be compelled unto his great supper Quâ—propter si potestate quam per Religionem ac fidem Regum tempore quo debuit divino munere accepit Ecclesia Hi qui inveniuntur in viis in sepibus i. e. in haeresibus Schismatibus coguntur intrare non quod coguntur reprehendant sed quo coguntur attendant Wherefore if those who are found in the High-ways and in the Hedges that is either amongst Hereticks or Schismaticks be constrained to enter into the Lords Vineyard by that power which the Church hath received by the goodness of God ever since Kings have received the Christian Faith Let them not find fault that they are as it were driven by force but let them consider whither it is they are driven even into those pastures where they may find true food and rest for their souls These are the chiefest of Saint Augustines arguments why Kings and Princes should interpose their power and authority in behalf of Religion to which may be added the inhumane barbarism of the Donatists who invaded Maximian an Orthodox Bishop of Africa and set upon him at the Altar and brake down the Altar that with the pieces of its wood for Altars were not then made of stone they might knock down the Bishop and after that they stabbed him with a punyard then dragged him on the ground and left him for dead But the dust having stopped the bleeding of his wounds there was still life in him and therefore they again took him away from those good Christians who were carrying him to a religious house for help and threw him down from a Turret so not doubting but they had at lest beat his breath quite out of his body if not his brains out of his head This was their cruelty against a pious and an Orthodox Bishop because he would not be of their party yet even this man thus in effect by them thrice killed was by the singular providence of God preserved and by the singular power of God again revived being stollen away in the night and carried to a religious house and so well recovered afterwards that he was able in his own person to make his complaint unto the Emperour and from him obtained the suppression of the Donatists which in time begat their conformity Hinc ergo factum est ut Imperator Religiosus ac pius perlatis in notitiam suam talibus causis mallet piissimis legibus istius impietatis errorem omnino corrigere eos qui contra Christum Christi signa portarent ad unitatem Catholicam torrendo coercendo redigere quà m saeviendi tantummodo auferre licentiam errandi ac pereundi relinquere Hence it came to pass that the Religious Emperour being informed of the whole matter did not only make Laws to suppress their violence that they should not mischief the Churches peace but also to command their obedience that they should submit to her commands and embrace her Communion as thinking it unworthy of his authority to deny his subjects power of destroying others but to leave them power of destroying themselves Thus did Saint Augustine plead for the power of Princes in maintaining the outward order of Religion and whereas he had once thought that only the spiritual power of the Word and not also the temporal power of the sword was to be used against Schismaticks He plainly recanted that opinion and left under his own hand a testimony of his recantation For so he hath written 2 Retract c. 5. Dixi in libro primo contra partem Donati Non mihi placere ullius saecularis potestatis impetu Schismaticos ad communionem violenter arctare verè mihi tunc non placebat quia nondum expertus eram vel quantum mali eorum auderet impunitas vel quantum eis in melius mutandis conferre posset diligentia disciplinae I said in my first book against the Donatists that I approved not their practice who did violently force Schismaticks to the Communion of the Church and truly when I writ that book I did not approve it for I had not then learned by experience neither how much the hope of impunity would make them the worse nor how much the fear of punishment would make them the better He had done what he could as a Divine to reclaim them for he had made an Alphabetical Psalm wherein he laid open their follies and impieties to all the people the Hypo-Psalm or burden of which Psalm to be repeated at the end of every new Period was this Omnes qui gaudetis de pace modo verum judicate All ye that love the peace now judge the truth u. Tom. 7. In this Psalm he complains much of their turbulency and violence whereby they dishonored Christ grieved his Spirit wounded his Church but they continued still like the deaf adder stopping their ears against the voice of the charmer though he charmed never so wisely wherefore when he saw they would not be reclaimed he desired they might be suppressed and began to be of a perswasion that it was the duty of the Civil Magistrate to suppress them And truly t is not imaginable that God hath given the power of the sword to Princes that they should use it against their own and not much rather against his enemies that they should punish those who dishonour their persons or disobey their commands and not much more those who dishonour and disobey the great God their Maker and Preserver from whom alone it is that either honour is due unto their persons or obedience is due unto their commands For God himself hath said Them that honour me I will honour and they that dispise me shall be lightly esteemed 1 Sam. 2. 30. The words werr spoken to Eli for not restraining the wickedness of his sons He had made a grave Sermon to them as a Priest but he had not inflicted severe punishments upon them as a Judge And because he had not punished them God resolves to punish him Nay to punish Religion for his sake thinking it more agreeable with his honour that his Ark should be captivated by Philistines then prophaned and defiled by Israelites We who have seen the same sins may justly fear we shall see the same confusion However we must pray that we may no more see the same sins or that we may see them severely punished That neither we may depart from our glory nor our glory may depart from us For surely there is a very great blessing in the meer outward face and practice of Religion and much more in the inward zeal and love of it This made King David so zealous to fetch the Ark of God from Kiriathjearim as himself professeth 1 Chron. 13. 3. Let us bring again the Ark of our God to us for we enquired not at it in the dayes of Saul He had been so long without the publick exercise of Religion because of the troubles which had befallen him and the whole Nation in the days of Saul that
words of Leo relate to the Capitula or constitutions of Charles the great and Lodowick his son which Lotharius had commanded to be observed throughout all Italy And when it had been buzzed by some to the Emperour that the Pope disliked those constitutions he was very zealous to clear and to purge himself from that suspition by this Epistle De qua re Leo hac se Epistola videtur purgare voluisse And indeed the words of the Epistle shew a very fierce zeal for though he charge not himself with an Oath yet he plainly chargeth them with a lye that either had or should report so to the Emperour si fortasse quilibet aliter vobis dixerit vel dicturus fuerit sciaâ—is eum pro certo mendacem And yet this is not all For as Pope Leo in this Epistle made a solemn protestation of his own obedience to the Emperours Laws so in another after this cited by Gratian in the thirteenth Chapter of this same tenth Distinction he made an humble supplication that others might also be compelled to obey them Vestram flagitaneus clementiam c. For which though some late Canonists may perchance say he had too little spirit to be a good Pope yet we cannot deny but in this Tenent he had too much Truth to be a bad Divine For Christ took not from Kings their trust that he might give it unto Church-men no more then God took from Moses that he might give to Aaron And consequently Christian Kings are still obliged to discharge this Trust in their own dominions as belonging to them by the Law of nature and therefore not impaired but confirmed by the Law of grace since it is the work of grace to consummate and perfect nature not to overthrow it For the Moral Law given to the Jews by Moses was the same that had before been given by God himself to Adam