to Christianity But if he would not have the weak to be of the same Principles and Apprehensions with the strong he must enjoyn the strong to be of the same Principles and Apprehensions with the weak or else he could never expect to see a good effect of his prayers and obtestations But this Reconciler has made himself not the Subject's but the Sovereign's Remembrancer He addresses himself to our Superiors and calls upon them to be dutiful to be subject to and to obey their good people This puts me in mind of the character which Isaiah gives of a false Prophet The Prophet that teacheth Isai 9. 15. Lies he is the tail But why is he the tail because the tail follows the body of the Beast is carried about by it and hangs upon it and so doth the false Prophet upon the Common People and whether the Reconciler does not so let his Neighbours judge But we see plainly he would have the Ancient and the Honourable who are the Head to do so that 's the Reverence he has for them But I humbly conceive our Governors will find many Reasons not to rescind the Laws establish'd not to restrain or abate the force of their Impositions as this Reconciler would have them 1. They should betray the Supream power and Prerogative of Authority 'T is a Rule laid down by a great Divine De facto lex humana obligat Humane Law does bind de Facto with a Non obstante to any danger whatsoever when the transgression of the Law would fall out to the ruine of the Community to the Contempt of Religion or the Christian Faith or to the lessening and despising of Authority or the Legislative Power In such Cases no fear of danger can excuse the transgression of the Law Upon this ground the General does expose the Sentinel to imminent danger of death to preserve the whole Camp or City from destruction The Prince commands a Physician to attend a place that is visited with a raging Pestilence And the Bishop injoyns a Priest in the like case of danger to administer to the Ghostly welfare of such as are under a great Contagion Where according to the judgment of wise men the advantage and benefit does preponderate and outweigh the danger or detriment that may insue there it is the Prerogative of Authority to interpose for the more publick and common safety But in such Cases the obligation does not properly arise from the Humane Law but from the Natural Divine Law which forbids that act which tends to the contempt of the Faith and the despising of Religion or to the ruine of the Community or the undervaluing of Authority and the Legislative Power For such an Act without doubt is intrinsecally evil Authority and the Legislative Power is a Counterpart of Gods Sovereignty a Depositum a sacred Trust for the Government of the World and to keep distinct Communities in Peace and Order As God allows no man to despise it so it ought much less to despise it self And nothing can make it more despicable than to stoop to a Lure of Feathers that is thrown out by a giddy Multitude To this purpose we have the judgment of the Learned and wise King James who in his Proclamation March 5. in the first year of his Reign having given Reasons why he would not be swayed to alteration in the Form of Gods Service by the frivolous suggestion of any light spirit he adds this Neither are we ignorant of the Inconveniencies that do arise in Government by admitting Innovation in things one setled by mature Deliberation and how necessary it is to use Constancy in the upholding the publick Determinations of States for that such is the unquietness and unstedfastness of some Dispositions affecting every year new Forms of things as if they should be followed in their inconstancy would make all actions of State Ridiculous and Contemptible whereas the stedfast maintaining of things by advice established is the weal of all Common-wealths And that resolution of King James was in the matter of Ceremonies which we discourse of And the truth is if the Prince be brought to those Terms that he must strike Sail to the humour of the People and vary his Compass according to every wind of Doctrine that blows from a Republican Coast he must at last leave the fifth Commandment out of the Catechism as the Church of Rome has done the second or give them leave to do by it as the Pharisees did of old to make it of none effect by their Traditions And how much the Prelates of the Church are concerned herein we may learn from Joannes Crocius for I will take in no Authority from the Jesuits or Church of Rome in this Case that the Reconciler may have no occasion to cavil upon that account Minister in omni muneris Parte Auctoritatem divinitùs concessam tueatur viriliter modestè In every part of his Office let the Minister manfully as well as modestly maintain the Divine Authority which is given him He gives us St. Pauls Authority and example for it His Authority is to Titus Bishop of Crete Tit. 2. 15. and for his example he refers us to Gal. 16. 7 c. to 2 Cor. 10 11 12 Tertul. de Baptis c. 17. 13. Chap. Dandi quidem habet jus Summus Sacerdos qui est Episcopus dehinc Presbyteri Diaconi non tamen sine Episcopi authoritate propter Ecclesiae honorem Quo salvo sata Pax est And if Princes and Governors should rescind and Chop and Change and Innovate Laws and Constitutions upon the motion and Impulse of a turbulent People this will countenance their claim of a share * For the Fly upon the Wheel thinks that all the dust is raised by the force of her agitation in the legislative power which is of too dangerous a Consequence to be suffered in a Monarchy I do solemnly therefore aver that in all his Pleas for Christian Liberty S. Paul did never set it up above Authority nor allow it to controul the power of Governors or oppose them in things Indifferent 2. In abating these Impositions our Governors must needs act against their own Judgment and Conscience which is point-blank against St. Pauls Rule Rom. 14. 