was said not to be of this World or to his Person or Offices that they contribute no more to the setling of Civil Rights and Interests Luke 12.13 or to Gospel-Weapons which being Spiritual and not Carnal have no Edg to cut off Mens Liberties Estates or Lives 2. The Nature of this Trust The Laws and Institutes by which these Ecclesiastical Matters are to be managed are appointed and established for Substance by the Wisdom and Authority of that one Law-giver Christ Jesus The Application of these Laws in respect of Circumstances for the well and comfortable enjoying Gospel-Ordinances is all that any Humane Wisdom hath to do in them the Trust whereof may be placed in the Hand of a wise and prudent Prince Again There is liberty of an after-Judgment to be made by him that is to practise in what-ever is of the Concerns of Religion commanded by Men. Thence such Laws require not such simple and peremptory Obedience if conformable to those Rules required in the Word Obedience thereunto is with respect to God as well as Man if otherwise that choice ought to be left to the Subject which the Apostle claimed Acts 5.29 Although Matters of Religion and the Concerns of it be great Things considered in themselves and accordingly is the Trust yet what of it falleth under the Hand of a Civil Power considered in it self is not so Because the greatness of this Trust sticks generally in Mens Minds especially when in the disposal thereof it depends upon the Will of one Man. To remove this or the like Stumbling-block we will suppose failings in the management of the Trust as great as rationally can be imagined 1. Suppose his Majesty should refuse either by Himself or Parliament to enjoin any thing of Ceremony or Circumstance about these Ceremonies and Externals the Worship and Service of God. Or 2. suppose he should dispense with all Injunctions and leave the People of God to their Liberty in the observance of them the Premisses last mentioned being considered there can be no great prejudice to the Common-Wealth or Civil Affairs thereby Distinctly we shall weigh each of these 1. For the former If the keeping or omitting of a Ceremony in it self considered is but a small thing as we mentioned before and of such a nature as although at first 't were of Godly Intent and purposely devised yet at length turned to Vanity and Superstition and burdened Mens Consciences without cause c. as we our selves acknowledg See Preface to Common-Prayer Book And of the same condition are most of those Impositions which have proved burthensom to the Nation a long time and if so the not imposing of these things cannot be prejudicial to Church or State. Not to the Church if these Directions for Gospel-Worship in the external Circumstances of it were not reduced into Canons and Injunctions but left where they are to be taken up in practice according to the Light of the Age as are Gospel-Duties of great Consequence Those Scriptures by which States profess themselves to be guided in the forming of these Ecclesiastical Laws are intrusted also in the Hands of his Gospel-Ministers for their conduct and direction in ordering Gospel-Affairs who have Gifts and Assistances from Christ in such a measure and degree as cannot be expected in the ablest Statesman as such And the Ecclesiastical Laws are never so well ordered by Civil Powers as when they consult with and take advice and direction from the Ministers of the Gospel about them To advise new Rites and Ceremonies saith Bishop Bilson is not the Prince's Vocation but to receive and allow such as the Scriptures commend and as the Bishops and Pastors of the Place shall advise Of Suprem p. 226. 2. If there were no such severe Injunctions about the Forms and Modes of Gospel-Worship I speak not of such Duties of Religion in which Mens Natures are principled 1. The Nation could not hereby suffer in respect of its Civil Concerns but the Wealth and Trade c. much more prosperous The Things being small in themselves and become great only upon the account of their being injoined and the greatness of Penalties annexed become of great concernment to the State that is to the great prejudice thereof as hath been apparent in many Years sad experience What is it of moment to Common-Wealths for the quickning of Trade keeping up of Rents c. or any particular Man's Civil Concern that Men kneel or not at the Sacrament crossing or not crossing in Baptisin c. 2. For the other A dispensing with all Penalties annexed to Ecclesiastical Laws where these Penalties are removed yet these Laws remain as Counsels and Advertisements and being consulted by the Learned Clergy in their Synod and commended as useful in the Administration of Worship this is as much as ever was done by the Apostles when Churches were in their greatest purity who endeavoured not so much to establish an External Uniformity as to preserve Christian Liberty If it be said They had then no Christian Magistrates 1. We say The Kingdom of Christ must come into a Nation before it be Christian and if it be so defective in its first address for want of such a Magistrate and of the Means we put so great an Esteem upon for reducing a People how will the People ever become Christians And on the other side if the Gospel hath a sufficiency in it self without borrowing to subdue a Pagan Nation to Christianity much easier it is being such to preserve them orderly and regular Christians Paul having instructed and