only it was written again in Tables of stone because by our sin we had much defaced that writing which had been engraven in the tables of our hearts So then what is commanded by Moses in the fifth Commandment was before commanded by God in the Law of nature that is to say that all Fathers whether natural or spiritual or civil should be entrusted with and have power over their own children in subordination to though not in opposition against the commands of the Eternal Father And this right of Princes doth Pope Leo himself acknowledge in giving them the title of Pontifices High Priests which had been assumed by themselves before in their edicts and accordingly saith the gloss imperatores olim Pontifices appellabantur Which he proveth by the Authority of Isidâ—re in these express words cited afterwards dist 21. c. 1. Aâ—tea autem qui Regeserant Pontifices erant nam majorum haec erat consuetudo ut Rex esset etiam Sacerdos Pontifex unde Romani Imperatores Pontifices dicebantur Hence it is that among the titles of Aurelius the Romane Emperour this is one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Summus sacerdos Maximus Euseb l. 4. Eccles histor cap. 13. Which is a good proof that by the Law of Nations the authority of Religion was judged to be in the Prince though the administration of it was in the Priest nor was this an erroneous conceit of the Heathens for God himself would have the ceremonies of Religion to be instituted and established by Moses who was a civil Magistrate not by Aaron who was a Priest though they were executed only by Aaron After Moses Joshua removed the Ark gave the charge of Religion and renewed the Covenant betwixt God and the people And after him David and Solomon Josiah and Ezechiah did by their authority as Kings order and reform Religion overthrow Idolatry and superstition so that we may justly and truly infer that Princes had that Trust of Christian Religion before they themselves were Christians to understand it and still have it though they are never so bad Christians to abuse it T is one thing what they are by their deeds another thing what they are by their duties for by their duties they are preservers of Gods truth and peace though by their deeds they often prove the persecutors of his truth and the disturbers of his peace God made them preservers though they too too often make themselves Persecutors of his Church Thus Basilius the Emperour publickly assumeth to himself this Trust in the eighth general Council cited in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Divine and merciful providence having put into my hands the helm of the universal ship That is of the Church wherein as in Noahs Ark all those are gathered who are saved from perishing A large claim and yet not one of all the Council opens his mouth against it Nay they all plainly give their suffrages for it in the ninth Action when they solemnly make this profession 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We well know O Emperour that there are under your power Arch-Bishops and Bishops and Abbates and Clergie-men and Monks and that you are the Governour of them all This was accounted no bad Divinity almost nine hundred years after Christ for this Council was held in the year eight hundred and seventy both by Greek and Latine Churches the Popes Legates then present not dissenting from the rest nay the Pope himself giving his actual and publick assent to this Tenent at this day in that at his consecration he solemnly professeth to Saint Peter and his Church I could rather wish it were to God but it is to Saint Peter Profiteor tibi Beate Petre sanctaeque tuae Ecclesiae That he doth receive and will keep this eight as well as the other seven general Councils and promising to himself that Saint Peter will be gracious to him at the last day when I desire God only to be gracious to me as he did carefully observe this his profession Eris autem mihi in illa terribili die haec conanti diligenter servare curanti propitius This profession of the Pope at his inauguration is set down at large by Binius in his notes upon this Council so that t is scarce out of use in the Church of Rome at this day to make it whatever it is to keep it And yet t is much that a profession so solemnly made should be slightly kept for surely those words Deo tibi sciens me redditurum de omnibus quae profiteor districtam in divino judicio rationem Knowing I shall give a strict account to God and to you at the day of Judgement of all that I now profess though we leave out the Tibi in the case are such words as may well make a Pagan Foelix tremble to hear them much more a Christian Bishop tremble to speak them and both Pagans and Christians tremble to break them Nor may any Divine think or teach this Doctrine of Supremacy to be a matter of indifferency for to deny it to be the Kings
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pascha 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 herba amara 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Azymus Their Annuntiation belonging to the Passeover was how God passed their Fathers over that night wherein he destroyed the first born of the Egyptians Their annuntiation belonging to the bitter herbs was of their Fathers grievous servitude and bondage in Egypt which made even their lives bitter unto them And their annuntiation belonging to the unleavened bread was their happy and sudden deliverance from that bondage for the Egyptians were so urgent upon the people that they took their dough before it was leavened their kneading troughs being bound up in their cloathes upon their shoulders Exod. 12. 24. We had at the same time a much greater deliverance and why should we have a less Annuntiation For where the mercy it self is much greater why should the memorial thereof be so much less God gives a signal intimation to the Jew Exod. 12. 42. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haec ista non illa This is that very night as if there were not demonstrative pronouns enough to shew that this mercy was to be as particular in their thankful commemoration as it had been in Almighty Gods free donation And Saint Paul seems to speak as signally to the Christian when he saith The same night that he was betrayed 1 Cor. 11. 23. as if he would not have us forget the particular time when he cometh so near the very words of Moses This is that very night to be observed to the Lord And indeed why should not we keep a Christian Passeover as well as a Christian Sabbath were they not both alike feasts of the Jews and as so are they not both alike abolished by the Apostle Gal. 4. 10. saying ye observe daies and moneths and times and years I am afraid of you least I have bestowed upon you labour in vain A Jewish observation of daies which observes daies for themselves is without doubt destructive of Christianity for it places Religion in things meerly ceremonial Not so a Christian observation of daies for duties for that places Religion only in morals Again why hath not the Christian Church as good Authority if not as justifiable warrant to observe an Anniversary as it hath to observe a Weekly festival as well the feast of the Christian Passeover once a year as the feast of the Christian Sabbath once a week for both are alike recommended in the Law and neither is directly commanded in the Gospel and we may not add to Gods commands no more then we may take from them nor may we think the New Testament defective in any necessary command or doctrine unless we will advance Judaism above Christianity Therefore since it will pose the best Divine in Christendom to shew that Text in the New Testament which commandeth the observation of a Sabbath and we cannot run to the letter of the fourth Commandment to keep the first day in stead of the seventh we must be contented in this case with the general equity of the Law and that gives the Church power to consecrate Annual as well as Weekly Festivals to the honour of God and condemneth our profaness in neglecting our perversness in despising the one as well as the other Besides it is evident we cannot or if we can sure the Apostles could not keep a Lords day all the year but as a repetition of Easter-day which was the first Lords day even the very