5. Let every man be fully perswaded in his own mind Now if our Governors be perswaded in their own mind that the things establish'd among us are Decent as well as Lawful in the performance of Gods publick Worship The Reconciler will tell them their Duty Vid. Protest Reconciler p. 157. as he calls it for he says expresly they are more concerned in those whether advices or injunctions of the Apostle than other men And if in favour of Dissenters as the Reconciler would have it they should abate their Impositions and enter their Protestations they do not esteem them sinful to be practised nor abate them upon that account This would not at all Correct the Judgment of the Dissenters but
the progress of the Gospel amongst them in the very infancy of it And wanting Church-Governors with a secular Arm to assist them nothing was able to extinguish their dissentions and bring them to a quiet settlement till the fulness of Apostolical Authority with the power of Miracles should come among them as shall be declared hereafter But our Reconciler tells us 't is the perpetual Duty of the highest Christians to follow after the things which make for Peace and whereby they may edify one another This we can easily grant him but as Theodoret observes the Apostle Ad Rom. 15. 4. does not pray for their peace indefinitely and absolutely but 't is an honest and pious Consent and Concord that he wisheth them according to the example of Jesus Christ Has not God given us Guides and are not we bound to follow peace after their direction and example Have not they a command as well as a power Heb. 13. 7 17. to set things in Order to make Decrees and Ordinances for the establishment of Peace and Unity and are not these the means to promote Edification Did not S. Paul himself carry about such Decrees to be kept of the Churches where he went and were not those Churches established in the Faith thereupon and increased in their numbers as well as in their piety by that means Acts 16. 4 5. These are truths that are evident of themselves and owned by the Learned of all Perswasions the Ordering and Appointment of honest and decent Rites See the Verdict p. according to the word of God makes much for the preservation of Discipline and to strengthen the bond of Peace saith David Rungius and Calvin himself Hereupon we find that the great Apostle made Ordinances of the like nature which are called Traditions and they were about things indifferent of no absolute necessity but only for decency such as the Womans Vail in publick 1 Cor. 11. 2. Assemblies And such as did observe those Ordinances he commends but 2 Thes 3. 6 14. such as did neglect them he does severely censure And tho he was gentle as a Nurse to cherish his children in the Faith yet did he exercise the Authority of a Father too in charging and 1 Thes 2. 7 11. commanding them to observe his Discipline And let this Reconciler or any of the Dissenters whose Cause he Pleads prove that ever the liberty of such Children was allowed either by Christ or his Apostles to overtop or check the Authority of such a Father and I will yield the Cause In the mean while Dr. Womock keeps his Ground viz. That this was only a Temporary provision to keep the Peace among private Christians and hereupon the Reconciler requires him to prove that the things above-mentioned Rom. 14. were only Temporary and that Church-Governors are now at liberty to walk uncharitably towards the weak and to destroy the work of God for meat and drink and we are satisfied Here we are called upon to prove two things and I am afraid the last will prove him to be a Sophister But we shall attempt to prove the first That those things were only Temporary 'T is the express affirmation of Aretius Ad Rom. 15. that these Roman Christians having no Ordinary Governor the Apostle shews private men the way which they should walk in as was observed formerly And Ad Rom. 14. And Beza observes Apostolum non praecipere ut ejusmodl ignorantia foveatur sed duntaxat ut tuleretur tantisper dum isti possint erudiri Ad Rom. 14. 2. When they became stubborn and indocible They were rejected that the provision was but for a time is the express Doctrine of Hemmingius Aliquid ad tempus Fratrum infirmitati largiendum est Something is to be allowed for a time to the infirmity of our Brethren secus de obstinatis pertinacibus judicandum est but we must determine otherwise of the obstinate and stubborn He speaks of weak Christians which he supposes to be in every particular Church in these days but if care were duly taken to Catechise our Youth and to instruct them in the Principles of Acts 13. 46. Christianity touching Authority and Liberty according to the truth of the Gospel as S. Paul calls it this kind of Intellectual Rickets and the weakness that follows it would be perfectly corrected in our Minority and we should never infest the Church with our frowardness upon that account But my task is to prove that the Directions which the Apostle gives to those Christians at Rome had a peculiar reference 1. To that present time 2. To some special things and 3. To that Critical Dispensation 1. To that present time and he that will take the pains to consider the Case can never be perswaded that such cautions and directions as were given to Jews or Gentil-Converts in reference purely to those Federal Rites of the respective Institutions to which they had so lately been accustomed He I say can never be convinced that they do lay any obligation upon such as were bred up in Christianity from their Cradles But that these cautions were calculated for that present time we have reason to believe upon farther evidence 1. The Apostle in his great prudence was wont to make such Temporary 1 Cor. 7. 