requirean exact and particular Discussion I will first resume the Four Characters which the Scripture gives us of the Christian Church and Religion which are Truth Holiness Union and Order 1. All Christian Societies boast that they profess the Truth and that very thing is enough to shew that many of them are in Error since they do not agree among themselves about the Articles to be believed I will not enlarge on this Head because it would lead me into many Particulars and in some respect into Controversy I shall only say that if we did judge of what is to be Believed in Religion by that which ought to be the Principle and Rule of Faith among Christians I mean the Holy Scripture we would soon perceive on which side the Truth lies We might observe in that Society which vaunts it self to be the purest of all and which even pretends to be Infallible and the only True Church exclusive of all other absurd Tenets and monstrous Doctrines equally repugnant to Scripture and Reason and we should be convinced that the Doctrine of those Churches which did separate from that Society is much more consonant to the Gospel 2. We must have a very mean Notion of Christianity if we can believe that Holiness which is the second Character of the Church is to be found among Christians at this time The complaint of the last Ages was That Religion wanted to be Reformed in Doctrine Worship Discipline and Manners It was reformed in part by the rejecting of those Errors and Abuses which were crept into Doctrine Worship and Discipline but the Reformation of Manners is still behind The People have not as yet been Reformed in this regard except perhaps in those Times and Places where they have been Persecuted As for the rest they have scarce changed any thing besides their Belief and Worship this alone proves that the State of the Church is yet imperfect Holiness is the Scope of Religion it is the chief Character of Christianity so that where Holiness and purity of Manners is not Religion must be very defective III. Union Peace and Charity as was said before are one of the essential Marks of the Disciples and Church of Christ But where is this Character to be found The Church at this Day is Rent into Factions and Parties We cannot say that there is but one Church we must say that there are many Religions and Churches Christians divide not only upon Lawful Grounds which make Separation necessary but about things of small Consequence Upon the least diversity of Opinions they pronounce Anathema against one another form different Sects and Communions Even those Churches which might have a common Belief and Interest are not united Those Men who by their Office should be the Ministers of Peace are but too often the Fire-brands of Division I desire no other Proof of this but that Zeal which most Divines express about the Disputes of Religion and that little Disposition which is found among them to sacrifice some Opinions or Expressions to the Peace of the Church I do not condemn all Disputes without distinction for some are necessary The Apostles command the Rulers of the Church to establish with Care Pure Doctrine and to Confute those who endeavour to corrupt it They did themselves on many Occasions Dispute against false Teachers To desert the Truth when attacked were to make but little account of it This would be a betraying the Interest of Piety since Piety is always founded upon Truth Disputes become necessary when Essential Truths are to be defended Neither would I reduce all profitable or lawful Disputes to those only which concern Fundamentals There are Errors which tho' not Mortal yet are dangerous and so it is needful to oppose them And there are Truths which tho' not Fundamental are yet of great use in Religion and may serve to confirm the Principles of Christianity It is fit that such Truths should be Discussed provided this be done with Moderation and Honesty I only blame useless Disputes or these which tho' they may have their use yet are accompanied with those Passions and Disorders which blind Zeal inspires Such Controversies which are but too common are extreamly fatal to Religion We are not able to express what Mischiefs they occasion in the Church and how prejudicial they are to the progress of Christianity in general and of Piety in particular It may seem at first that because the People do not take cognizance of these Contests they should prove hurtful only to those Learned Men by whom alone they are managed but yet the whole Church feels the ill Effects of them 1. By reason of these Disputes the People are destitute of Edification or at least they do not receive all the Edification which is necessary Church-men being only full of these Study and Meditate upon nothing else in their Sermons they speak only of these Matters which take them up and which seem capital to them They have neither Leisure nor Inclination to mind things of another Nature and to set about Reforming the Manners of Christians or they do it but faintly and carelesly Whilst a Minister is very busy in his Study or Pulpit about Confuting