As for those of New-England Mr. Baxter doth say that their own expressions signify that they take the English Parishes that have godly Ministers for true Churches though faulty Mr. Cotton professeth that Robinson's denial of the Parishional Churches to be true Churches was never received into any heart amongst them and otherwhere saith we dare not deny to bless the womb that bare us and the paps that gave us suck The five Dissenting Brethren do declare We have this sincere profession to make before God and the World that all the conscience of the defilements in the Church of England c. did never work in us any other thought much less opinion but that multitudes of the Assemblies and Parochial Congregation thereof were the true Churches and Body of Christ. To come nearer Dr. T. Goodwin doth condemn it as an error in those who hold particular Churches those you call Parish-Churches to be no true Churches of Christ and their Ministers to be no true Ministers and upon that ground forbear all Church-Communion with them in hearing or in any other Ordinance c. and saith I acquitted myself before from this and my Brethren in the Ministry But the Church of England is not only thus acknowledged a true Church but hath been also looked upon as the most valuable in the World whether we consider the Church it self or those that minister in it The Church it self of which the Authors of the grave and modest confutation thus write All the known Churches in the world acknowledge our Church for their sister and give unto us the right hand of fellowship c Dr. Goodwin saith If we should not acknowledge these Churches so stated i. e. parish-Parish-Churches to be the true Churches of Christ and their Ministers true Ministers and their order such and bold Communion with them too in the sence spoken of we must acknowledge no Church in all the Reformed Churches c for they are all as full of mixture as ours And Mr. J. Goodwin saith that there was more of the truth and power of Religion in England under the late Prelatical Government than in all the Reformed Churches in the World besides If we would have a Character of the Ministry of the Church of England as it was then Mr. Bradshaw gives it Our Churches are not inferiour for number of able men yea and painful Ministers to any of the reformed Churches of Christ in foreign parts c. And certainly the number of such is much advanced since his time But I cannot say more of this subject than I find in a page or two of an Author I must frequently use to which I refer the Reader Before I proceed I shall only make this inference from what hath been said that if the Church of England be a true Church the Churches true Churches the Ministry a true Ministry the Doctrine found and Orthodox the worship in the main good and allowable and the defects such as render not the Ordinances unacceptable to God and ineffectual to us I think there is much said toward the proving Communion with that Church lawful and to justifie those that do join in it which brings to the second general which is to consider 2. What opinion the sober and eminent Non-Conformists have of Communion with the Church of England And they generally hold 1. That they are not totally to separate from it this follows from the former and must be own'd by all them that hold she is a true Church for to own it to be such and yet to separate totally from it would be to own and disown it at the same time So say the members of the Assembly of Divines Thus to depart from true Churches is not to hold Communion with them as such but rather by departing to declare them not to be such And saith Mr. Baxter nothing will warrant us to separate from a Church as no Church which yet is the case in total separation but the want of something essential to a Church But if the Church have all things essential to it it is a true Church and not to be separated from When the Church of Rome is called a true Church it s understood in a metaphysical or natural sence as a thief is a true man and the Devil himself though the Father of lies is a true spirit But withal she is a false Church as M r Brinsly saith from Bishop Hall an Heretical Apostatical Antichristian Synagogue And so to separate from her is a duty But when the Church of England is said to be a true Church or the Parochial Churches true Churches it s in a moral sense as they are found Churches which may safely be communicated with Thus doth D r Bryan make the opposition The Church of Rome is a part of the universal visible Church of Christians so far as they profess Christianity and acknowledge Christ their head but it is the visible society of Traiterous Usurpers so far as they profess the Pope to be their Head c. From this Church therefore which is Spiritual Babylon God's people are bound to separate c. but not from Churches which have made separation from Rome as the reformed Protestant Churches in France and these of Great Britain have done in whose Congregations is found truth of Doctrine a lawfull Ministry and a people professing the true Religion submitting to and joyning together in the true Worship of God Such a separation would as has been said unchurch it This would be deny Christ holds Communion with it or to deny Communion with a Church with which Christ holds Communion contrary to a principle that is I think universally maintained The errour of these men saith Mr. Brightman is full of evil who do in such a manner make a departure from this Church by total separation as if Christ were quite banished from hence and that there could be no hope of salvation to those that abide there Let these men consider that Christ is here feasting with his members will they be ashamed to sit at meat there where Christ is not ashamed to sit Further this would be a notorious Schism so the old Non-Conformists Conformists conclude because we have a true Church consisting of a lawful Ministry and a faithful people therefore they cannot separate themselves from us but they must needs incur the most shameful and odious reproach of manifest Schism for what is that saith another but a total separation from a true Church This lastly would not diminish but much increase the fault of the separation as another saith For it is a greater sin to depart from a Church which I profess to be true and whose ministry I acknowledge to be saving than from a Church which I conceive to be false and whose ministers I take to have no calling from God nor any blessing from his hand This therefore is their avow'd principle that