26. provisions such was his advice about Virgins I suppose saith he this is good for the present distress not that Marriage was a more impure state of Life but to avoid the difficulties and molestations of it Single persons were in a better condition more prompt and easie to grapple with Persecutions which in those days did more frequently afflict the Professors of the Gospel The Apostle has an eye to the like Rom. 12. 11. difficulties among the Romans and therefore he enjoyns them to be fervent in Spirit serving the season For many Copies See Dr. Hammond his note on the place and Dr. Stearne Aphoris de felicitate §. 2. Aphor. 22. read the Text so and therefore Dr. Hammond doth thus Paraphrase the Text Doing those things that in respect of the Circumstances of time and place wherein now you are may most tend to the honour of God and building up of the Church And S. Ambrose descants very well upon the place lest they should unseasonably press matters of Religion in an evil time whereby they might raise up Scandal therefore he subjoyns this caution serving the time The great matters of Faith and Religion Ambros ad Rom. 12. he would have them discoursed of modestly and discreetly in a fit time and in a convenient place and among fit Persons For there are som esaith he even among our selves in times of Peace The Epist for the 2d Sunday after the Epiphany in the old Liturgy read it so who do so abhor the way of Christ that they can no sooner hear but they will Blaspheme it And S. Paul himself made it his practice sometimes to apply himself to the
Reward through their vain traditions touch not tast not handle Colos 2. Iâ—ridens contemnens superstitiosam persuasionem in persona pseudapostolorum ait Ne tetigeris quasi dicat si secus audeas eris immundus apud Deum efficieris Damnationis reus Hyper. ad Col. 2. Gal. 2. not And Gal. 4. 4. Ye observe days and months and times and years I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain Was not the Apostle so earnest and positive herein that he threatned the Dissenters as Disturbers of the Church and tells them That they should bear their judgment and wisheth them cut off Gal. 5. Did he not withstand St. Peter to the face because he was to be blamed and why was it not because he did not walk uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel and was not all this contest upon the account of the difference betwixt the Jew and Gentile Christians was the Apostle thus positive did he use such Menaces did he give such warning in his Epistle to the Romans If not why does this Reconciler say that if those Rules were but a provision till the Apostles had made a more perfect determination then they were not to be observed at all was not Ignorance and Superstition as dangerous to the Christians at Rome as to those at Coloss and Galatia Are they at Rome indulged to live therein always when these at Coloss and Galatia are threatned and in danger to fall from Grace and be lost by it But for the present as the Gentile Converts had great assurance of their immunity from the Law of Moses so those of the Jews were under great prejudices through their veneration for it And the Impostors and false Teachers headed perhaps by Simon Magus who See Dr. Ham. Annotat. on the Title of the Epistle to the Romans towards the end had the reputation of a God among the Romans were so subtile and powerful with the Heathen Magistrate that a peremptory order from the Apostle if such a one had been sent especially having no Governor to enforce it in all probability could have taken no effect The Apostle therefore defers this great work as he did the setling of some such matters in other Churches 1 Cor. 11. last till his own coming with the fulness of Apostolical Power and the gift of Miracles to encounter all the opposition of the Enemy In the mean while having felt in himself such an experiment of mercy for the things which he had done in his ignorance and unbelief 1 Tim. 1. 13. He was well perswaded that the same Divine Goodness which for a time prefers a mistaken Zeal before a deliberate Interea vero tamet si opinio quidem sit superstitiosa tamen observatio Deo non displicet quando infirmus sapienter cavet ne quid dubitante conscientia facere aggrediatur Hyper. ad Rom. 15. in principio Prophaness would be pleased to wink at that time of the Romans Ignorance and Superstition till he should vouchsafe to afford a Dispensation sufficient to cure the Distempers which did afflict them And to allay and be-calm their Animosities he forbids all uncharitable altercations and to prevent Apostacy from the Faith he prescribes Lenitives Condescention and gentle usage lest they should be tempted to forsake the Profession of Christianity through the asperity of severe Censures and spiteful provocations from their equals and such as had no Authority to Govern them This I say was a Temporary provisision but he promises them a more perfect redress and settlement in a short time and then he would determine and settle the Case and those differences de Facto Rom. 16. 