day of his resurrection wherefore we must either say it is a Jewish not a Christian Sabbath or say it is a Lords day from the great Lords day the day of our Lords resurrection For though Saint John telling us He was in the Spirit on the Lords day pointeth clearly at our Sunday the weekly remembrance of Christs resurrection and not at Easter-day the annual remembrance of it because in those Churches of Asia to which he writ Easter-day was not yet confined to the first but might be kept on any other day of the week yet without doubt he called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords day for that it was a weekly repetition of that very day which our Lord had consecrated to himself by rising from the dead called for that reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the great Lords day by the primitive Christians And shal we then not think it worth our notice that our blessed Saviour himself chose such a time for his Passion and Resurrection as by the unerring Characters of heaven might be exactly observed all the world over to the worlds end were it so that our Civil year were made agreeable with the Tropical or that the Catholick Church of Christ in its first and purest age would have been so careful to find out and so zealous to settle the time of this Festival if the Fathers of these blessed ages which were less quarrelsom but more pious then any have been since had not thought it highly concerned the honour of Christ and the propagation and justification of the Christian Religion Surely we cannot easily more gratifie the Jews then by putting down the memory of that time wherein they crucified Jesus Christ our Lord which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh nor can we more easily scandalize good Christians then by putting down the memorial of that time wherein he was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead Rom. 1. 3 4. And God deliver his Church from such practises as are fit to gratifie Jews but to scandalize good Christians SECT IV. Of the antient contention about the observation of Easter That the Apostles zeal more about Duties then about Daies doth not overthrow the observing of particular daies in the service of God And that those daies ought to be observed by Preaching Praying Administring of the Sacrament and also by Almes-deeds So that false administration sc of the Holy Eucharist in one kind and false Devotions and false Doctrine and sordid illiberality in not relieving the poor are allâ— alike Profanations of a Festival FAmous was the controversie betwixt Policrates and Victor the one Bishop of Ephesus the other Bishop of Rome concerning the celebrating of Easter-day For the Churches of Asia would needs keep the very day of the first full moon in Spring conceiving the Apostles condescention to the Iew to have been a dogmatical sanction to the Christian but the Western Churches who had no conversation with the Iews and therefore were not moved through compliance with them at first to forsake their Christian liberty and at last the Christian truth for the Quartadeciâ—… were in proâ—ess of time declared Hereticks would not keep the very day of that full Moon but the Sunday after it for their Easter-day the learned Scaliger gives this reason for their difference The Jewish Converts following their old custom kept still 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Passeover in remembrance of Christs Passion
the Jews in their own Moral Law whilst we establish not our own righteousness but submit our selves to the rightâ—â—usness of God acknowledging that Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth Rom. 10. 4. but by no means for unrighteousness that is for the acceptance of our obedience but not for the abolition of it Thus we Christians still keep communion with the Jews in all Moral duties and as for Ceremonials the Jews themselves cannot deny but they are bound to alter their own communion For the abolition of all ceremonial or typical worship was foretold to them even at the first institution of it by Moses himself saying And the Lord said I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name I will require it of him Deut. 18. 18 19. And as this abolition of the Ceremonial worship was foretold to the Jews at the first institution so was it also believed by them at the first reception thereof For hence alone was it that they found no fault with their Prophets after Moses though they found them dispensing with the Law of Moses nay plainly acting against it in the exercise of their typical or ceremonial worship as for example neither they of Hierusalem nor of Samaria quarrelled with Eliah for gathering Israel together to offer sacrifice upon Mount Carmel 1 King 18. 19. Though Moses had flatly commanded That all should bring their offerings to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation Levit. 17. 2 3 4. Here it is plain the Ceremonial worship was changed without any quarrel at all in that backsliding and therefore quarrelsome and contentious age of the Church of the Jews which could scarce have been had they not received that same worship with some belief of its future change and had not their Prophets confirmed them in that belief foreshewing as it were by particular changes introduced by them the universal change that should one day be introduced by the Messiah their last and greatest Prophet And this general change wrought by our Saviour Christ is so proved to us Christians that we cannot so much as doubt it and much less deny it For those very words of Moses that foreshewed the change A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me him shall you hear in all things are quoted by Saint Peter as fulfilled in Christ Acts 3. 22. And again he saith v. 24. That all the Prophets from Samuel and those that follow after which words justifie the Jews division of the Prophets into the former and latter Prophets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and put the latter Prophets in as good credit as the former against the Samaritanes and as many have spoken have likewise foretold of these dayes All the Prophets like so many lines from the circumference in the centre meet together in Christ so that the written word of God not only is the undoubted and therefore should be the undeniable ground of all Religion but also of the very Christian Religion nor may we endeavour to prove the establishment of the Christian Religion by unwritten Traditions no more then the Apostles did prove the change of the Jewish Religion by them They alledged the written word for the introduction we for the establishment of our Christian Religion The old Testament so exactly agreeing with the new and both old and new so exactly agreeing and corresponding in Christ that there can be no doubt left of the truth of Christianity Hence Saint Paul will have us make so sure of our Religion that though an Angel from heaven should preach another Gospel we should not be ready to believe but to accurse him Gal. 1 8. And Saint John saith the same in effect If there come any to you and bring not this doctrine sc that whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God receive him not into your house neither bid him God speed 2 John 9 10. Si quis venit ad vos If any come unto you t is all one whether the substantive be an Angel or a man for that divinity was not yet in fashion Si Papa erraret praecipiendo vitia vel prohibendo virtutes teneretur Ecclesia credere vitia esse bona virtutes malas nisi velit contra conscientiam peccare Bellar. lib. 4. de Pontif. cap. 5. That if the Pope should err by commanding sins and forbidding vertues The Church were bound to believe that sins were good and vertues were evil unless she would sin against her conscience Op. Ac ne forte contra conscientiam agat tenetur credere bonum esse quod ille praecipit malum quod ille prohibet And least the Church should do any thing against her conscience she is bound to believe that to be good which the Pope commandeth and that to be evil which he forbiddeth A strange assertion as if God had put all his Divine Truths whether speculative or practical for if the one the other also under the possibility of mans lawfull contradiction and all our consciences under