not oblige This M r Tombs hath undertaken to shew 1. Because this gesture seems not to have been of choice used by Christ. 2. Because S t Paul omits the gesture which he would not have done if it had been binding 3. He mentions the night and calls it the Lords Supper and if the time be not necessary much less the gesture 4. If the gesture doth oblige then Christians must use the self same that Christ used 3. It is granted that the nature of the ordinance doth not forbid kneeling So M r Bains kneeling is not unbeseeming a Feaster when our joy must be mingled with reverent trembling So M r Baxter The nature of the ordinance is mixed And if it be lawful to take a pardon from the King upon our knees I know not what can make it unlawful to take a sealed pardon from Christ by his Ambassador upon our Knee Hence M r Bayley reckons it as an error of some Independents that they accounted sitting necessary as a rite significant of fellowship with Christ and a part of our imitation of him and for both these reasons declared it necessary to keep on their hats at the time of participation 4. It is granted not to be idolatrous So M r Bains Kneeling is neither an occasion nor by participation Idolatry kneeling never bred Bread-worship And our doctrine of the Sacrament known to all the world doth free us from suspicion of adoration in it To these M r Tombs adds 1. that the Papists adore not the bread at putting into their mouths but at the elevation It being inconsistent with their principles to worship that which is not above them 2. That the worship of God not directed to a creature but before it as an occasional object of adoration to God is not Idolatry 3. That yet in the Church of England the Elements are not occasionally so but the benefits of Christ in the Lords Supper and 4. Kneeling is not to the Bread but as the signification of an humble and grateful mind as he shews from the Rubrick 5 thly Those that do account it inconvenient yet account it not to be unlawful Thus M r Cartwright Kneeling in receiving the Sacrament being incommodious in its own nature and made far more incommodious by Popish superstition is not therefore so to be rejected that we should abstain from the Sacrament if we cannot otherwise be partakers of it because the thing is not in its own nature unlawful So it s said of the old Nonconformists Kneeling at the Sacrament was disliked by all but yet thought tolerable and that it might be submitted to by some of the most learned From all which we may conclude with Mr. Vines that the posture being a circumstance of action as well as the time and place is not of the Free-hold of the ordinance and with Mr. Baxter that those that think they must not receive kneeling think erroneously As for standing up at the Creed c. Mr. Baxter saith his judgement is for it where it is required and where not doing it would be divisive and scandalous Nay elsewhere he saith that t is a convenient praising gesture c. Thus I have considered the most material points in which the Lay-members of the Church of England are concern'd and shew'd that the lawfulness of the things injoyned upon such is declared and justified by the suffrage and judgement of as eminent Nonconformists as have lived in the several ages since that unhappy controversie was first set on foot amongst us And now what remains but that every one concerned set himself seriously and impartially to consider it and it becomes such so to do when they go against the stream of the most experienced writers of their own party who might pretend to understand the case as well if not better than any that were conversant in it It becomes such when they bury that under the condemnation of false worship which the Lord the author of all truth doth allow in his service When they forsake the prayers of the Congregation and depart from the Table of the Lord and break off society and communion with the Churches of Christ c. when they expose Religion to contempt and the truth of God to reproach by the rents and divisions in the Church as M r Ball doth represent it It becomes them when our division gratifieth the Papists and greatly hazardeth the Protestant Religion and by it we may lose all which the several parties contend about as Mr. Baxter hath proved It becomes them when the Church of England is the bulwark of the Protestant Religion amongst us at home and that according to the noted saying of Mr. Egerton The withdrawing totally from it would more effectually introduce Popery than all the works of Bellarmine It becomes them when this is the Bulwark of it abroad and all the reformed Churches in the world have a venture in this Bottom which if compar'd to a Fleet the Church of England must be acknowledged to be the Admiral And if it go ill with this Church so as that miscarry there is none of the Churches of Christ this day under Heaven but are like to feel it as M r Brinsley discourses Lastly It becomes them when divisions and separations draw down the displeasure of God and lay us open to his Judgements Therefore Dr. Bryan after he hath largely insisted upon the Argument and the present case amongst us doth thus apply himself O that I could prevail with you to lay sadly to heart the greatness of the sin of divisions and the grievousness of the punishment threatned against it and hath been executed for it and that the Leaders and encouragers of private Christians to make this sinful separation would read oft and me ditate upon S t Jude's Epistle to v. 20. and that the multitudes that are willing to be led by them would follow the prescription of the means here to preserve or recover themselves from this seduction v. 20 21. And that both would leave off their reviling the Government Ecclesiastical and the Ministers that conform and submissively behave themselves by the example of Michael c. I shall conclude the whole with the peaceable and pious advice of Mr. Bains Let every man walk within the compass of his Calling Whatsoever lyeth not in us to reform it shall be our zeal and piety to tolerate and with patience to forbear especially in things of this nature which concern not so much the outward Communion with God or man essentially required in a visible state as the due ordering of business in the said Communion wherein there be many superfluities and defects silvâ tamen Ecclesiâ yea and such a Church notwithstanding as wherein the best and truest Members circumstances considered may have more cause to rejoyce than to grieve ERRATA PAG. 5. l. 25. r. soundness p. 7.