20. The God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly By Satan here he means the false Apostles and Impostors which were so great Instruments of Satan that he gives them his name with the Factious and Turbulent Dissenters which were led by them so Interpreters do generally unstand it Non solum immittentes offendicula Oecum Theod. Theophilact Lap. ex Chryso Bullinger conteret sed ipsumillorum Ducem Satanam Insidiatorum magistrum Dissentiones vestras cum suo Principo Nec eos modo qui dissidia moliuntur sed horum etiam Praefectum Ducem commoliatur per Satanam intelligit omnem vim adversariam Christo Evangelio ejus sive sint Pseudapostoli sive Tyranni Thus seveveral Expositors comment upon the words The History of those times tells us that the Faction was so impetuous and turbulent that Claudius in the ninth Year of his Reign was provoked to put forth an Edict to banish them out of Rome Claudius Judaeos impulsore Chresto Acts 18. 2. assidue tumultuantes Româ expulit saith Suetonius and Josephus to the same purpose Anno ejusdem imperatoris nono expulsos per Claudium Judaeos refert and taking the Jews and Christians to be of the same Religion he banish'd them all together There was little hopes therefore that the order of a Person at a distance who had never been amongst them should be of any force to quell such Heads of the Faction or to remove their prejudices so as to unite them in the same belief and practice aso t these matters But the Apostle foretold and promised that this should be done shortly and how was that Shortly Hoc de adventu suo dicit He speaks this of his own coming to them saith St. Ambrose If a question should arise how this could be effected when it was thought that his Letters were more prevalent than his personal presence 2 Cor. 10. 10. This is answered by Interpreters That God Almighty would assist him against the power of all Impostors and Deceivers whom he calls Satan for the opposition they made against Christ and his Gospel And that at the Apostles coming among them This Satan this Adversary De la Cerda power should be conquered and laid prostrate under their feet And this the Apostle might very well promise without boasting upon the account of that power which Christ did bestow upon his Apostles a power to tread upon Serpents and Scorpions and all the power of the Enemy Luke 10. And so Aretius saith as the opinion of many Interpreters Vbi ad vos venero per gratiam Dei efficietur ut iste Satan Impostor prodatur confundatur meâ praesentia conculcabitur When I come unto you by the Grace of God it shall come to pass that Satan that Impostor shall be discovered and confounded he shall be trodden under foot by my presence For a proof of this we have the Apostles own asseveration Rom. 15. 29. And I am sure that when I come unto you I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ This is an intimation of the abundant gifts of the Holy Ghost whereby he should be inabled to confound the Ministers of Dissention and confirm the true Disciples Benedictio Ambrose autem haec signorum
it would tell all the World that such Governors renounced their own Judgment and 't is probable many would say they went against their Conscience to humour a froward and unsteady Faction How dangerous such a practice would be we may learn from the experience and complaint of the Royal Martyr in an instance of a like nature I never met saith he with a more unhappy conjuncture of affairs than * That concerned the Destruction of an excellent man and this of an excellent Church when between my own unsatisfiedness in Conscience and a necessity as some told me of satisfying the importunity of some people I was perswaded by those that I think wish'd me well to choose rather what was safe than what seemed Just preferring the outward Peace of my Kingdoms with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Meditat. on the Earl of Straffords Death men before that inward exactness of Conscience before God He tells us He had confessed it with sorrow both to God and men as an act of so sinful frailty that it discovered more a fear of man than God whose name and place on Earth saith he no man is worthy to bear who will avoid inconveniencies of State by acts of so high injustice as no publick convenience can expiate or compensate And then he goes on profoundly thus I see it a bad exchange to wound a mans own Conscience thereby to salve State sores to calm the Storms of Popular discontents by stirring up a Tempest in a mans own Bosom Wherefore our Governors being very well satisfied that in the present settlement of Church affairs they have acted within the proper sphere of their own Office and have had an eye all along to Gods Glory therein tho all the Pharisees of the World should be offended yet let them strenuously assert their own Injunctions with alacrity under the attestation and comforts of a good Conscience 3. In abating those Impositions as this Reconciler requires they should betray the truth of the Gospel in things Indifferent and depretiate the solemn Worship of God which among us is determined to be most Decently and Reverently performed by our present establishment we say according to the sense of the Apostle He that has a jealousie he shall displease God in doing such or such a thing and yet will venture to do it he sins in it because he shews a want of Reverence to the Authority and Majesty of God In like manner should we change that Form of Worship which we think better for that which we think worse a more decent way and manner of Address in our holy Duties for one that is less decent in our own esteem this would argue and declare a want of Reverence towards the Majesty of God whom we pretend to Worship 4. Taking away of those Impositions would cause a greater Mischief than it would prevent For 1. instead of a Passive it would procure an Active Scandal to prevent a Scandal taken there would be a Scandal given A Scandal per se laid in our Neighbours way to remove a Scandal per Accidens For a Scandal by Accident does happen Quando nec operantis intentio nec operis natura aut circumstantia eò tendit ut alter