counselled left his People free and to the perswasion in their own hearts Rom. 14.5 One Man esteemeth one day above another another Man esteemeth every day alike let every Man be fully perswaded in his own mind That was but a Counsel or Advertisement In the Act for Conformity in 1. Eliz. given to the Arch-Bishop Bishops and other Ordinaries that they would endeavour to perform their Duties in the Execution of that Act it was indeed very solemn that is from the Queen's Majesty the Lords Temporal and all the Commons in the present Parliament and in God's Name and as they will answer before God for such Evils and Plagues as may be punishments for the neglect thereof There hath been no want of Obedience hereunto by the Bishops being fully perswaded in their Hearts hereof as their Duty of which if they had not been so perswaded the severest Penalties would or ought to have been in vain King James orders throughout the Kingdom that the Afternoon's Exercise each Lord's Day be spent in examining Children in their Catechism instead of Preaching This is only commended as the most convenient and laudable way of teaching in the Church of England and that such Preachers be most encouraged and approved of And how readily was this immediatly practised throughout the Nation and is continued in many places to this day In the Establishment of Uniformity 2 Edw. 6. a Liberty was left in
a Common-Wealth Common Justice the Proprieties of Men c. 1. To the first His Majesty or any of his Predecessors hath not at any time in any Statute or Law that concerns these Ecclesiastical Matters by any such special Words bound up himself but rather the contrary as in those two Acts wherein more especially our Affair lieth That for Uniformity where the dispensing with that Statute granted to Strangers by sole Prerogative-Authority is justified And the Act of 22 Car. 2. by the Proviso there inserted the Parliament seems to induce his Majesty's Assent in the recognizing of his Prerogative so expresly in that Act as if they spoke thus Though this Act be very Severe yet if it be found prejudicial or not to attain the End for which we judg such Severity to be requisite it is an Ecclesiastical Affair and your Majesty may when you please dispense and exempt Persons from it 2. There is nothing transacted in these Ecclesiastical Affairs by the Civil Magistrate and as depending on his Authority but such Matters as in the sense of our Law are things materially indifferent and therefore not Malum in se they do not bind the Conscience of the Subject in the nature of them considered in themselves Q. Eliz. Advertisements 1569 Preface the keeping or omitting of a Ceremony in it self is but a small thing yet the wilful and contemptuous transgression and breaking a common Order c. So that these Precepts concerning Ecclesiastical Matters oblige not in their own Nature as what is either Bonum or Malum in se but as prohibited or commanded 3. Civil Rights and Claims and in Temporal Things only are of the immediate and intrinsick Concern and Interest of all Republicks Dominium non fundatur in Gratiâ if the just claim of a Prince may not be interrupted upon the account he is of this or that Religion or Perswasion nor may a Subject be justly Banished Imprisoned Confiscated or Ruined upon the meer account of Religion or because his Conscience is not cast into the same Mould with the Prince or present Establishment SECT 3. QUEST III. Religion and the Worship and Service of God being the great Concernments of a Nation Is it not then to dispence with the Penalties in Ecclesiastical Laws too great a Trust to be reposed in any one Hand Answ 1. In what sense Religion is the Concern of a Civil Republick 2. The Nature of this Trust 1. The Moment or Weight of a Matter in our deliberation hath its proportion either as under an absolute or respective Consideration Wisdom is better than Riches in it self but not in relation to the support of present Life the Knowledg of God and Divine Things is better than to know the Virtue of Drugs and Plants but not so in respect to the study of Physick so Religion and the Worship of God is the chiefest and better part in it self considered but in its respective Consideration as to the faculty of a particular Person to a Community of Men for the advance of Civil Affairs There are other Qualifications and Inducements of greater consequence and more directly and immediatly tending to the being or well-being thereof That there be no Mistake in this great Concernment I further distinguish There cometh under the Notion of Religion the Holiness and Righteousness that is of the Moral Law Principles whereof are in all Mens Natures and attend in their Actings by a natural Conscience 2. Gospel-Duties directed and ordered by a Supernatural Light no Foot-steps or Principles hereof are found in us For the former Religion in that sence as the Knowledg of God Conscience of an Oath Justice and Righteousness in our Dealings c. are such Things wherein the Well-being of Common-Wealths is much concerned But Religion as it stands in the exerting Supernatural Principles and in Duties termed the Commandments of Christ as the other the Commandments of God John 15. as Faith Repentance Sacraments Discipline and the like Gospel-Ordinances In the Duties under these Heads considered and as distinct from Moral Duties there is little or nothing directly and immediately contributed by them to Mens Civil