an Adversary whom he never saw or an Error which is unknown to his whole Flock his Sheep are lost his Hearers remain possest with mortal Errors concerning Morality and ingaged in the most vicious Habits This is the Fruit of most Disputes they occasion the Ruin rather than the Edification of the Hearers 2. Disputes keep up among Christians false Zeal Hypocrisy and Licentiousness The People learn by the Example of their Teachers to place their Zeal not in opposing Vice but in understanding Controversy in adhering to certain Opinions and in bearing a strong Hatred to those who dissent from them They judge that what makes the ordinary Employment of Divines what they insist most upon what kindles their Zeal and excites in them the most violent Passions must needs be the most important thing in Religion 3. Sometimes the People take part in the Quarrels of their Teachers from whence proceed unavoidable Animosities and Divisions which extinguish Love and the Spirit of Christianity and which create insuperable Obstacles to the Peace of the Church and the Re-union of Christians Of this we have but too many Instances 4. Lastly the little Union which is in the Church is one of the great Causes of the small Progress of Christianity Christians instead of making their Religion appear Lovely and Venerable to Jews and Infidels expose it to their Contempt Instead of endeavouring to Propagate the Christian Faith and to destroy Idolatry they turn their own Weapons against themselves they mind nothing but the promoting the Interest of their particular Sects and they neglect that of Christianity in-general On the other hand Unbelievers seeing that Christians are not agreed among themselves take occasion from thence to Question every thing and they judge that there can be nothing but
thus Swearing Drunkenness and the greatest of other clamorous Sins might be suppressed if great Men pleased Is it not observed besides that when a Prince is devout Devotion comes into fashion It may be that this Devotion which proceeds from the Example of Princes is not always sincere but at least it regulates Manners as to the exterior and such an outward Reformation may be a step towards true Devotion However this shews that the opinion and example of Men in Authority has a great power And surely if by their credit they can make Vice it self to be honoured would it not be much easier for them to make other Men honour Virtue since it is honourable in its own Nature I am not able to express of what Consequence the Example of great Men is either for Good or Evil. A Prince who is vicious cruel dissolute artificious or unjust is enough to infect a whole State in a very little time to banish Piety from it and to bring into repute Drunkenness Lewdnese Cheating Indevotion and all the other Vices which he allows himself in This we find by daily experience Such as the Prince is so are those about him and from these the Evil spreads upon the whole People by reason of the Credit and Authority to which they were raised and of the Influence they have upon publick and private Affairs What might not be said here of the Life which is led in the Courts of Princes Excepting some few Courts where Licentiousness is not suffered That kind of Life which is followed at Court for the generality agrees little with the Spirit of Christianity People live there altogether in a loose and worldly manner in Luxury Idleness Pomp and Pleasure There the strongest and the most inticing Temptations are to be met with and the most criminal Intrigues Adultery it self are rather a Matter of Railery than Reproach It is almost impossible for a Man to insinuate himself into the Favour of Princes and to advance his Fortune at Court unless he makes it his Maxim to dissemble his Sentiments and to speak directly against his own Thoughts The worst of it is that from thence Corruption diffuses it self almost every where so that many Disorders which are in Vogue would be unknown or at least very rare in the World if they had not been introduced by that Licentiousness which reigns in the Courts of Princes I come now to the Endeavours which Christian Magistrates ought to use for the Edification of the Church and the reviving of Piety these Endeavours relate either to Civil Matters or to Religion 1. In Civil Matters it is their Duty to restrain Libertinism and Corruption by regulating the Manners of their Subjects either by repealing the Laws and Customs which do not agree with Religion and which engage the People into the violation of the Precepts of the Gospel or by reforming the Abuses which are introduced from time to time particularly those which creep into the Administration of Justice In relation to all these things there are several Faults which the Church cannot provide against and which nothing can remedy but the Magistrates Authority 2. The other Care relates directly to Religion 1. Princes and Kings professing Christianity are bound to procure as much as in them lies the Welfare of the Church They ought to set about the establishing of Truth and Peace provided that in