the power of his controul nor is there any remedy for this mischeivous consequence by translating this pretended Infallibility from his person to his chair nor from his chair to his Church for we may justly suppose or rather must necessarily believe that Saint Johns words are as well to be understood and interpreted of a whole Church as of single man since there is the same reason of both for a Church is but a congregation of men and false doctrine hath no less of falsity though it hath less of excuse in a Church then in any particular man But we must more then believe this Truth if it be possible That the Gospel is to sway our faith above and against all authorities to the contrary whatsoever by the force of Saint Pauls reason For if not the authority of the Church triumphant then surely not of the Church militant may be allowed to weaken our faith in the doctrine or in the Gospel of Christ If not an Angel from heaven then sure not a man upon the earth And great pity it is but greater shame that the faction and humour of some men should endeavour to shake not only the dictates of nature in putting vertue and vice under mans determination but also the very foundation of supernatural Truth the written Word of God thereby thinking the more to establish the pillar of supernatural truth the Church of God whereas indeed they do the more shake that too For we are all most sure that the Scriptures came incorrupt from the mouth of God and therefore if there be now any corruptions in them they are of mans not of Gods creating And
that before they came to this Psalm their voices were at a very high pitch God not permitting them to dissemble their danger who would needs oppose his Church though by denouncing and divulging it they incurred their own They were therefore to sing those words in a high and loud tone The righteous Lord hath hewn the snares of the ungodly in pieces ver 4. or rather as it is in the orher translation hath cut asunder the cords of the wickd even those cords whereby they drew the Plow to make long furrows upon the Churches back saith Junius densos funes quibus aratrum trahebant in dorso Ecclesiae And he borrowed this gloss from Aben Ezra who thus expoundeth the place The Lord will cut asunder their cords that they shall not be able to plow upon my back and the meaning is that the Lord will take away their burdens sc who had led Israel captive from off the shoulders of Israel by destroying their Dominion Again ver 5. 6. Let them be confounded and turned backward as many as have evil will at Sion Let them be even as the grass growing upon the housetops which withereth before it be plucked up If they be not confounded and turned backward in this world they will in the next for this curse cannot fall to the ground and to be turned backward in the next world is nothing less then to be turned into Hell as the grass that is withered is good for nothing but to be thrown into the fire And this is the very doom that Saint Paul hath denounced against them Rom. 2. 8 9. But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath Tribulation and anguish c. What is there more in Hell then indignation and wrath tormenting the soul then tribulation and anguish afflicting the body And this will be the punishment of those who are contentious and meerly out of contention at first do not obey the truth and at last do obey unrighteousness Therefore the Apostle useth an Emphatical expression to set forth their contentiousness saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lis autem qui sunt ex contentione as the Vulgar Latine hath rendred it But to them that are of contention that is so contentious as if they were born or made of contention this preposition Ex doth here note the material cause as if contention were the very matter of which such men were made Aquinas ingeniously maintains that Position Creare est aliquid ex nihilo facere To create is to make something out of nothing mainly by this distinction Quum Praepositio Ex due importet habitudinem causae materialis ordinem hic non designat causam materialem sed ordinem tantùm sicut quum dicitur Ex mane fit meridies id est post mane fit meridies Where the preposition Ex doth import two things either the material cause out of which the thing is made or the Order of its making here it doth not import the material cause but only the Order as when we say that the noon is made out of the morning we mean after the morning so when we say to create is to make something out of nothing we only mean it is to make that something which before was meerly nothing 1. Par. qu. 45. art 1. But we cannot fasten such an exposition upon these words of Saint Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iis autem qui sunt ex contentione But those that are of contention for this Of cannot import their beginning as if they had been such but now were not and therefore it must import their constitution that they are such and made of such principles that they are so of contention as of that which is the chief ingredient in their composition And according to this interpretation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They which are of contention will signifie those who make contention their study and delight as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 3. 7 9. They whch are of Faith doth signifie those which wholly depend and relie upon faith in Christ contrary to whom are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verse 10. As many as are of the works of the Law that is As many as place their hope and confidence in the works of the Law And again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They which were of the circumcision Gal. 2. 12. doth signifie those which did glory or boast of their circumcision and made it their business to be zealous for those kind of outward and carnal Ordinances And this is agreeable with Saint Hieroms criticism upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he thus explaineth Est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quum qui semper ad contradâ—cendum paratus stomacho delectatur alieno muliebri jurgio contendit provocat contendentem alio nomine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hier. in 5. ad Galat. The spirit of contradiction and of contention both are according to this gloss in those men of whom Saint Paul saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But unto them that are contentious None can be a formal Separatist from the communion of his Church rightly established but he must have the Spirit of contention to make him a Schismatick and the Spirit of contradiction to make him labour to justifie or at least to continue and prolong his Schism So that indeed such a man hath indignation and wrath though unjustly in his sin and therefore may expect to have them both but very justly in his Punishment But unto them that are contentious indignation and wrath saith the Text They unjustly had indignation and wrath against their Church that they might be contentious And God will justly have indignation and wrath against them that they may be punished for their contention All which considered we have reason to believe that external Christian communion as far as it is truly Christian is to be carefully followed maintained and preserved in all Churches to be forsaken persecuted and destroyed in no Church For God hath not left it to the disposal of the Kings and Potentates of this world whether he shall be publickly served or not only hath given them a strict command to promote and advance his publick worship and service He gave not power to his Apostles for destruction but only for edisication and therefore that power that tends only to destruction cannot be of his giving What shall we say of those who commanded the Apostles not to speak at all in the name of Jesus Acts 4. 18. Shall we say they had power from God so to do God forbid for then the Christian Religion could not have been planted without Rebellion and so should not have been planted at all For the Text is plain which forbiddeth to do evil that good may come Gods power doth no thwart it self nor put men upon contradictions Therefore in that the Apostles were commanded to pray and preach in the name of Jesus the Rulers of the Jews were commanded not to