and to joyn with those of their Ministers that think it their Duty so to do and are therein of the opinion of the old Non-Conformists that did not act as if there was no middle between separation from the Church and true Worship thereof and subscription unto or practice or approbation of all the corruptions of the same For though they would not subscribe to the Ceremonies yet they were against separation from Gods Publick Worship as one of them in the name of the rest doth declare So that as great a difference as there is betwixt presence and Consent betwixt bare Communion and approbation betwixt the Office of the Minister and the attendance of a private person so much is there betwixt the Case of Ministerial and Lay-Communion And therefore when we consider the Case of Lay-Communion we are only to respect what is required of the people what part they are to have and exercise in Communion with the Church Now what they are concerned in are either The Forms that are imposed the Gestures they are to use and the Times they are to observe for the Celebration of Divine Worship or The Ministration which they may be remotely suppos'd also to be concerned in The lawfulness of all which and of all things required in Lay-Communion amongst us I shall not undertake to prove and maintain by Arguments taken from those that already are in full Communion with the Church of England and so are obliged to justifie it but from those that in some things do dissent from it who may therefore be supposed to be impartial and whose Reasons may be the more heeded as coming from themselves and from such that are as forward in other respects to owne the miscarriages of the Church as those that wholly separate from it For the better understanding of the Case and of their Judgment in it I shall consider 1. What opinion the most eminent and sober Non-Conformists have had of the Church of England 2. What opinion they have had of Communion with that Church 3. What opinion they he had of such practices and usages in that Church as Lay-men are concerned in 1. What opinion the most eminent and sober Non-Conformists have had of the Church of England And that will appear in these two things First That they owne her to be a true Church Secondly To be a Church in the main very valuable First They owne her to be a true Church Thus an Eminent Person saith of the old Non-Conformists They did always plead against the Corruptions of the Church of England but never against the truth of her Being or the comfort of her Communion And as much is affirmed of the present by a grave and sober Person amongst them The Presbyterians generally hold the Church of England to be a true Church though defective in its Order and Discipline And thus it 's acknowledged in the name of the rest by one that undertakes their Defence and would defend them in their Separation We acknowledge the Church of England to be a true Church and that we are Members of the same visible Church with them And this they do not only barely assert but do undertake to prove This is done by the old Non-Conformists in their Confutation of the Brownists who thus begin That the Church of England is a true Church of Christ and such an one as from which whosoever wittingly and willingly separateth himself cutteth himself off from Christ we doubt not but the indifferent Reader may be perswaded by these Reasons following 1. We enjoy and joyn together in the use of those outward means which God hath ordained in his Word for the gathering of a visible Church and have been effectual to the unfeigned conversion of many as may appear both by the other fruits of Faith and by the Martyrdom which sundry have endured that were Members of our Church c. 2. Our whole Church maketh profession of the true Faith The Confession of our Church together with the Apology thereof and those Articles of Religion which were agreed upon in the Convocation-House An. 1562. whereunto every Minister of the Land is bound to subscribe so far forth as they contain the Confession of Faith and the Doctrine of the Sacraments do prove this evidently c. So Mr. Ball Wheresoever we see the Word of God truly taught and professed in Points fundamental and the Sacraments for substance rightly administred there is the true Church of Christ though the health and soundness of it may be crazed by many errours in Doctrine corruptions in the Worship of God and evils in the life and manners of men As much as this is also affirmed in the Letters passed betwixt the Ministers of Old England and New England It is simply necessary to the being of a Church that it be laid upon Christ the foundation which being done the remaining of what is forbidden or the want of what is commanded cannot put the Society from the Title or Right of a true Church And if we enquire into the judgment of the present Non-Conformists we shall find them likewise arguing for it Thus the Author of Jerubbaal The Essentials constitutive of a true Church a re 1. The Head 2. The Body 3. The Union that is between them Which three concurring in the Church of England Christ being the professed Head She being Christ's professed Body and the Catholick Faith being the Union-band whereby they are coupled together She cannot in justice be denied a true though God knows far from a pure Church If we should proceed in this Argument and consider the Particulars I might fill a Volume with Testimonies of this kind The Doctrine of the Church is universally held to be true and sound even the Brownists own'd it of old in their calm mood who declare We testifie to all men by these Presents That we have not forsaken any one Point of the true ancient Apostolick Faith professed in our Land but hold the same grounds of Christian Religion with them See more in Bayly's Disswasive c. 2. p. 20.33 and Dr. Stillingfleet's Unreasonableness of Separation part 1. § 9. p. 31. The Presbyterians if I may so call them for distinction sake do owne it So M r Corbet The Doctrin of Faith and Sacraments by Law established is heartily received by the Non-Conformists So M r Baxter As for the Doctrin of the Church of England the Bishops and their Followers from the first Reformation begun by Edward the VI were found in Doctrine adhering to the Augustan method express'd now in the Articles and Homilies they differed not in any considerable Point from those whom they called Puritans The like is affirmed by the Independents The Confession of the Church of England declared in the Articles of Religion and herein what is purely Doctrinal we fully embrace As to the Worship they owne it for the matter and substance to be good and for Edification So