ruat sed prava peccantis dispositione fit ut occasionem peccandi inde hauriat ubi non est When neither the intent of the Imposer nor the nature of the Imposition nor any circumstance thereof tends to that end that any man should fall by it but it comes to pass through the corrupt disposition of the Delinquent that he draws an occasion of sinning from thence where really there is none this is a Scandal by accident and a Scandal taken and this is all the Scandal that the Dissenters have to complain of in these Impositions Whereas the Repealing or ruffling of these Impositions would unsettle a well establish'd Church and rob her of that which is her Glory her good Order which keeps her stedfast in her Faith and Allegiance both to God and man This was so Conspicuous in the Church of Coloss that all men observed it and the Apostle takes notice of it at a distance with great satisfaction Tho I be absent in the Col. 2. 5. flesh yet am I with you in the spirit joying and beholding your Order and the stedfastness of your Faith in Christ Upon which words saith the learned Davenant Seeing Pastors have so great a joy from that good Order that flourisheth among a People it follows that they do unworthily afflict and vex the Prelates of the Church who do contemn and trample down the lawful Ordinances of the Heb. 13. 17. Church contrary to that of the Apostle Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit to them For Ordo est tanquam vallus seductoribus oppositus Order is a Bulwark opposed to prevent the incursions of Seducers They are therefore seldom precipitated into Errors who observe that order of Obedience which is due to their Governors but on the contrary where the Order of Commanding and Obeying is neglected ibi tanquam per disjectam aciem facilè perrumpitur there it is easie to break in upon them as upon a routed and scattered Army Hereupon Grynaeus Professor at 1585. A Col. 2. 5. Lect. 18. Heydelberge among those Gifts wherein a well constituted Church ought to excel he reckons these two Order and the solidity of Faith By Order he understands the whole Liturgie and Discipline of the Church where all things are to be done Decently and in Order 1 Cor. 14. 40. And such as walk Disorderly 2 Thes 3. 6. as far as is possible in ordinem Disciplinae Ecclesiasticae severitate adhibita redigendi sunt They are to be reduced to Order by the severity of Church-Discipline 2. A second Mischief that would arise from the Retrenching of those Impositions would be the Offence given to the weak and tender Members of the Church For we must not deny but we have those that are weak and tender and are not the worse for it and they may very well be jealous with a Godly Jealousie if they should see such a Change such an abolition of our establish'd Ordinances they might very well be Jealous of the truth of our Doctrine about things indifferent jealous of the lawfulness of our Practice herein or else Jealous of our sincerity in our profession of them both And this might prove so great a scandal that the Church of Rome might make a greater Harvest of it than they could of all the Plundering and Persecuting times of the late Rebellion when men of worth and honour did stedfastly adhere to the King and Church out of Conscience finding them so just and steadfast to their own well setled Principles And that of the Father is a known truth Ipsa mutatio consuetudinis etiam quae adjuvat utilitate novitate perturbat The Change of an old Custom gives more trouble and disturbance by the novelty than it can give
exception And one Mistake tho never so absurd does commonly beget another and so it happens here for Where is the heavy Sentence which the Doctor passeth And What is it Certainly it cannot be less than the Sentence of Damnation which he blames with so much noise in Dr. Womock I find indeed at every turn the Reconciler is sending His Dissenters to Hell for their wretched Schisme not by single Persons only but by Sholes and Myriads and then he rebukes Dr. Pag. 55. Womock for so doing when he does it not Just as he shoots his Censures at his Governours in the very same Breath wherein he inveighs against Judging But the Reconciler is Catcht again in a sorry Fallacy and I am almost perswaded he is not aware of it If his Argument were put into Form it must run thus Whosoever saith That the Dissenters have lost the Title of Weak Brethren and are under the Sentence of Damnation he is rash Presumptuous and Uncharitable But does Dr. Womock make any such Assumption Then let the Reconciler who takes great freedom in that kind tell him of his foolery and that he wants Logick as well as Charity But Dr. Womock knows that here is Sophisma Plurium Interrogationum which perhaps is more then the Reconciler has considered In effect he puts the question thus Have the Dissenters lost the Title of Weak Brethren and fallen under the Sentence of Damnation If the Dr. affirms it then he concludes them under the Sentence of Damnation and is rash and Uncharitable in so doing If he denies it then he grants that they are Weak Brethren and are to have all the Indulgence and tenderness that belongs to Persons under those Circumstances But Dr. Womock is able to distinguish in this Case and to separate such as have lost the title of Weak Brethren from the present sentence of Damnation For the Dr. meddles with no mans Person having so well considered the Advice of Bishop Taylor that learned Prelate whom the Reconciler pretends to admire while he does abuse him in his writings Be not hasty sayes he in pronouncing damnation Adv. 52. against any man or Party in a matter of Disputation It is enough that you reprove an errour but what shall be the sentence against