Interests further than where these Supernatural Vertues are planted in Mens Minds the Moral Duties of Piety and Honesty do more plentifully abound and are in exercise As those Morals do more immediatly concern the Republick so the Laws thereof are principally drawn forth out of them especially Second-Table Duties forming and moulding them into municipal Laws under Penalties and Incouragements greater or less as in the Wisdom of a State may conduce most to the Welfare thereof For these Gospel-Mysteries it 's otherwise for as they contribute little to us in our Civil Government otherwise than as before mentioned so is there little contributed by the Wisdom or Authority of any State advantagious to the Gospel but Protection or being a Defence upon this Glory Learned Bishop Bilson states it well Princes saith he command that which Christ the Sovereign Lord and Head of the Church commandeth which is all the Power we give to Princes Of Supremacy pag. 227. And in the Page before thus By Governors in Ecclesiastical Matters we do not mean Moderators Prescribers and Magistrates bearing the Sword to permit and defend that which Christ himself first ordained and appointed But to return If Adam had stood all Common-Wealths would have been prosperous and flourishing and yet no Christ no Faith nor Repentance nor any Gospel-Worship known or practised And since the Fall you have had well-governed Common-Wealths of Turks and Heathens that never received Christ or Gospel-Worship It is with States as it is with particular Persons in converse another Man's Estate or Trade or Credit or any Civil Concern with whom I have to do is not prejudiced or bettered by my omission or practice of what is a meer Gospel-Duty If a Man I deal with be unjust lie steal c. my worldly Interest is prejudiced hereby but whether he repent for this exercise Faith on Christ for Forgiveness and humble himself I am neither a gainer nor loser hereby in the sense we speak of Now it is Gospel-Worship we profess in this Nation gospel-Gospel-Religion If the Duties themselves performed are of no greater consequence in respect to Persons with whom we converse or the Civil State where we live the Modes Forms and Ceremonies of such Worship cannot be of such moment or trust in the manage of them And let me add much less can there be any such special advantage to our State-Concernments in this or that particular external Form of Worship or Government that it should be retained by us with so much Zeal and Contention which evidently appears in this how prosperous and flourishing hath this Nation been in their Civil Concerns under Episcopacy set Liturgies Ceremonies c. and as great prosperity in other Christian Republicks where these have been altogether disallowed Nor is this any dishonour to the Gospel more than to the Kingdom of Christ when it
of God to be only Jure Humano and may be otherwise and was so in the Primitive Church in her greatest purity Pastors and People were not then as now engaged in this Relation and one to another by a Parochial Bond or Tye but injoyed a Christian Liberty voluntarily to dispose of themselves under such or such a Ministry as they should make choise of to themselves The Church is said in this State to be in greatest purity The Congregational-way therefore is not a way in this learned Judg's Opinion of Disorder and Confusion as is frequently suggested 2. And that it is in the Power of Supream Majesty to dispense with a Parishioner as well as with a Pastor or Rector in such a Case that is to remove from his Parish to another for more suitable Enjoyments as for a Rector upon his Majesty's Dispensation to be a Non-resident and take another Rectory the division of Parishes being Jure Humano What those Things and Matters of Religion are in the Judgment of our State that comes under the Manage of humane Wisdom and Power are well expressed in Queen Elizabeth's Advertisement These Orders and Rules ensuing have been meet and convenient to be used and followed yet not prescribing these Rules as Laws equivalent with the Eternal Word of God and as of necessity to bind the Consciences of our Subjects in the nature of them considered in themselves Or as they should add any Efficacy or more Holiness to the Vertue of Publick Prayer and to the Sacraments but as temporal Orders meerly Ecclesiastical without any vain Superstition and as Rules in some part of Discipline concerning Decencies Distinction and Order for the time And in the Articles of 1562 It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all Places one or utterly alike for at all times they have been divers and may be changed according to the diversity of Countries and Mens Manners so that nothing be ordained against God's Word It is granted that even these Ecclesiastical Laws ought to be conformable to the Word of God and to those General Rules laid down in the Scriptures for ordering the Worship and Service of God in the Churches as Let all things be done decently and to Edification Give no offence to Jew or Gentile and the like and not to be the meer inventions of Men. That distinction some would make of things against or contrary and what is according to the Word of God the one they apply to Matters of Faith the other to Matters of Order It is a Distinction without a Difference there is more Wit than Truth in that Interpretation of Christ's Words He that is not with me is against me and in another place