THE CASE OF Lay-Communion WITH THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND CONSIDERED And the Lawfulness of it shew'd from the Testimony of above an hundred eminent Non-Conformists of several Perswasions Published for the satisfaction of the scrupulous and to prevent the sufferings which such needlesly expose themselves to LONDON Printed for Dorman Newman at the Kings Arms in the Poultry 1683. TO THE DISSENTERS FROM THE Church of England Dear Brethren YOU being at this time called upon by Authority to joyn in Communion with the Church and the Laws ordered to be put in Execution against such as refuse it it s both your Duty and Interest to enquire into the grounds upon which you deny Obedience to the Laws Communion with a Church of God and thereby expose our Religion to danger and your selves to suffering In which unless the cause be good the call clear and the end right it cannot bring Peace to your selves or be acceptable to God Not bring Peace to your selves For we cannot suffer joyfully the spoiling of our Goods the confinement of our Persons the ruine of our Families unless Conscience be able truly to say I would have done any thing but sin against God that I might have avoided these sufferings from men Not be acceptable to God to whom all are accountable for what portion he hath instrusted them with of the things of this life and are not to throw away without sufficient reason and who has made it our duty to do what we can without Sin in Obedience to that Authority which he hath set over us as you are told by some in the same condition with your selves To assist persons in this enquiry I have observed that of late several of the Church of England have undertaken the most material points that you do question and have handled them with that Candor and Calmness which becomes their profession and the gravity of the Arguments and which may the better invite those that are willing to be satisfied to peruse and consider them But because Truth and Reason do too often suffer by the prejudices we have against particular persons to remove as much as may be that obstruction I have in this Treatise shewed that these Authors are not alone but have the concurrent Testimony of the most eminent Non-Conformists for them who do generally grant that there is nothing required in the Parochial Communion of the Church of England that can be a sufficient reason for Separation from it The sence of many of these I have here collected and for one hundred I could easily have produced two if the Cause were to go by the Pole so that if Reason or Authority will prevail I hope that yet your satisfaction and recovery to the Communion of the Church is not to be despaired of Which God of his infinite mercy grant for your own and the Churches sake Amen THE CONTENTS THE difference betwixt Ministerial and Lay-Communion pag. 1 The Dissenters grant the Church of England to be a true Church p. 4 That they are not totally to separate from it p. 12 That they are to comply with it as far as lawfully they can p. 16 That defects in Worship if not essential are no just reason for Separation p. 23 That the expectation of better edification is no sufficient reason to with-hold Communion p. 39 The badness of Ministers will not justifie Separation p. 48 The neglect or want of Discipline no sufficient reason to separate p. 59 The opinion which the Nonconformists have of the several practices of those of the Church of England which its Lay-Members are concerned in p. 64 That Forms of Prayer are lawful and do not stint the Spirit ibid. That publick prescribed Forms may lawfully be joyned with p. 66 That the Liturgy or Common-Prayer is for its matter sound and good and for its Form tolerable if not useful p. 69 That kneeling at the Sacrament is not idolatrous nor unlawful and no sufficient reason to separate from that Ordinance p. 71 72 That standing up at the Creed and Gospel is lawful p. 73 The Conclusion ibid. THE NON-CONFORMISTS PLEA FOR Lay-Communion With the CHURCH of ENGLAND THE Christian World is divided into two Ranks Ecclesiastical and Civil usually known by the names of Clergy and Laity Ministers and People The Clergy besides the things essentially belonging to their Office are by the Laws of all well-ordered Churches in the World strictly obliged by Declarations or Subscriptions or both to owne and maintain the Doctrine Discipline and Constitution of the Church into which they are admitted Thus in the Church of England They do subscribe to the truth of the Doctrine more especially contained in the Thirty Nine Articles and declare that they will use the Forms and Rites contained in the Liturgy and promise to submit to the Government in its Orders The design of all which is to preserve the Peace of the Church and the Unity of Christians which doth much depend upon that of its Officers and Teachers But the Laity are under no such Obligations there being no Declarations or Subscriptions required of them nor any thing more than to attend upon and joyn with the Worship practised and allowed in the Church Thus it is in the Church of England as it is acknowledged by a worthy Person to whom when it was objected that many Errours in Doctrine and Life were imposed as Conditions of Communion he replies What is imposed on you as a Condition to your Communion in the Doctrine and Prayers of the Parish-Churches but your actual Communion it self In discoursing therefore about the lawfulness of Communion with a Church the difference betwixt these two must be carefully observed lest the things required only of one Order of Men should be thought to belong to all It 's observed by one That the original of all our mischiefs sprung from mens confounding the terms of Ministerial Conformity with those of Lay-Communion with the Parochial Assemblies there being much more required of Ministers than of the People private persons having much less to say for themselves in absenting from the Publick Worship of God though performed by the Liturgy than the Pastor hath for not taking Oaths c. Certainly if this difference was but observed and the Case of Lay-Communion truly stated and understood the people would not be far more averse to Communion with the Parish-Churches than the Non-Conforming Ministers are as one complains and whatsoever they might think of the Conformity of Ministers because of the previous terms required of them they would judge what is required of the people to be lawful as some of them do And as the Ministers by bringing their Case to the Peoples may see Communion then to be lawful and find themselves obliged to maintain it in a private capacity so the People by perceiving their Case not to be that of the Ministers but widely different from it would be induced to hold Communion with the Church