it at the day of Judgment thou knowest not and therefore pray for the erring Person and reprove him but leave the sentence to his Judge But touching those Weak ones among Ad Rom. 14. in Principio the Romans I shall acquaint the Reader with Peter Martyrs Opinion of them The question is Whether the Weakness of their Faith were an impediment to their Justification He thinks not because it is not the strength or Excellency of our Faith by which we are justified but the Merit and Dignity of the Object and although Faith be weak yet 't is Faith still if it be true But it might be said that they did not believe all things which were to be believed For they did not believe the Ceremonial Law of Moses to be abrogated And that Faith which does not believe all the Articles of Faith is no true faith Fateor equidem saith Peter Martyr I do confess it Si id accidat vitio Credentis if the fault be in the Believer if he will not admit of those Truths which he hears out of Holy Writ but contemns them and makes himself the Judge and Arbitrator how much of Scripture he ought to believe and attributes more to himself then he does to the Word of God Non est ista Fides vera that is not true Faith nor is the Holy Spirit wont to inspire any such Sence or Judgment But if there be something which a man does not believe because it has not been clearly propounded to him and he carries a mind sufficiently prepared to receive the Truth when it is made known to him in this case the Truth of his Faith may be a means to justify while the Weakness of it doth excuse him I wish the Dissenters may consider this Judgment of Peter Martyr that they may not make matters of Decency and Order under the Gospel to be Sin as if we were still under that Mosaical yoak of Bondage the Law and not under Grace But to follow the Reconciler who justifies his Denial of the Conclusion by several Arguments 1. He says what Dr. Womock does Pag. 105. alledge is a Plea that will serve all Parties Papists Dissenters Arminians Calvinists and almost all Disputers Now what the true ground of the Dispute is I cannot well imagine I have reason to think he is offended with the Major Proposition which contains the Character of such as ought not to claime the Right or Title of Weak Brethren but that is so expresly the words of Holy Scripture that he cannot in modesty avow his dislike thereof and therefore he makes an Assumption or Minor Proposition in Dr. Womocks name and then blames him for it That Dr. Womock did not assume upon the Dissenters the Reader will be convinced v. Pag. 100. 101 102. if he please to consult the place in the Verdict However let us weigh the strength of his discourse which we have in this Syllogisme All Arguments that may be used by other Parties as Papists c. they are ill Arguments But Dr. Womocks Argument may be used by other Parties Papists c. Therefore 't is an ill Argument Here I deny his Major Proposition All Arguments used by other Parties and particularly by the Papists are not ill Arguments for their Arguments to prove the Divinity of Christ are good Arguments and many of them the very same that are used by Protestants And that of Bellarmine is celebrated for a great Truth among all the Learned even by Amesius himself Propter incertitudinem proprioe justitioe perticulum inanis gloriae tutissimum est fiduciam totam in sola Dei misericordiâ benignitate reponere that is In regard of the Uncertainty of our own Righteousness and the danger of Vain-glory it is the safest way to put our whole Trust and Confidence in the sole Mercy and Favour of God This is a great Gospel-Truth and yet it fell from the Pen of Bellarmine And therefore he is out of the story when he concludes all Arguments to be ill because they are used by Papists or other Parties That his Argument may conclude effectually against Dr. Womock it must be framed thus Those Arguments which will as well and with equal Truth and Light of evidence maintain the Points of Popery c. as they do the Doctrine of the Church of England Those must needs be ill Arguments But such are the Arguments produced by Dr. Womock Here I utterly deny the Minor The Argumens there used by Dr. Womock have not an equal Truth or Light of Evidence to prove the Points of Popery as they have to prove the Doctrine of the Church of England For let me ask the Reconciler these few Questions Have the Popish
5. 3 12 13. of which we have given account already They may not despise or set at nought a Weak Brother but I hope being invested with a just Authority you will allow them to reprove and upbraid such as are wilfully ignorant upon a supine Carelesness or something worse Upon such an account sure they may say with the Royal Prophet Psal 94. 8. O ye fools when will ye understand and have they not our Lords example to say to such O fools and slow of heart to believe and they have the great Apostles practice I am sure to bear them out if they should say to such as trouble and disturb the Peace of the Church O Gal. 3. 1. foolish Dissenters who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth But so far are they from putting a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in their Brothers way that they endeavour to put him into the right way wherein if he has eyes in his head and will follow their Direction he shall be sure not to stumble But when our Superiours they have made the way plain and smooth and easie according to the truth of the Gospel If such as this Reconciler shall throw in their Rubbish and Stones of offence to obstruct it and then these Brethren will dash their foot willingly against it and stumble at it Their Fall is willful and they must thank themselves for the hurt they take by it I deny not but Governors in some sense are concerned to please the Subjects But a man may please others both to his own and to their destruction as Theod. ad Rom. 15. 