he that is not against me is with me applying the one to Matters of Faith the other to Matters of Order There is no such distinction to be made but Rites Ceremonies and Matters of Order ought to be according to God's Word as well as Matters of Faith. Magistrates are to judg Circa Res Ecclesias de iis si Fidei sint dogmata Vel ritus et Ceremoniae earumque Veritatem et Equitatem juxta Verbi Divini normam Mocket de pol. Eccl. Angl. cap. 3. And the Power of the King stands not in forming new Articles of Faith or Forms of Religion such as were Jeroboam's Calves but in defending and propagating that Faith and Religion of which God in the Scriptures is the undoubted Author saith Mason of Bishops lib. 3. cap. 5. It is evident those Holy Men our first Reformers made no such distinction but that all should be done according to God's Word laying before them these general Rules in Scripture even in retaining what hath been so offensive For of the retaining Ceremonies there is this account by them given Because they appertain to Edification whereunto all things done in the Church as the Apostle teacheth ought to be referred And of our Liturgy thus There is nothing to be read but the very pure Word of God and the Holy Scriptures or that which is evidently grounded upon the same Preface to the Common-Prayer Book God be thanked saith good King Edward the 6th we know both what by his Word is meet to be reformed and have amended c. It is convenient thus distinctly to have insisted upon what we term Religion or Matters Ecclesiastical according to that sense in which the Civil Magistrate assumes to himself the ordering thereof And what influence the Scriptures and Authority of God hath or ought to have in these Rites of the Church and Matters of Order as well as in Matters of Faith for hereby it appears whence it is Mens Consciences are more concerned in these Laws than in other Municipal Laws of the Nation And that the not being free to submit to these Ecclesiastical Laws when not formed according to God's Word is no Evidence of that Seditious Spirit that kicks against all Laws SECT 2. There is a necessity and that of much greater importance Provisions be made of Dispensations c. as occasion shall be in respect to Laws Ecclesiastical than in Civil In Matters of Religion and the Worship of God 1. Multitudes there are of loose and profane Persons in respect to such neither are the Laws in themselves nor in the execution of them severe enough 2. Against Popish Recusants the Laws have been severe enough yet in the execution great moderation 3. There are those and blessed be God great Multitudes who are not only Orthodox in Faith but of unblamable Life in the greater Things of Law and Gospel These are fallen under most severe Laws and of late with greatest severity put in execution and utterly ruin'd if there be no means of relaxation It is in behalf of these I argue this Necessity and that from these and the like Considerations 1. There is a greater proneness in Conscientious Men to scruple and to be doubtful in their Obedience to the Ecclesiastical than to the Civil Laws of a Nation as before 2. Great Difficulty in forming Laws wherein Mens Consciences are immediately concern'd so as not to dissatisfy some if not many 3. If those Laws be not according to Scripture in the apprehensions of those that are to obey whatsoever they are in themselves it is our Sin if we obey it is not so in Civil Commands 4. It is not of so ill Consequence for us to yield Obedience to a Civil as to an Ecclesiastical Law if ill constituted by the State. 5. From what is found in a manner peculiar in these our Ecclesiastical Laws and the Administration of them many ways prejudicial to the Subject there is a necessity some such provision of this kind be found on our behalf 1. The real Scruples and Doubts about our Obedience in these Ecclesiastical Matters cannot but be more and greater than in other Laws The knowingest Man in these Things knoweth but in part and the most Men have but a parcel in this part It is true the
Principles and great Matters of Religion are in great perspicuity laid down in the Scriptures which give knowledg to the Simple but these matter of Circumstance and external Order we have for the most part in Generals only and hints from Examples and Customs of the Apostolick Churches in the interpretation whereof the most Learned find Difficulties and are divided Now the want of Knowledg is the ground of Scruples and Doubts in our Practice 1 Cor. 8.7 for the working of Conscience is from the ultimate Resolution of our practical Understanding And hence it is that the same practice may be not only scrupled but a Sin to one Man which is not to another upon account of different Apprehensions there may be notwithstanding Integrity and Sincerity in both and therefore tenderly to be dealt with as the Apostle requires Rom. 14. 