the old Non-Conformists as M r Hildersham There is nothing in our Assemblies but we may receive profit by it c. And again There is nothing done in God's Publick Worship among us but what is done by the Institution Ordinance and Commandment of the Lord. So among the present it is own'd by both Presbyterians and Independents by the former in the Morning-Exercise Why may it not be supposeable that Christians may be moved by reasonable considerations to attend the Publick Forms the substantial parts of them being thought agreeable to a Divine Institution though in some Circumstantials too disagreeable So it 's acknowledged That in private Meetings the same Doctrine and Worship is used as in the Parish Churches only some Circumstances and Ceremonies omitted By the latter We know full well that we differ in nothing from the whole form of Religion established in England but only in some few things in outward Worship But I shall have further occasion to treat of this under the third General As for the Ministry of the Church 1. It is acknowledged to be true and for substance the same which Christ hath established So M r Bradshaw I affirm That the Ministry of our Church-Assemblies howsoever it may in some particular parts of the execution happily be defective in some places is for the substance thereof that very same Ministry which Christ hath set in his Church This he speaks as he saith of those that do subscribe and conform according to the Laws of the State 2. That they have all things necessarily belonging to their Office so the grave and modest Confutation maintains The preaching of the whole truth of God's Word and nothing but it the administration of the Sacraments and of publick Prayer as they are all parts of the Ministers Office prescribed in the Word so they are all appointed to our Ministers by the Law 3. They owne That all the defects in it whether in their Call or Administration do not nullifie the Office Thus much M r Bradshaw doth contend for So many of our Ministers who in the Book of Ordination are called Priests and Deacons as in all Points concerning the substance of their Ministry are qualified according to the intent of the Laws have their Offices Callings Administration and maintenance for the substance thereof ordained by Christ. And yet I deny not but there may be some accidental defects or superfluities in or about them all yet such as do not or cannot be proved to destroy the nature and substance of any of them This is maintained at large in the Letter of the Ministers in Old England c. p. 86 87. And the like is also affirmed even by those of the Congregational way so the Brethren in their Apology The unwarrantable power in Church-Governours did never work in any of us any other thought much less opinion but that the Ministry thereof of the English Churches was a true Ministry So M r Cotton The power whereby the Ministers in England do administer the Word and Sacraments is either spiritual and proper essential to their Calling or adventitious and accidental The former they have received from Christ c. The latter from the Patron who presents or the Bishop who ordains c. Whoever has a mind to see their Ordination defended may consult Jus Divinum Ministerii Evangelici part 2. p. 12 16 17 25 c. Jus Divinum Râ—gim Eccles. p. 264 c. Cawdry's Independency a great Schism p. 116. and his Defence of it p. 35 37. Thus far therefore we see how far it is agreed that the Church of England is a true Church in its Doctrine Worship and Ministry But when we come to consider what the Church is they own thus to be true there we shall find that they do differ The Presbyterians generally own a National Church and have writ much in the behalf of it as may be seen in the Books quoted in the Margin others look upon it as a prudential thing and what may lawfully be complyed with So Mr. Tombs It is no more against the Gospel to term the believers of England the Church of England than it is to term believers throughout the World the Cahtholick Church nor is it more unfit for us to term our selves Members of the Catholick Church nor is there need to shew any institution of our Lord more for the one than the other But those that will not own it to be a true Church in respect of such a constitution or that speak doubtfully of it do yet assert as much of the Parish Churches It s acknowledged by all that the distribution into Parishes is not of divine but humane institution but withal its thought by some agreeable to the reason of the thing and somewhat favoured by Scripture and by experience has been found to be of such convenience advantage and security to Religion that a person of great eminence hath more than once said I doubt not but he that will preserve Religion here in its due advantages must endeavour to preserve the soundness concord and honour of the Parish Churches And another very worthy person saith that the nullifying and treading down the Parish Churches is a Popish Design But whatever opinion others may have of that Form yet all of one sort and another agree that the Churches so called are or may be true Churches This was the general opinion of the old Non-Conformists Thus saith a late Writer who though he is unwilling to grant that they did own the National Church to be a true Church yet doth admit as he needs must at least that they did own the several Parishes or Congregations in England to be true Churches both in respect of their constitution and also in respect of their doctrine and worship and that there were in them no such intollerable corruptions as that all Christians should fly from them And even those that were in other respects opposite enough to the Church did so declare It was saith Mr. Baxter the Parish Churches that had the Liturgy which Mr. H. Jacob the Father of the Congregational party wrote for communion with against Fr. Johnson and in respect to which be called them Separatists against whom he wrote The same I may say of Mr. Bradshaw Dr. Ames and other Non-Conformists whom the Congregational Brethren think were favourable to their way And if we will hearken to the abovesaid Author he saith again and again that the general sence of the present Non-Conformists both Ministers and People is that the Parishes of England generally are true Churches both as to the matter of them the people being Christians and as to the form their Ministers being true Ministers such as for their doctrine and manners deserve not to be degraded But left he should be thought to incline to one side I shall produce the testimony of such as are of the Congregational way