it or potentially in our spiritual vote and desire though we live never so far from them And it is to be noted in Gods Method that he first makes provision for the Truth of his worship in the three first then afterwards for the publike exercise of it in the fourth Commandment he first takes care that we be not faulty in the object of our worship saying Thou shalt have no other Gods but me then not in the outward manner of it either in deed or in word not in deed saying Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven image thou shalt not how down to them nor worship them not in word saying Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain After this order taken for the truth of his worship both in the object and in the manner then he proceeds to command the publick exercise thereof saying Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day Certainly this Method was not in vain but to shew that as the Truth was to go before the exercise so the exercise was to follow the Truths of Religion And therefore wheresoever the Church did worship God according to the dictates of the three first commandments there every man was bound to be a communicant with the Church by vertue of the fourth and not only by vertue of the fifth Commandment For Christian communion as an act of Religion belongs to the first though as an act of obedience it belong to the second Table Therefore if another man saith Our Father which art in heaven how shall I not say with him Hallowed be thy name Doth it beseem me to be angry with the Lords most holy prayer for his sake that saith it as if what Christs lips had sanctified his lips could prophane for my devotion Or can I be angry with any of Christs words wheresoever I find them and not be guilty of anger against Christ and against Christianity Is the love of my God to be over-ruled by the hatred of my neighbour or may I indeed hate my God for my neighbours sake who am bound to love mine enemy for Gods sake The argument then will proceed à minori ad majus that if I may not in a true worship deny my communion to a stranger much less to a brother if not to a brother then much less to a mother If not to one single Minister much less to a whole Church which God hath entrusted with his own worship and with my soul For if I must look on that particular Minister whom God hath set over me as one that directeth me in his worship by his authority then much more must I so look upon my Church which God first set over that Minister before he set that Minister over me And if every particular Minister amongst us would as conscionably acknowledge and as couragiously vindicate his Churches Trust as he confidently assumes and diligently performs his own we should soon have much less faction in the Church and much more Religion in the people SECT V. The Prince as the supream governour of the particular Church in his own Dominions is Gods Trustee concerning the outward exercise of Religion not to manage or perform but to propagate and to protect it The antient Divines acknowledged this Trust and the antient Princes discharged it and Princes were bound so to do because it is their right by the Law of nature and because without the discharge of this Trust there can neither be the face nor the order of Religion among any People IT was the singular providence of God to commit the care and trust of man in matters of Religion only to men for since the devil can transform himself into an Angel of light if in this case we had been entrusted with the Angels we might have been deluded by the Devils But now having a more sure word of prophesie then can be any voice from heaven whosoever be the speaker or the messenger 2 Pet. 1. 19. there is no true Christian Church but may with confidence and must with courage say unto the people committed to her Trust as Saint Paul said to the Galatians Though we or an Angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you then that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed Gal. 1. 8. God hath not trusted Angels but men with preaching his Gospel nor hath he trusted men to preach a new Gospel but that only which the Apostles at first preached and what he hath given some men spiritual power to preach that he hath given other men temporal power to maintain The Priest is to preach it the Prince is to maintain it and the same God who in the affairs of the body hath given his Angels charge over men hath in the affairs of the soul given men charge over Angels for though an Angel from heaven should preach any other Gospel yet neither might the Priest publish it nor the Prince protect it It being a priviledge of men above Angels since the eternal truth took on him not the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham that as Angels are the guardians of men so men should be the guardians of Gods truth And happily in this regard we find two sorts of men especially in the holy Scriptures called Angels to wit Kings and Priests because God hath most especially trusted them with his truth T is sure this reason is given why the King is so called 2 Sam. 14. 17. For as an Angel of God so is my Lord the King to discern good and bad And t is very probable the same reason is meant though it be not given why the Priests are so called Revel 2. For we find the Angels of those several Churches strictly examined if not severely blamed for the neglect of this Trust God hath made Kings and Priests guardians of his truth as he hath made the Angels guardians of our persons that we should admire his infinite power whereby he is able and adore his infinite goodness whereby he is willing not only to send down from heaven his Ministring Spirits but also to raise up from earth his Ministring flesh to be our guardian Angels Nor can we now without unthankfulness to God injury to the Truth and injustice if not uncharitableness to our selves deny either King or Priest his part in this guardianship And God he knows we have great need of both It hath been the Devils cheifest policy to sow seeds of jealousie and dissension between these two Trustees that so he might make himself the greater harvest either by depraving the purity or by disturbing the peace of Religion In some Churches the Priest hath almost expelled the King in other Churches the King hath almost expelled the Priest The one extending his spirituals even to temporals the other extending his temporals even to spirituals neither but cometh short of his duty whiles both go beyond their Trust God make both truly to see the danger and the burden of their own
due is to deny the Text and to be a Heretick against the fifth Commandment and t is as hard going to heaven for Hereticks against the Decalogue as against the Creed surely Mordecay and Hester would not have appointed the feast of Purim for two dayes by their own authority if the secular Magistrate had been confined by God only to secular affairs and prohibited to intermeddle in Ecclesiastical Wherefore we dare not but say this trust this power is indeed the Princes birth-right and is as inseparable from his Crown by the dictates of God and nature as his Crown is from his head or his head is from his body And t is happy for us it is so for else such is the wickedness and such would be the outrage of headstrong Schismaticks Hereticks and Atheists that we should soon come to have no appearance or shew of a Church and no form or face of Religion For the spiritual power of Preaching exhorting correcting administring praying excommunicating which is all that Church-men can do by vertue of their Orders can only enable them to preserve the purity and the truth but not the outward publick solemnity and practice of Religion that depends very much if not altogether upon the external or temporal power both for its being and for its continuance For if men once turn mad and outragious as t is very easie for those who are out of their honesty to be also out of their wits the fear of Gods Judgements will no more terrifie them then the love of Gods truth will perswade them to consult with their consciences so that neither fear nor love of God is like to bring them to a right order in his worship and service nor to keep them in it wherefore in