order to that they use no Means but such as are sutable to the Gospel They ought by their Authority to see that the Church and Religion want nothing of what is necessary for the maintaining of Order and Decency that Divine Service be duly performed that there be both Places for that Purpose and a sufficient number of Persons to take care of the Edification of the Church that those Persons may subsist honourably that they do their Duty and keep themselves within the bounds of their Calling They must not suffer Church Goods or Revenves to be applied to uses meerly Civil and when these Revenues are not sufficient it becomes their Piety and Justice to allot some part of the publick Revenues for the necessities of the Church In fine as to Manners I observed before that they may easily give a stop to Vice and Impiety to Luxury Swearing and other Scandals which dishonour the Church And if they can do this they ought to do it every Christian being bound to do all that is in his Power to promote the Glory of God 2. It is certain that Magistrates who are Members of the Church ought to protect it to maintain the Order which God has established in it and not to suffer any breach to be made there So that tho' they may regulate many things which concern Religion and tho' the Church owes them a great Regard yet they cannot without Usurpation and Injustice arrogate to themselves the whole Authority with relation to Ecclesiastical Affairs They are neither the Princes nor the Heads of the Church as they are the Princes and the Heads of Civil Society An Authority superior to theirs has instituted Religion Pastors and Discipline There is a Law enacted by the KING of Kings and the Head of the Church which clearly determines the Rights and Duties both of the Church and of the Governour of it All these are Sacred things which earthly Powers are not to meddle with They are Laws which Princes and Magistrates did submit to when they became Members of the Church with respect to these I mean still essential things appointed by the Word of God they have acquired no Right by embracing Christianity since he who becomes Member of a Society cannot by that acquire a Right to alter the natural Form and Constitution of it The Instance of the Kings of Judah shews that a Prince who professes true Religion may interpose in the Affairs of it But we must take care not to carry this Instance too far as those do who ascribe to the Magistrate a supreme Authority in the Church who allow him a Right to order every thing there not excepting Discipline the calling of Pastors nor even the Articles of Faith For besides that under the Law Kings were by no means the Judges of every thing which concerned Religion we are not to argue altogether about the Christian Religion from what was done in the Jewish Church Among â—â—e Jews the Church and the State were mixed together and in some measure undistinguished from one another That meerly spiritual Society which is called the Church and which is confined to no State or People or any particular Form of Civil Government was properly erected since the coming of Christ God acted among the Jews as a Civil Magistrate The Laws of the Jewish Religion were for the most part external Laws which might and ought to be maintained by Force and Authority The Rights of Divine Service and the Functions of Priests were very different from the Evangelical Worship and from the Office of Christian Pastors After all if we
should go by the practice of the Jewish Church it would follow that the Ministers of Religion are invested with Civil Authority and a very great Authority too The Jewish Priests held a considerable Rank in the State as well as in Religion If upon some occasions Kings have deposed Priests upon other occasions Priests have opposed Kings and altered the Government * See Chron. XXIII and XXVI So that without pressing too much those Instances out of the Old Testament the best way is to consult the New and to proceed according to the Laws of the Apostles and the Nature of the Christian Religion And whosoever examins without Prejudice those Sacred Books which have been writ since the Coming of our Saviour will acknowledge that things are now altered and that Magistrates have but a limited Authority in Matters of Religion It is remarkable that the Scripture never mentions them when it speaks of the Church and of the Government of it 3 And yet as the Authority of Princes and Magistrates is derived from God it ought still to subsist entire And therefore they have an unquestionable Right to take care that nothing be done in the Church to the Prejudice of their lawful Authority and of publick Tranquility and that the Ministers of Religion do not stretch their Authority beyond spiritual things The Honour and the Safety of Religion require that this Principle should be laid down for Religion as was said before ought not to disturb Society and true Religion will never disturb it If then any Christians or Church-men under pretence of Religion should break in upon the Civil Government and the publick Peace Kings