which men's minds have been corrupted I find in whatsoever they differ one from another yet in this they agree That it 's unlawful to hear in publick which I am perswaded is one constant design of Satan in the variety of ways of Religion he hath set on foot by Jesuits amongst us Let us therefore be the more aware of whatsoever tends that way Of this Opinion also is M r Tombs though he continued an Anabaptist who has writ a whole Book to defend the Hearing of the present Ministers of England and toward the Close of the Work hath given forty additional Reasons for it and in opposition to those he writes against doth affirm Sure if the Church be called Mount Sion from the preaching of the Gospel the Assemblies of England may be called Sion Christ's Candlesticks and Garden as well as any Christians in the World I shall conclude this with what M r Robinson saith in this Case viz. For my self thus I believe with my heart before God and profess with my tongue and have before the World that I have one and the same Faith Spirit Baptism and Lord which I had in the Church of England and none other that I esteem so many in that Church of what state or Order soever as are truly Partakers of that Faith as I account thousands to be for my Christian Brethren and my self a Fellow-member with them of that one Mystical Body of Christ scattered far and wide throughout the World that I have always in spirit and affection all Christian Fellowship and Communion with them and am most ready in all outward Actions and Exercises of Religion lawful and lawfully done to express the same And withal that I am perswaded the hearing of the Word of God there preached in the manner and upon the grounds formerly mentioned both lawful and upon occasion necessary for me and all true Christians withdrawing from that Hierarchical Order of Church-Government and Ministry and the uniting in the Order and Ordinances instituted by Christ. Thus far He. From what hath been said upon this Head we may observe that though these Reverend Persons do go upon different Reasons according to the Principles they espouse though they agree not in the Constitution of Churches c. yet they all agree that the Parochial Churches are or may be as I have observed before true Churches of Christ that Communion with such Churches is lawful and that we are to go as far as we can toward Communion with them Though they differ about the Notion of Hearing as whether it be an Act of Communion and about the Call of those they hear yet they all agree in the lawfulness of it And therefore to separate wholly in this Ordinance and from the Parochial Churches as no Churches are equally condemned by all 3. They hold that they are not to separate from a Church for unlawful things if the things accounted unlawful are not of so heinous a nature as to unchurch a Church and affect the Vitals of Religion or are not imposed as necessary terms of Communion 1. If the Corruptions are such as do not unchurch a Church or affect the vital parts of Religion So saith M r Tombs Not every not many Corruptions of some kind do un-church there being many in Faith Worship and Conversation in the Churches of Corinth and some of the Seven Churches of Asia who yet were Golden Candlesticks amidst whom Christ did walk But such general avowed unrepented of errours in Faith as overthrow the foundation of Christian Faith to wit Christ the only Mediator betwixt God and man and salvation by him Corruptions of Worship by Idolatry in Life by evil manners as are utterly inconsistent with Christianity till which in whole or in part they are not unchurched For till then the Corruptions are tolerable and so afford no just reason to dissolve the Church or to depart from it So M r Brinsley Suppose some just grievances may be found among us yet are they tolerable If so then is Separation on this ground intolerable unwarrantable in as much as it ought not to be but upon a very great and weighty cause and that when there is no remedy So M r Noyes Private Brethren may not separate from Churches or Church-Ordinances which are not fundamentally defective neither in Doctrine or Manners Heresy or Prophaness To all which add the Testimony of D r Owen and M r Cotton The former asserts That many errours in Doctrine disorders in sacred Administrations irregular walking in Conversation with neglect and abuse of Discipline in Rulers may fall out in some Churches and yet not evacuate their Church-state or give sufficient warrant to leave their Communion and separate from them The latter saith Vnless you find in the Church Blasphemy or Idolatry or Persecution that is such as is intolerable there is no just ground of separation This is universally own'd But if any one should yet continue unconvinced let him but peruse the Catalogue of the faults of nine Churches in Scripture collected by M r Baxter and I perswade my self he will think the Conclusion inferr'd from it to be just and reasonable Observe saith he that no one member is in all these Scriptures or any other commanded to come out and separate from any of all these Churches as if their Communion in Worship were unlawful And therefore before you separate from any as judging Communion with them unlawful be sure that you bring greater reasons for it than any of these recited were 2. They are not to separate if the Corruptions are not so made the Conditions of Communion that they must necessarily and unavoidably communicate in them M r Vines speaks plainly to both of these The Church may be corrupted many ways in Doctrine Ordinances Worship c. And there are degrees of this Corruption the Doctrine in some remote Points the Worship in some Rituals of mans invention or custom How many Churches do we find thus corrupted and yet no Separation of Christ from the Jewish Church nor any Commandment to the Godly of Corinth c. to separate I must in such a Case avoid the Corruption hold the Communion But if Corruptions invade the Fundamentals the foundation of Doctrine is destroyed the Worship is become idolatrous and what is above all if the Church impose such Laws of her Communion as there is a necessity of doing or approving things unlawful in that Case Come out of Babylon The Churches of Protestants so separated from Rome But if the things be not of so heinous a nature nor thus strictly required then Communion with a Church under defects is lawful and may be a Duty So saith M r Corbet in the name of the present Non-Conformists We hold not our selves obliged to forsake a true Church as no Church for the corruptions and disorders found therein or to separate from its Worship for the tolerable faults thereof while our personal profession