such a case as this and a mischief that hath already been so often felt ought to be alwayes feared unless the secular arm defend the Church well there may be some private love and desire but there can scarce be any publick practice and exercise of the true Religion This Augustine proves at large Epist 50. Bonifacio comiti de moderate coercendis Hereticis which himself would have us look upon as a full Tractate because in the second of his Retract cap. 28. he calls it a Book Scripsi librum de correctione Donatistarum In which Book he useth many arguments why Kings by their secular power should both defend and vindicate Religion 1. Because those were blamed in the Old Testament who did it not those extolled above all others who did it 2. Because it was the duty of Kings so to do for that else though they might serve God as private men yet not as Kings unless they made Laws to compel others also to serve him Aliter enim servit quia homo est aliter quia etiam Rex est Quia homo est ei servit vivendo fideliter quia vero etiam rex est servit leges justa praecipientes contraria prohibentes convenienti rigore sanciendo Kings serve God as men by being religious but they serve him as Kings by making severe Laws in the defence of Religion 3. Because the Church might lawfully call upon them to do it for though the Apostles desired not the assistance of the Heathen Princes in their dayes because that prophesie was not yet fulfilled why do the Heathen so furiously rage The Kings of the Earth stand up together against the Lord and against his Christ Yet now the Church may desire the assistance of Christian Princes since that is come to pass which followeth in the same Psalm Be wise now therefore O ye Kings be learned ye that are Judges of the earth For now that Kings are called to the knowledge of Religion t is not rational to say they are not called to the defence of it Quis mente sobrius Regibus dicat Nolite curare in regno vestro à quo teneatur vel oppugnetur Ecclesia Domini vestri non ad vos pertineat in regno vestro quis velit esse sive religiosus sive sacrilegus quibus dici non potest non ad vos pertineat in regno vestro quis velit pudicus esse quis impudicus What sober man will say to Kings It is no part of your care to look after the Church of your Lord who do possess it or who do oppose it as if they were not to look after mens piety who are to look after womens chastity as if it concerned them that there should be no bastards not much more that there should be no sacriledge or idolatry in their kingdoms 4. Because Kings by their temporal power might redress many mischiefs which else were not like to be redressed For though the best Christians were moved by love yet the most Christians were awed by fear Sicut meliores sunt quos dirigit amor ita plures sunt quos corrigit timor And to this purpose he applies several Texts of the Proverbs particularly this of Prov. 29. 19. Verbis non emendabitur servus durus A stubborn servant will not be corrected by words Quum dixit Verbis non emendari non eum jussit deseri sed tacite admâ—nuit unde debeat emendari when be said a stubborn servant will not be corrected by words he would not have him left incorrigible but privately intimated the way he should be corrected sc by stripes or blows For God often useth the scourge to his best servants to bring them to himself therefore it is not cruelty but mercy in Christian Kings to scourge his enemies unto him whereas the Donatists object Cui vim Christus intulit quem coegit Whom did Christ force or compell to be a Christian I answer saith he Let them look on S. Paul Agnoscant in eo prius cogentem Christum postea docentem prius ferientem postea consolantem mirum est autem quomodo ille qui poena corporis ad Evangelium coactus intravit plus illis omnibus qui solo verbo vocati sunt in Evangelio laboravit Let them confess that Christ did first compel then instruct Saint Paul first strike him down then raise him up and it is very observable that he who was forced to the Apostleship by the pain and punishment of his own body was more laborious therein then they who were only called by the word of Christ 5. And lastly Because the Donatists used un just violence to oppose and opppress the Church much more should Christian Princes use their just power to uphold and to maintain it Cur ergo non cogeret Ecclesia perditos filios ut redirent si perditi filii coegerunt alios ut perirent Why should not the Church force her lost children to come to the way of life since they force their brethren to go to the gates of death Et ipse Dominus ad magnam coenam suam prius adduci jubet convivas postea cogi for even our Lord himself first appointed guests to be invited but at last to
admit the stamp and impression of Christ upon our stony hearts t is because we have been as Iron when we should have been as wax and not having received nor desirous to receive the seal of our Lord do question the authority of his Embassadour of his Apostle not having in us the image of Christ do contemn the authority and forsake the communion of his Church For as the want of natural affection discovered the harlot not to have been the true mother of the child 1 King 3. 26. So the want of filial obedience discovereth us not to have been true children but by no means our Church to have been a false mother There is great reason and greater necessity why all true sons of this distressed and despised Church should now especially insist upon this Doctrine since at this time the contumacy of the children hath made disputable nay almost desperate the authority of the Mother Wherein as we have S. Pauls example to invite us so we have his authority to justifie us for questionless he did therefore so much magnifie his own Apostleship that we should learn to magnifie it much more Thus we find in the beginning of every Epistle so many large Encomiums and high commendations of his office as if he had taken that for his Text Rom. 11. 13. Quamdiu quidem ego sum gentium Apostolus ministerium meum honorificabo As long as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles I will magnifie mine office There needs but one instance for all Gal. 1. 1. Paul an Apostle not of man neither by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead where Saint Chrysostome gives us this remarkable gloss 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because they sc who went about to pervert the Galatians did undervalue his Doctrine saying it was from men but that S. Peters Doctrine was from Christ therefore in the first place he withstands that objection viz. by affirming that he was an Apostle not of men neither by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father as well as S. Peter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In that he saith he was not an Apostle of men he saith what was common to all the Ministers of the Gospel for both their authority of preaching and the doctrine which they preached was from heaven But in that he saith neither by man he saith what was proper only to the Apostles for our blessed Saviour did not call them by other men but only by himself We do not seek now for such an Apostleship in any Christian Church as is not by man we only say it is not of man and that is enough to procure sober mens attention and conscientious mens obedience for in that it is not of men it is clearly of God And as it was not arrogancy but necessity in Saint Paul which made him stand so much upon his authority so is it not the pride of the Clergy a string which they most harp upon who are most guilty of it but their duty which maketh them stand so stiffly for the authority of the Church Let him speak for both whose modesty and humility was greater then his learning and yet whose learning was greater in reality then our new Divines is now in shew or pretence and that was the late Bishop of Salisbury Bishop Davenant in his most excellent Commentary upon the Colossians where almost at the beginning sc in the fifth page you shall find these words Paulus non arrogantiae causa sed ne in detrimentum Ecclesiae vilesceret illius autoritas Apostolicam dignitatem sibi vendicat Ita etiam oportet in Ecclesiastica dignitate constitutos officii sui autoritatem atque existimationem tueri contra contemptores schismaticos Saint Paul doth not out of arrogancy challenge to himself the dignity and honour of an Apostle but for fear lest otherwise the Church of God should suffer detriment or loss by the contempt of his authority And so likewise it still behoveth those who are placed in Ecclesiastical dignity to maintain the repute and authority of their office against despisers and schismaticks And truly this is but a reasonable position both in regard of those in authority who do only maintain their own unless we will deny that to be their own which God hath so manifestly given them and in regard of those under authority who cannot be willing to obey what they are not desirous to maintain and yet must either obey or be guilty of hainous impiety such as now joyns them in communion with the Devil by their sin for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft 1 Sam. 15. 