1. I must not gratifie him in his Schism and Sedition to please him for that would betray him to damnation I must please him only to his good to his edification in the obedience of the Gospel that he may be saved to this end it may be a Governors Duty to grieve him 2 Cor. 2. 2 for there is a godly sorrow which worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7. 10. And he that can bring a soul to this tho his methods may seem severe yet among wise and sober Christians his Discipline as well as his Liberty will be well spoken of When he tells us of destroying him with our meat for whom Christ died that to return him some of those Givilities which he bestows on his Meisner is but one of his repeated fooleries for it can concern no man but a Jew or a Jews fellow in whose account some meats and drinks are still common and unclean and this Reconciler does acknowledge p. 74 75. that now the Apostles instructions of forbearance are out of date as to them their stubbornness having cut them off from all Title to our Charity in that kind And for the Roman-Catholicks tho they abstain sometimes from such and such meats yet they profess they do it Non quod conscientiam polluant suâ immunditie sed inobedientiâ Conte ad Rom. 14. And therefore when we eat with them we see they are in no more danger to be destroyed by our liberty than we are upon the account of their forbearance And thus it was among the Christians in Theodorets * Hee consuetudo in hunc usque diem mansit in Ecclesiis haec quidem abstinentia amplectituri ille vero omnibus esculentis absque ullo scrupulo vescitur nec hic illum judicat nec ille alterum reprehendit sed eos claros insignes reddit Lex Concordiae Theod. ad Rom. 14. Lat. ver Parisiis 1608. time See the Margin If that would serve his turn we readily grant that S. Paul was most certainly an excellent Church-Governor and had as much power as any of his Successors in Church-matters and we will allow him something more but did he never vary his Rules and shift his Battery according to the condition of the Persons whom he attempted to subdue to the obedience of the Gospel He did sometimes condescend when it was Prudence and Charity so to do but when out of weakness he perceived men became Head-strong when from tenderness they grew restive and obstinate then he became resolute and positive He was a notable Orator as S. Chrysost observes of him and used all the innocent Haec autem dicit ut eos anticipet blandiendo ut laudum Cupidine capti tales praestare se studeant ut digni possint haberi quos efferant omnes Laudibus prosequantur Inter. Theophilact ad Rom. 15. 29. Arts of Rhetorick to insinuate and gain upon the people and many times he used Hyperbolies vehemency and excesses of expression that his perswasion might be the more powerful and make the deeper impression Such is that to the Galathians for I bear you record that if it had been possible Gal. 4. 15. ye would have plucked out your own eyes and have given them to me And such is that to the Thessalonians So being 1 Thes 2. 8. affectionately desirous of you we were willing to have imparted unto you not the Gospel of God only but also our own souls because ye were dear unto us Such is that 1 Cor. 8. 13. to the Corinthians Wherefore if meat make my Brother to offend I will eat no flesh while the world standeth lest I make my Brother to offend And of the same 1 Cor. 9. 19 20 21 22. kind is that For though I be free from all men yet have I made my self servant to all that I might gain the more And unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews to them that are under the Law as under the Law that I might gain them that are under the Law To them that are without the Law as without Law being not without Law to God but under the Law to Christ that I might gain them that are without Law To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some Here was great truth and sincerity in these Condescentions but we must understand these pro hic nunc When he had to deal with a Jew apart he treated him with all possible lenity and sweetness and Christian compliance and so he did by the Gentile when he had him by himself but this was by way of Dispensation to draw them in to embrace the Gospel But when the Jew and Gentile came together these methods of compliance were useless and unpracticable we have the very Case reported by S. Paul himself upon the congress of the Jew and Gentil Christian at Antioch where the Apostle was not nay he could not be so compleasant as to be all things to all men He withstood S. Peter to the face c. Gal. 2. 11 12 13 14. And thus a man may carry himself toward Dissenting Parties he may privately Coax and Flatter a Dissenter in his errors and comply with his weakness thinking