of some errour or practice of some evil is not required as the terms of our Communion And M r Burroughs himself doth grant as much and more for he saith Where these Causes are not viz. the being constrained to profess believe or practise contrary to the Rule of Faith or being deprived of means altogether necessary or most expedient to salvation but men may communicate without sin professing the truth and enjoy all Ordinances as the Free-men of Christ Men must not separate from a Church though there be corruption in it to gather into a new Church which may be more pure and in some respects more comfortable And as though such corruptions should be imposed as terms of Communion yet if not actually imposed upon us our communicating in the true part of God's Worship is never the worse for the said imposition as long as we do not communicate in those corruptions as M r Bradshaw doth argue So though they should be imposed and be unavoidable to all that are in Communion that is not a sufficient reason for a total separation as it is also own'd for saith one When the corruptions of a Church are such as that one cannot communicate with her without sin unavoidably that seems to me to be a just ground though not of a positive yet of a negative though not of a total yet of a partial separation it may be a just ground for the lesser but is not so for the greater Supposing then the corruptions in a Church not to be of an heinous nature not respecting the Fundamentals of Religion supposing again they are not necessarily imposed and unavoidable then Separation for the sake of such is unwarrantable But to make this the more uncontroulably evident I shall consider the Corruptions as they respect Worship or Discipline In Worship I shall consider the defects of it in it self in the Ministration the Ministers and those that joyn with it and shew that these do not disoblige from Communion in it and attendance upon it 1. The defects of Worship if not essential are § 1 consistent with Communion and no just reason for withdrawing from it This the Brownists did acknowledge with some qualification Neither count we it lawful for any member to forsake the Fellowship of the Church for blemishes and imperfections which every one according to his Calling should studiously seek to cure c. So M r Cotton Suppose there were and are sundry abuses in the Church yet it was no safe ground of Separation When the Sons of Eli corrupted the Sacrifices of God their sin was great yet it was the sin of the people to separate and abhor Thus a Reverend Person in his Farewel Sermon doth rightly instruct his Auditors A means to hold fast what you have received is diligent attendance on the publick Ordinances and Worship of God if and when you can enjoy them in any measure according to God's Will though not altogether in the manner you desire and they should be administred in c. Though I dare not advise you to join in any thing that is in it self or in your judgment evil till you be satisfied about it yet I must advise you to take heed of Separation from the Church or from what is good and God's own Ordinance c. For the fuller proof of which it may not be amiss to produce the several Arguments used by them in confirmation of this Truth As First To break off Communion or to refuse it for such defects would be to look after a greater perfection than this present state will admit of So the Brownists do declare None is to separate from a Church rightly gathered and established for faults and corruptions which may and so long as the Church consisteth of mortal men will fall out and arise among them And M r Jenkin argues upon this Principle Must not he who will forbear Communion with a Church till it be altogether freed from mixtures tarry till the day of Judgment till when we have no promise that Christ will gather out of his Church whatsoever doth offend This was it that amongst other reasons conquer'd the prejudices of that Good Man M r J. Allen and kept him from Separation of which we have this Account He knew of how great moment it was that the publick Worship of God should be maintained and that its Assemblies should not be relinquished though some of its Administrations did not clearly approve themselves unto him because upon the account of some imperfections and pollutions in them supposed or real to withdraw Communion is evidently to suppose our selves join'd before our time to the heavenly Assembly or to have found such an one upon Earth exempt from all mixtures and imperfections of Worshippers and Worship The want of this prudent consideration makes many to expect more than can be expected and to look upon every defect or corruption as intolerable to prevent which therefore M r Baxter doth give this Advice to his Brethren Teach them to know that all men are imperfect and faulty and so is all mens Worship of God and that he that will not communicate with faulty Worship must renounce Communion with all the World and all with him Secondly They argue our Saviour and the Apostles did not separate from defective Churches and Worship but communicated in it notwithstanding the corruptions and therefore it s not unlawful for others so to do No doubt it was written for our instruction saith a Reverend Person our Lord Jesus Christ who was as zealous for purity in God's Worship as much against corrupt mixtures of mens inventions therein as any can pretend to be used to attend on the publick Worship in his time notwithstanding the many corruptions brought into it That he went into their Assemblies not to joyn in any Worship but only to bear witness against their corruptions is no where written but rather the contrary is held forth in Scripture when he acknowledgeth himself a member of the Church of the Jews approves of and justifies their Worship as right for substance that salvation might be attained therein which he denies to be attainable in any other Worship John 4.22 we know including himself amongst those that worshipped God aright what we worship for salvation is of the Jews This is sufficiently proved by many that Christ did communicate with the Jewish Church and is granted as well by those of the Congregational as Presbyterial way And yet Doctrine Discipline and Worship were much corrupted of which M r Hildersham doth give a specimen but especially D r Bryan There were many great corruptions in the Church of the Jews in Christ's time the Priests and Teachers were ignorant and wicked and had a corrupt and unlawful entrance into their calling and the People were like to the Priest generally notoriously and obstinately ungodly and the Worship used in that Church was wofully corrupt