23. and without doubt all witches are the Devils communicants and such as will hereafter keep them in communion with the Devil by their punishment They that resist shall receive to themselves damnation Rom. 13. 2. And questionless it is a most reasonable probleme What communion hath light with darkness and what concord hath Christ with Belial 2 Cor. 6. 15 16. And yet a more reasonable demand I would not that ye who are Christians should have fellowship with Devils 1 Cor. 10. 20. Not in their sin for Christs sake not in their punishment for your own sakes Again there may be yet further alledged these reasons why we should zealously maintain and carefully obey the power and authority of our own particular Church 1. Because reverence and suspition cannot consist together and therefore I may not lightly suspect those whom I am bound to reverence such as are my spiritual Pastors and Teachers whom for this reason I may not lightly suspect in respect of their integrity much less of their authority 2. Because else there must be perplexitas facti a perplexity in point of fact that private men will not easily know with whom they are bound to keep their Christian Communion in the publick worship and service of God which yet is an undeniable and should be an undoubted duty of the Text. 3. Because else there must be perplexitas juris a perplexity in point of Law which is such a perplexity as God will not endure and man may not endure for then the conscience can never be at quiet when it must so keep one Law as to break another And that perplexity cannot be avoided if we allow two several Churches to have power from God to order and command the duties of our Religion for then they may lay upon us at the same time quite contrary commands and consequently whilst we are obeying the one we must be disobeying the other But it is past all dispute that our own Church hath power from God over us in matters of Religion because the Apostle saith expresly Obey them that have the rule over you Heb. 13. 17. Which cannot be understood of those who are at a distance from us in another Country because it follows For they watch for your souls as they that must give an account But t is against reason to say or think that
him what is undoubtedly his due So uncharitably as to deny him what is immortally his comfort even the conveyance and assurance of blessed Communion in his soul with the eternal Son of God so that if a good conscience move me not for Gods sake yet a good consideration will move me for mine own sake to bless God for placing me in such a Church as gives me a whole a full communion because I can assure my self that receiving a whole communions as my Saviour hath appointed nothing but mine own want of Faith and Repentance can keep me from receiving my Saviour and with him all the blessings and comforts of his Salvation whereas a man that receives but one Part of this blessed Sacrament cannot be assured that he shall receive his Saviour with it for though Christ hath graciously promised that he will be with his own institutions yet he hath absolutely disclaimed that he will be with ours concerning these he hath plainly said In vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men Mat. 15. 8. and much more will it follow from hence In vain do they worship me doing for duties their own commandments instead of mine Bellarmine tells us that Johannes Ragusaeus was eight daies in the Council of Basil making an Oration against the Hussites concerning the Communion under both kinds If he had been eight years it had been to as little purpose for t is not any mans declamation can justifie a willful neglect of Christs institution If Christ hath commanded this thing let his command be shewed if not let not the thing be attempted much less allowed since he only hath the authority of ordering and instituting the signs of Grace who hath the right of promising grace and the power of giving it when these signs be used according to his order and he having instituted two signs of grace in this blessed Sacrament if I receive but one by what Faith can I hope for his grace unless I will hope for it without his Promise without his Power So that upon these grounds a half Sacrament is no Sacrament for Christ having annexed his Promise to his command If I do not what he hath commanded How can I expect what he hath promised Therefore since my Faith depends wholly upon my Saviours promise not at all upon his Churches power I can have no Faith in because he hath made no promise to a half Sacrament and yet withall I cannot see but the Church may as well Baptize without naming the first and third persons of the Trinity from those Texts which speak of Baptizing in the name of the Lord Jesus as administer the holy Communion without the cup from those Texts which speak of breaking bread For sure the Churches power is as great in the one Sacrament as it is in the other and so in a short time we may by the Churches power come to have no Sacrament And it is worth our enquiry whether or no he be not a Sacramentarian who believes the Sacrament to be without the signs as well as he who believes the signs to be without the Grace or the thing signified The last thing I am to consider about the Sacraments as they are in our Church is the manner of Administring And I am not afraid to averr That as she hath outgone the Papâ—sts in the administration it self so she hath outgone other Protestants in the manner of Administring And this is so evident in Baptism that I need not insist upon its proof because our Church therein still retaineth many antient solemnities which have been discountenanced if not disallowed by the Reformed Church in other Countries not to recede from her Sister the Reformed Church but to continue with her Mother The Church Catholick For she looks upon those solemnities she retains as upon so many rites of the Catholick Church and hath sufficiently proved them so to be and therefore cannot look upon the rejection of those rites as a part of her reformation because she desires and professes so to be Reformed as also to be Catholick And it is no less evident in the holy Communion wherein the manner of administring in our Church is much more full of Reverence then in other Protestant Churches For some of them receive the Body and Blood of Christ sitting as if they were Copes-mates with their Saviour so the Dutch Others standing as if they were in haste to be gone from him so the French But only our Church requireth kneeling which as it is the most proper gesture of Piety so is it moreover a gesture of Humility As for sitting it was never accounted a Gesture belonging to Prayer and therefore whereas it is said Then went King David in and sate before the Lord 2 Sam. 7. 