he knows not how to disengage himself those gentle Methods are ineffectual Sharpness and Severity are much more useful for some Tempers which therefore the great Apostle does both Threaten and 2 Cor. 13. 2. 10. Tit. 1. 13. Prescribe This Distinction of Persons and Tempers he might have Learn'd from those Fathers whom he so often cites Chrysostom Theodoret Oecumenius who have the same Distinction upon the words of the Apostle Tit. 3. 10. Where he enjoyns the use of Severe Applications when Gentle means will not prevail A Man that is a Sectary after the First and Second Admonition reject Which Words Calixtus doth thus Paraphrase Qui quoestiones agitant Frivolas et inutiles etiamsi Ad Tit. 3. 10. extreme mali non sint et tolerari aliquatenus possint compescendi tamen sunt et severe castigandi ut curiosas atque otiosas istas Questiones missas faciant Neque ipsi si pietatem serio ex animo colant necessariis monitis obtemperare recusabunt Such as set on foot frivolous and unprofitable Questions and such generally have been bandyed up and down by the Dissenters to the Disturbance of the Church tho they be not extreamly Bad and might in some sort be tolerated yet they are to be restrained and Chastised severely that they may lay aside those curious and Idle Questions and if they be heartily devoted to Piety they will not refuse to obey such necessary Admonitions But if any man be so addicted to Contention that nothing will serve his turn but the Overthrow of all Rule and Order that he may set up a Religion and Way of his Own choosing without doubt such a one is to be avoided The Church Doors have hitherto been kept open to the Dissenters if they will not regularly come in to communicate with us and be instructed I know no Reason why our Governours should give them leave to make Ladders to climb up otherwayes to perpetuate our Schisms What the Reconciler adds in Answer to an Objection does serve very well to confirm the Truth which we undertake to Justify The Objection is this When our Lords Disciples told Him that the Pharisees were scandalised at his Doctrine He answered Let them alone they are Blind Leaders of the Blind and thereby seems to intimate that we should not regard the Scandal of such Persons For this we have the Judgment of Amesius the best Logician and School-Man De Consc Lib. 5. C. 11. Num. 12. that ever set Pen to Paper on the behalf of the Dissenters he saies thus Nihil Boni aut Liciti est omittendum propter Scandalum acceptum Hominum Pharisaico Ingenio praeditorum Nothing Good or Lawful is to be omitted for the Scandal that 's taken by men of a Pharisaical temper and he cites that very Text for it Mat. 15. 14. Let them alone c. The Reconciler saies this doth not follow from our Saviours words because the Scandal mentioned there was taken at our Lord 's Preaching true Doctrine and necessary to be taught But I say the Argument does follow from the words of our Saviour because the Scandal of the Dissenters is taken at a Doctrine no less True and Necessary the Doctrine of Obedience which our Saviour did both Teach and Practice and wrought a Miracle on Purpose to enable him to do it and to justifie his Performance of it therefore when we call for Obedience to the Impositions of Things Lawful and Decent in Gods Worship as the Rites and Observances amongst us are proved to be we Preach True Doctrine and necessary to be taught both for Defence of our Governours and their Subjects and for the Rescuing the People from those Superstitions and Wicked Practices which have made them Worship God in Vain and have made the Commandments of God of none effect Now in such Cases the Reconciler confesses it is true That we must not desist from doing of our Duty tho Wicked Persons should be scandalized Now because we are concerned among the Pharisees 't will not be amiss to take Notice of some things wherein the Dissenting Brethren have resembled them And 1. our Saviour upbraids them that they would Strain at a Gnat and Swallow a Camel and have not our Dissenters done so I am ashamed to mention the little things they Boggled at while they Preached up Blood Sacriledge and Rebellion they can strain at a Surplice but swallow Schism and yet if they had St. Johns Eyes they might see Surplices Rev. 4. 4. in Heaven Whereas St. Paul tell 's us he could see no Schismatick Gal. 5. 20 21. there 2ly Our Saviour upbraids them that they were Blind Leaders of the Blind and have not some of our Dissenters declar'd themselves to be such Go with me saith Mr. Case to Heb. 11. 13. and ye shall find Abraham with his Staff in In his Sermon before the Peers March 25. 1646. P. 41. his Hand and his Sandals on his Feet and his Loins girt Please to let me ask him two or three Questions by the way see what he will Answer Reverend Patriarch whether are you going Answer I know not When shall you return Answer I know not How will you Subsist Answer I know not He is in haste as well as we and therefore I 'le ask him but one Question more Abraham Why then do you go at such Uncertainties To this he will Answer I go not upon Vncertainties I have a Call I have a Command and that will secure my Person and bear my Charges By Faith Abraham when he was called Heb. 11. 8 to go into a Place which he should after receive for an Inheritance obeyed and went out not knowing whether he went Christians saith he observe a Call is as good as a Promise and a little after we have not only a Call but a Promise not in General only but in Special The whole Book of the Revelation is nothing else but one great Promise of the Down-fal of Antichrist and Gospel-Reformation and that is the Work Parliament and Kingdom have now in hand in these Three Nations Thus Mr. Case But what they meant by that Gospel-Reformation they could never agree to tell us witness Mr. Daniel Evance in Intituled the Noble Order his Sermon before the Lords Jan. 28. 1645. on 1 Sam. 2. 30. where he tells them thus I Profess my Lords I am neither for Paul nor Apollos nor Cephas nor Christ till I know what Paul and Apollos and Cephas are for and what those that say they are for Christ can say for him But I could wish my Lords that we had the Pattern that every man might consult with the Mount which of the two is Christs Government The Child is Christned for ought I see before it is Born and we have the Names before the Things 3ly Our Saviour charges the Pharisees that they made the Commandment Mat. 15. 4 5 6. of God of none effect by their Tradition And he instances in