marg l. 3. continuat p. 7. marg l. 1. Lecture p. 13. l. 2. Schism p. 49. l. 32. p. 57. l. 28. because l 32 â—â—â—h are without p. 61. l. 8. that as there l. 11. so that have l. 33. peâ—veâ—se p. 67. marg l. 28. dele Tryal p. 121. p. 70. marg l. 3 dele Plea p. 1. Mr. Mede's Farewel Serm. on 1 Cor. 1.3 Mr. Read 's Case p. 4. Continuat of Morn Exer. Ser. 4. p. 92. Read Ibid. Mr. Baxter's Defence of the Cure part 2. p. 29. A Book licensed by M r Cranfoâ—d Baxter's Cure p. 311. Continuat Morning Exercise Serm 4. p. 89. a Rathband's Epistle to the Reader prefixed to the grave and modest Confutation c. b Nichol's Plea for the Puritans Bayly's Disswasive c. 2. p. 21. Corbet's Discourse of the Religion of England p. 33. Non-Conformists no Schismaticks p. 13. A grave and sober Confut. p. 1. c. p. 57. Friendly Tryal of the grounds of Separat c. 13. p. 306. A Letter of many ministers in Old England to others in New England p. 24. Jerubbaal Or the Pleader Impleaded p. 18. 27. Brownists Apol p 7. An. 1604. Discourse §. 21. p. 43. Preface to 5. Disp. p. 6. Peace-Offering p. 12. See Mr. Baxter's Defence of his Cure part 1. p. 64. part 2. p. 3. Wadsworth in his Separation yet no Schism p. 60 62. Mr. Troughton's Apology for the Non-Conformists c. 3. p. 106. Letter 26. on John p. 121. Morning-Exercise Serm 4. p. 91. Tâ—â—â—ghton's Apol p. 104. Peace-Offering p. 17. Unreasonableness of the Separation p. 16. Grave and modest Confutat p. 28. Unreasonableness of Separation p. 27.37 Apologet. Narration p. 6. Cotton's Infant Baptism p. 181. * Jus Divinam Minist Evang. p. 12. c. Brinsly's Church remedy p. 41 42. Cawdry Independ a great Schism p. 60 89 172 ‖ Theoduâ—ia or just defence §. 15 16. Preface c. 9. §. 3. a Croston's reformation not separation p. 10. and Bethshemesh clouded p. 101. c. Cawdrey's Independ a great Schism p. 132. c. Church-Reformation p. 42. b Mr. Baxter's Plea for Peace Epist. Serm. on Gal. 6.10 p. 24. Defence p. 21. part 1. p. 36. c Mr. Corbit's account of the Principles c. of several Non-conformists p. 25. Troughton's Apol p. 103. Defence of his Cure part 2. p. 178. V. Letter of Ministers of Old England to New p. 49. Apol. c. 4. p. 117. Defence of his Cure part 2. p. 177. Wav cleared p. 8. His Letter p. 3. printed 1641. V. Hooker's Survey Preface part 1. p. 47. On the Ephes. p. 487 488 489. Pag. 6. Ibid. Sion College visited Unreasonableness of the Separation p. 97. Mr. Baxter's Cure of Church Divisions Dir. 56. p. 263. Papers for accomodation p. 47. Reasons for the Christian Religion p. 464. V. Annotations on the Apologet Narrat p. 17. Arraignment of Schim p. 26. Dwelling with God Serm. 6. p. 289 291. * On Rev. c. 2. V. Jenkin on Jude v. 19. Allen Vindiciae Pietatis second part p. 123. Vindication of Presbyterian Government p. 130. Cotton on John p. 156. a Grave confut p. 57. Cawdrey's Independency further proved p. 136. b Brinsly's Arraignment p. 15 24 44. c Baily's disswasive c. 6. p. 104. d Ames's Puritanismus Angl. V. Parker on the Cross part 2. c. 91. §. 21. Bax. Def. p. 55. e Apologet Nar. p. 6. f Sac. il desert p. 76. g The Life of Mr. J. Allen p. 111. h The Doctrine of Schism p. 64. i Reasonable account c. Bonasus vapulans p. 113. k Account of the Principles of the Non-Conformists p. 26. l Discourse of the Religion c. p. 33. V. Mr. Read's Case p. 15. Non-conformists Plea for Lay-Communion p. 1. Non-Conformists Plea for Peace §. 17. p. 240. m Bâ—rroughs Irenicum p. 182. n Vindication of Presbyt Govern Brinsly Arraignment p. 16.32 Corbet's Plea for Lay-Communion c. p. 2. Irenicum by Discipulus de tempore Junior alià s M. Newcomen Epist. to Reader Friendly Tryal c. 7. p. 121. Hildersham Lect. on John R. Rogers's 7. Treatises Tr. 7. c. 4. p. 224. Vindicat. of the Presbyt Gov. p. 135. Jerubbaal p. 28.30 Troughton's Apol p. 107. Mr. Nye's Case of great and present use p. 4. and 5. Mr. Read's Case p. 14. * Burrough's Irenicum p. 183. Lawfulness Hearing the Publick Ministers of the Church of England Nye's Case p. 24 25. Theodulia Or A just Defence of Hearing c. c. 10. §. 15. p. 369. c. 9. §. 8. p. 319. Treatise of the lawfulness of Hearing c. p. ult Theodulia Answer to Preface §. 23. p. 47 48. Vid. Blake's Vindiciae Foed c. 31. p. 229 c. Arraignment of Schism p. 50. Temple measured p. 78. Evangelical Love p. 76. Expos. on 1 Epist. John p. 156. Cure of Church-Divisions Dir. 5. p. 40. c. On the Sacrament p. 239. Account of the Principles of N. C. p. 8. and Discourse of Religion §. 16. p 33. Irenicum c. 23. p. 162 163. The Unreasonableness of the Separation p. 107. Jâ—â—â—â—baal p. 12. Apo p. 7. Expos. on 1 Epiâ—t Joh. p. 157. England's Remembrancer Serm. 2. p. 38. Arg. 1. Confession of Faith Art 36. Comment on Jâ—â—â— ver 19. His Life p. 111. Sacrileg Desert p. 96. Arg. 2. Englands Remembrancer Serm. 4. p. 94 95. a Ball 's Tryal p. 132. b The platform of Discipline in New England c. 14. §. 8. c Lect. 35. on John p. 165 166. d Dwelling with God p. 294. Ibid. The Unreasonableness of Sâ—paration p. 104. Non-Conformists no Schismaticks p. 15. Independ a great Schism p. 195. Englands Remembrancer Serm. 4. p. 111. Arg. 3. Dr. Owen's discourse of Evangel Love c. 3. p. 81. Troughton's Apol p. 110. Lect. 35. on John p. 165 166. and Lect. 82. p. 384. V. Dr. Bryan's dwelling with God p. 293. e on the Sacrament p. 242. Croston's hard way to Heaven p. 36. Noye's Temple measured p. 79. Jenkin on Jude v. 19. Davenport's Apol reply p. 281. Ball 's Tryal p. 159 c. f Com. on 1 Epist John p. 156. Godly Mans Ark Epist. Ded. Godly Mans portion p. 122. V. Bains on the Ephes. c. 2.15 p. 297. Englands Remembrancer Serm. 16. p. 455. Continuat of Morn Exer. Serm. 16. p. 459. Arg. 4. Unreas of the Separat p. 103. Tryal of the grounds of Separat c. 137 13â— Sacrileg desert p. 95. Defence of his Cure part 1. p. 47. Iren. c 23. p. 163. Godly Mans portion p. 124. Com. on Ephes. c. 2.15 p. 297. Morton's Memorial p. 78. c. Mr. Baxter's Def. of Cure part 2. p. 171. Englands Remembrancer Ser. 14. p. 371. Arg. 5. Independ a Schism p. 192. Vindiciae soed c. 31. p. 228. Platform of Discipline in New England c. 14. §. 8. Temple measured p. 78. Theodulia Ans. to Pres. §. 25. p. 48. Arg. 6. Confer Savoy p. 12 13. Mr. Baxters's Defence of the Cure p. 34 35. Tryal of the grounds c. p. 308. Door of Truth opened