and Princes have a Right to restrain them and then they do not oppose Religion but those only who abuse and dishonour it After these Considerations I think any Man is able to judge whether the decay of Piety and Religion is not in part to be imputed to Christian Princes and Magistrates We need but enquire whether both in Civil and Religious Matters they observe the Duties I have now described I say no more of this because every body is able to make the Application But I must add that if the want of Zeal in Magistrates is enough to introduce Confusion and Vice into the Church the Mischief is much greater when not only they do not what they ought for the good of Religion but when they use their Authority besides to the prejudice of it I cannot forbear mentioning here two great Abuses The First is when Princes and Magistrates assume the whole Authority to themselves so that except Preaching and Administring the Sacraments they will do every thing in the Church When they presume to determine Articles of Faith to rule the Conscience of their Subjects and to force them to embrace one Persuasion rather than another when they will by all means take upon them to call Pastors without regard to that Right of the Church and Church-men which is established in Scripture and confirned by the practice of the first Ages of Christianity when they seize upon Church-Estates tho' there is no Reason to fear that Wealth should corrupt their Clergy and tho' such Revenues might be applied to several pious Uses and particularly to the Relief of Country-Churches most of which are not sufficiently edified for want of necessary Endowments and Funds A great deal might be said about that which was done in the last Century with relation to Church-Revenues and it were to be wished that People had been a little more scrupulous than they were when they invaded the Possessions of the Church and confounded them with the Revenues of the State Besides this the Magistrates Authority is fatal to the Church when he hinders the Exercise of true Discipline and when he substitutes such Regulations as he thinks fit in the room of Apostolical Laws This is one of the greatest Obstructions to the restoring of Apostolical Discipline Tho' the Church and her Pastors should be willing to observe the ancient Order and to oppose Corruption by those Means which the Gospel enjoins yet this is not to be done if those who have the Authority in their hands will not give way to it The Church is not in a Condition to resist and to make head against the Magistrate when he uses Force and She ought not to do it if She could The second Abuse is when the Magistrate makes it his business to abase Religion in the Persons of its Ministers by despoiling them as much as he can of every thing that might procure them Respect and Authority in the Church This Policy is as contrary to the Interest of Religion and to the promoting of Piety as it is common now adays in several Christian Dominions It is well done of the Magistrate to preserve his Authority and to keep the Clergy from exceeding the bounds of their Calling but from thence it does not follow that he ought to trample them under foot to bring them under a general Contempt and to vilifie their Character which after all is Sacred and Venerable This is to sacrifice Religion to Policy and Pride and this Proceeding is a manifest Cause of the Contempt of Religion and of the Corruption which necessarily follows that Contempt since commonly nothing is more despised in the World than that which great Men despise I declare it once more by all that has been said I do not mean to detract any thing from the Respect due to Civil Powers neither do I speak of all Christian Princes and Magistrates among whom there are some who have Piety and Zeal and who labour with success for the Good of Religion But the Glory of God requires that we should speak the truth so that I could not but take notice of this Cause of Corruption Upon the whole Matter it is to be hoped that if Christian Magistrates would be pleased to make serious Reflections upon all these things we should soon see an end of some of these Disorders and that a happier time will come when they will use their Authority to advance the Honour of God and to restore Truth Piety and Peace among Christians CAUSE V. Education NOthing is more natural than to look for the Original of Corruption in the time at which it begins I mean in the first years of Life It is not only when Men have attained to a ripeness of Age that they are inclined to Vice but that Inclination discovers it self from their Youth The Root of that Ignorance of those Prejudices and of the greatest part of the ill Dispositions they are in may be found in their tender years We had need then look back upon the beginnings of Life and seek in Youth and in Infancy it self the Source of Corruption When we enter upon this Enquiry and consider that Men if nothing restrains them will run into Vice from their Youth out of a propension which is common to all we cannot but perceive at first sight that there must be in