18. that is before the Ark 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 liphnei haaron as both Kimchi and Jarchi interpret it Junius thus renders the words Restitit coram Iehova He remained before the Lord and saith concerning the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iesheb consedit He sate it was à Catachresis an abuse of its signification And indeed Rabbi David Kimchi upon the place sheweth he was not willing to believe that sitting was Davids posture when he prayed before the Ark And therefore he slightly passeth by the gloss of those Rabbies who inferred from hence That the Kings of the house of David might set as they prayed in the Sanctuary for saith he it is written of the Seraphims and all the host of heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shehem gnomedim That they were standing before the Lord And he rather adhereth to those who reading the word with a tsâ—re 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vajeshib consedit And he sate before the Lord thus expounded it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 samach gnatsmo He confirmed his strength in praying or who reading the word with a Camets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vaiashab reversus fuit And he returned before the Lord thus expounded it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iashab gnetsmo bithepillah He converted his strength to Prayer but he cares not to say That he sate when he Prayed for that was a gesture not becoming a Supplicant As for standing though it be a gesture belonging to Prayer as well as Kneeling yet is it not a gesture of so much piety and surely it is of far less humility whereas what hath a worthy Receiver else to do but wholly to contemplate his Saviours Goodness and his own unworthiness The first contemplation will make him labour what he can to shew his Piety The second will make him as zealous to shew his Humility We cannot deny but the Christian is best disposed to receive Christ when he is praying and for that reason our Church would have us be Praying when we come to receive him and it is certainly more fitting we should kneel then stand when we are praying It is an express Article of the Protestants Discipline in France That the due reverence
glory Thus Aristotle lib. 6. Eth. cap. ult ingeniously answereth their objection who would make Prudence to be above Sapience because Prudence commandeth Sapience and he answereth it by this distinction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Illius causa praecipit non autem illi Prudence commands for Sapience but not over her we are willing to look upon Christs Church as upon the best Prudence in the world but withall we must look upon Christ himself as the only Sapience the only true and eternal wisdom and accordingly say That the Church commandeth for Christ but not over him He that commandeth over another is certainly his superiour but he that commandeth for another is not so but rather his inferiour As Physick commandeth or prescribeth for health and therefore in that regard is not superiour but inferiour to health being made subservient to its recovery or continuance And if we will not allow this distinction we must according to Aristotle affirm the state or Common-wealth to be above God himself for she prescribeth his worship and if we will allow it we may not deny the Church to be under him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Aristotle wherefore if it be absurd in the judgement of a heathen to allow the civil state a power eminent above or equal with the false Gods because she commandeth their worship Then much more ought it to be absurd in the judgement of a Christian to allow the Ecclesiastical State a power eminent above or equal with the true God meerly upon the ground and reason of the same command Yet on the other side as Prudence ought to prescribe for Sapience so the Church ought to prescribe for Christ And as he that neglecteth the particular prescriptions of Prudence is the further from attaining the general dictates of Sapience So he that neglecteth the particular directions of Christs Church is the farther from apprehending the General instructions of Christs Word I must then take both Christs Word and Christs Church for my guides in the choice of my Christian Communion His Word for my guide that I be not guilty of superstition His Church for my guide that I be not guilty of Faction And having taken these two guides either I shall meet with no objections from mine own conscience and it is no matter what I meet with from other mens tongues against my Religion or I shall meet with very good solutions to answer them As for example Let this be the Catechism concerning my Religion Quest 1. Vpon what authority do you profess your Religion Answ Upon the highest authority in heaven and in earth the authority of God and of his Church The authority of God for 't is consonant to his word as my Rule The authority of Gods Church for 't is consonant to her Practice as my Example Quest 2. Do you think that you are bound to ground your Religion upon this twofold authority Answ I do especially as to the publick exercise or profession of it For without the first I shall have superstition instead of Religion without the second I shall have faction instead of Communion Quest 3. How can you prove that your particular Church hath authority from God to order you in the outward exercise of Religion Answ By the same proofs of the Text which prove any Church whatsoever to have that authority For Christs commission to Saint Peter Feed my sheep John 20. 16. is by him derived unto other Pastors Feed the Flock of God which is among you 1 Pet. 5. 2. He saith not Feed that part of my flock which is among you to help or to assist me but Feed the Flock of God to honour and obey him And he saith the flock of God which is among you to shew that the flocks needed no more look abroad for their Pastors then the Pastors needed look abroad for their flocks since they were actually one among the other And yet if the words had been less punctual they had not been less prevalent For feed the flock of God must alike concern all Churches since no prophesie or command of the Scripture is of any private interpretation 2 Pet. 1. 20. and therefore this command must alike concern all Churches Quest 4. What need you look after the Authority of God in the choice or practice of your Religion is not his Church allotted you for your only guide Answ No it is not for my Religion though it be for my Communion For if I serve God with a blind obedience I cannot serve him with my conscience and that is no other then a blind obedience to serve him upon anothers not upon his own command They that would perswade me to this should make the ninth Article of the Apostles Creed the First and teach me to say I believe the holy Catholick Church before I say I believe in God the Father Son and Holy Ghost For all the world cannot deny but my belief in God is the only ground of all my Faith even as my love of God is the only ground of all my obedience And since all Religion consists in faith and obedience well I may look upon my Church as the conveyance but I must look upon God only as the Donor and Giver or the Author of my Religion SECT II. That the Communion of the Church of England is truly Christian in Doctrine free from Heresie and from the necessary cause thereof a false ground or foundation of Faith that is Believing upon the Authority of man instead of God I had little Reason and should have less Religion to be true to my Church if my Church were not true to my Saviour the eternal Truth Therefore I must needs acquit my Church from Heresie that I may keep my self from Apostasie For if she hath fallen away from Christ I might lawfully fall away from her at least internally by with-drawing my affection which ought to be fixed upon Gods Truth if not externally by with-drawing my person which ought not to disturb the Churches Peace Let me see then how my Church hath kept Gods Truth that I may learn how to keep my Church And herein I cannot but perswade my self that what our blessed Saviour once spake to those Jews which believed on him he still speaketh to us Christians who profess the same belief If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed And ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free John 8. 31 32. And by the rule of contraries If we continue not in his word then are we not his Disciples in deed but only in shew and we shall not know the Truth and the Truth shall not make us free Therefore no Church can boast of being his Disciple which doth not continue in his Word that she may continue in his Truth And in this respect I cannot but continue in my Church that I may continue both in his Word and in his Truth because I see she hath continued in both so that the Truth