till Ferdmand the Second retracted their priviledges and forc'd them whenever the Duty of their Worship required to go as far as Presburgh or Edenburgh It would be too long to trace the several Regions of Germany where so many Soveraign Princes and Free States exemplary for their Justice and Moderation foster Liberty of Conscience as the main support of their Governments 'T will be enough to mention briefly those of chiefest note the Dukes of Saxony Brunswick and Lunenburgh the Dukes of Wittenbergh and Holsatia the Elector Palatine the Duke of Bavaria tho of the Romish perswasion the Duke of Newburgh and the Landgrave of Hessen the Cities of Ratisbone Frankford upon the Main and Spire where the Evangelic's are allow'd the free exercise of their Religion and meet every Sunday from seven till eight in the Morning and from twelve till one in the Afternoon not to omit Auspurgh where the chief Magistrates of the City are half Protestants and half Papists nor those most Noble Emporiums of the Northern parts of Europe Hamborough Lubeck Breme and Dantzick to which if we should add the States of the United Netherlands it would be only to trouble the Reader with what is known to all the World. And yet the Flourishing condition of these Countries and Territories the Number of People and the Tranquility which they enjoy apparently Demonstrate That Liberty of Conscience is no such Enemy to Man-kind as to be so rudely harrass'd and exterminated from the Earth with all the Rigors and Vexations that render Life uncomfortable Having thus established the Truth of Religions Toleration upon the Foundations of Scripture Reason Authority and Example certainly the wonder must be very great among discerning Persons that men who boast a more refin'd Profession of Christian Religion who aspire to Peace to Love to Moderation and Truth toward all men should with so much Passion and bitter Animosity exercise their hatred upon their Brethren for the Niceties of different Opinions so that if we come to know of what Profession they are 't is their imperfection not their Perfection that makes the discovery Which preceeds from hence That Ecclesiastical Functions and Dignities are esteem'd for the Benefits and Advantages men reap thereby either of Wealth or Fame Which Abuse once crept into the Church was the first occasion that many men of Evil Principles greedily thirsted after Ecclesiastical Preferments and that the love of propagating Sacred Religion degenerated into Avarice and Ambition and that the Church it self was turn'd into a Theater where the great Doctors studied not the plainness of True Preaching but to shew the quaintness of their Oratory They never bent their minds to Teach the People but to Tickle their Ears into an Admiration of their Elegant Expressions and gingling Satyrs upon Dissenters and Papists as they thought their Themes would be most pleasing to their Auditors which did but Inflame the Contentions already rais'd and beget contempt and hatred to themselves and breed an Animosity not easy to be reconcil'd in them who had been so rudely tho undeservedly handled No wonder then that nothing remain'd of Primitive Religion besides the External Worship with which the People rather seem'd to flatter then adore the Supream Divinity and that Faith was now become no other then Credulity and Prejudice That very Prejudice that renders men of Rational Creatures Brutes as being that which hinders every Man from making Use of his free Judgment and being able to distinguish Truth from Falshood and which seems to have been invented on purpose to extinguish the Light of the Understanding Piety and Religion are made a Compound of Erroneous Mysteries of Humane Policy and they who contemn Reason and reject the directions of the Understanding as corrupted by Nature would themselves be thought to have the Divine Light tho had they but the least spark of Divine Light they would not so proudly insult but learn more Prudently to worship God and as now in Hatred so then in Love to excel the rest of their Brethren Nor would they Persecute with such an open Hostility those that cannot in Conscience comply with their Impositions but rather take pity of their failings unless they would be thought more fearful of their own worldly Interest then sollicitous for the others Salvation Seeing then that the Establishing of any Religious perswasion by force is so contrary to Scripture Reason and common Sence it remains then that only Worldly Interest and the support of a Domineering Hierarchy must be the chief Motives that engag'd the late Persecutors to procure those Penal Laws which in contempt of the Light of Nature and their own Videmus Meliora's they put so rigorously in Execution Laws that punish the very supposition of Crimes and Transgressions in Conceit Laws that punish the Body with Corporal