2. A great Difficulty there is to form Ecclesiastical Laws they being to be the same where Uniformity is much stood upon for a whole Nation as not to leave grounds of Dissatisfaction to many Mens Apprehensions being various through the Degrees of Light insomuch as that may be Sin to one Man that is a Liberty to another of a greater degree of Light. A little is next to nothing and what is indifferent is nearest in likeness to moral Good or Evil hence so easy and frequent Mistakings And as it is with particular Persons so may it be with a Society or Company of Men. One true Church in these Things differing from another and the same Church differs from it self upon further Discoveries A Synod a Parliament they may judg such and such Things to be indifferent that those that are to submit may sincerely scruple and stick at as Sin. If Churches and Men savingly enlightned are thus exposed to vary in their Apprehensions we cannot be confident of any Council or Assembly made up of the most wise and prudent Men. Parliaments are chosen by Vote of the promiscuous Multitude with respect we would hope to their Sufficiency in managing of our Civil and Temporal Concerns but their Skill and Ability to discern and judg of Matters appertaining to Order in the Service and Worship of God all Men have not this Knowledg this is little or not at all attended by those that elect them by reason whereof Matters wherein Mens Consciences are concerned are not at all times carried by those that are most Conscientious in that Assembly who are not always the Major part yet notwithstanding are engaged in their Consciences to assent and consent to such Determinations being made though possibly near one half in number dissented in the passing of them and it is unavoidable in all and the best Assemblies that are chosen by the general Suffrage of a Nation 3. Again these Matters of Ceremony and External Order are sometimes managed in part with respect to a Party different in their Apprehensions and thereupon form those Laws with respect to Prudence as well as Conscience In our first Reformation it is said such Superstitions are taken away as Time would serve quietly to do it And many things were left remaining in our Liturgy which otherwise would have been removed in compliance with that Form of Divine Service used before by the Papists that they may not be provoked but rather won thereby to our Religion Womens baptizing was continued in our Liturgy saith the Bishop of Worcester else the Book would not have passed the House Conference at Hampton Court King James was once willing that some Ceremonies giving Offence should be removed but the Parliament then sitting thought it not prudent And our Gracious King would have done a greater Matter for the Ease of Tender Consciences as appears by some of the Declarations herein after mentioned but it stood not with the Prudence of the House as they expressed in their Answer without whose Concurrence his Majesty thought not fit then to do it 4. From mistaken Principles As that there can be no Unity without Uniformity there can be no Discipline in a Church without some Ceremonies of Humane Institution Things indifferent become necessary in Worship being imposed by Authority what Things in matters of Order are once established and sometimes continued in the Church may not with safety be altered These Things I offer not to derogate from Parliaments in their manage of such Affairs but upon this serious Account only To shew that as our Civil Laws have made provision that the Church shall not in their Laws and Canons order any Thing against Prerogative of the King or the Laws and Statutes of this Realm in general and that such Canons shall not be in force 25 H. 8.19 So likewise Laws and Statutes in Ecclesiastical Affairs established by the Civil Power if they be found to derogate from the Prerogative of Christ Jesus or the Laws and Institutions of his Kingdom ought not to be in force upon Mens Consciences As Church-men being supposed not to be so well understood in Secular Laws but may transgress so may Secular Persons likewise in their ordering about Church Affairs There is therefore the like necessity of a Power to review judg and dispense with such Laws as shall be found to disturb the Consciences of peaceable Subjects as occasion may urge thereunto Hen. 8. by Commission which was continued by Edw. 6. appointed thirty two Persons eight of each Profession to peruse the Canons of the Clergy then in force to the end those might be removed that were any ways against the Crown and State. Those Kings might have done the like in respect to those Canons and Ecclesiastical Laws enacted in Parliament if they be found to derogate from Christ or his Institutions or justly offensive to the Peaceable and Godly that Dispensations might be granted for the present until farther Reformation be obtained SECT 3. The Municipal Laws of a Nation are from and conformed to the Principles of Right Reason and Common Justice only and we have submitted our selves to the Resolutions of those wise and prudent Senators we our selves have made choice of to enact and establish such Laws for us and therefore may acquiesce in their Determinations without further inquiry having given a kind of absolute pre-consent to such Laws as shall be enacted by them But it is not so in Ecclesiastical Laws entrusted with the same Persons for as they are to be formed according to God's Word which every Man is to take as his immediate Rule and not to do or submit to any thing in his practice that hath the Notion of Religion but what is conformable thereunto he is to live and act by his own Faith. To Laws Ecclesiastical therefore made in Parliament we give only a conditional Consent that is a Consent to them so far as they are agreeable to God's Word and concur with Gospel-Rules Nor is it in the liberty of any Man's Conscience or Reason to yield more nor is there any more intrusted by us with our Representative the Parliament If a Man