such Cases care is to be taken that the Sentence of Excommunication and the Execution thereof carry with it no rough usage of Word or Action whereby the ejected Person may any wise be damnified in Body or Estate For all Force as has often been said belongs only to the Magistrate nor ought any private Persons at any time to use Force unless it be in self-defence against unjust Violence Excommunication neither does nor can deprive the excommunicated Person of any of those Civil Goods that he formerly possessed All those things belong to the Civil Government and are under the Magistrate's Protection The whole Force of Excommunication consists only in this that the Resolution of the Society in that respect being declared the Union that was between the Body and some Member comes thereby to be dissolved and that Relation ceasing the participation of some certain things which the Society communicated to its Members and unto which no Man has any Civil Right comes also to cease For there is no Civil Injury done unto the excommunicated Person by the Church-Minister's refusing him that Bread and Wine in the Celebration of the Lord's Supper which was not bought with his but other mens Money Secondly No private Person has any Right in any manner to prejudice another Person in his Civil Enjoyments because he is of another Church or Religion All the Rights and Franchises that belong to him as a Man or as a Denison are inviolably to be preserved to him These are not the Business of Religion No Violence nor Injury is to be offered him whether he be Christian or Pagan Nay we must not content our selves with the narrow Measures of bare Justice Charity Bounty and Liberality must be added to it This the Gospel enjoyns this Reason directs and this that natural Fellowship we are born into requires of us If any man err from the right way it is his own misfortune no injury to thee Nor therefore art thou to punish him in the things of this Life because thou supposest he will be miserable in that which is to come What I say concerning the mutual Toleration of private Persons differing from one another in Religion I understand also of particular Churches which stand as it were in the same Relation to each other as private Persons among themselves nor has any one of them any manner of Jurisdiction over any other no not even when the Civil Magistrate as it sometimes happens comes to be of this or the other Communion For the Civil Government can give no new Right to the Church nor the Church to the Civil Government So that whether the Magistrate joyn himself to any Church or separate from it the Church remains always as it was before a free and voluntary Society It neither acquires the Power of the Sword by the Magistrate's coming to it nor does it lose the Right of Instruction and Excommunication by his going from it This is the fundamental and immutable Right of a spontaneous Society that it has power to remove any of its Members who transgress the Rules of its Institution But it cannot by the accession of any new Members acquire any Right of Jurisdiction over those that are not joined with it And therefore Peace Equity and Friendship are always mutually to be observed by particular Churches in the same manner as by private Persons without any pretence of Superiority or Jurisdiction over one another That the thing may be made yet clearer by an Example Let us suppose two Churches the one of Arminians the other of Calvinists residing in the City of Constantinople Will any one say that either of these Churches has Right to deprive the Members of the other of their Estates and Liberty as we see practised elsewhere because of their differing from it in some Doctrines or Ceremonies whilst the Turks in the mean while silently stand by and laugh to see with what inhumane Cruelty Christians thus rage against Christians But if one of these Churches hath this Power of treating the other ill I ask which of them it is to whom that Power belongs and by what Right It will be answered undoubtedly That it is the Orthodox Church which has the Right of Authority over the Erroneous or Heretical This is in great and specious Words to say just nothing at all For every Church is Orthodox to it self to others Erroneous or Heretical For whatsoever any Church believes it believes to be true and the contrary unto those things it pronounces to be Error So that the Controversie between these Churches about the Truth of their Doctrines and the Purity of their Worship is on both sides equal nor is there any Judge either at Constantinople or elsewhere upon Earth by whose Sentence it can be determined The Decision of that Question belongs only to the Supream Judge of all men to whom also alone belongs the Punishment of the Erroneous In the mean while let those men consider how hainously they sin Who adding Injustice if not to their Error yet certainly to their Pride do rashly and arrogantly take upon them to misuse the Servants of another Master who are not at all accountable to them Nay further If it could be manifest which of these two dissenting Churches were in the right there would not accrue thereby unto the Orthodox any Right of destroying the other For Churches have neither any Jurisdiction in Worldly matters nor are Fire and Sword any proper Instruments wherewith to convince mens minds of Error and inform them of the Truth Let us suppose nevertheless that the Civil Magistrate inclined to favour one of them and to put his Sword into their Hands that by his Consent they might chastise the Dissenters as they pleased Will any man say that any Right can be derived unto a Christian Church over its Brethren from a Turkish Emperor An Infidel who has himself no Authority to punish Christians for the Articles of their Faith cannot confer such an Authority upon any Society of Christians nor give unto them a Right which he has not himself This would be the Case at Constantinople And the Reason of the thing is the same in any Christian Kingdom The Civil Power is the same in every place nor can that Power in the Hands of a Christian Prince confer any greater Authority upon the Church than in the Hands of a Heathen which is to say just none at all Nevertheless it is worthy to be observed and lamented that the most violent of these Defenders of the Truth the Opposers of Errors the Exclaimers against Schism do hardly ever let loose this their Zeal for God with which they are so warmed and inflamed unless where they have the Civil Magistrate on their side But so soon as ever Court-favour has given them the better end of the Staff and they begin to feel themselves the stronger then presently Peace and Charity are to be laid aside Otherwise they are religiously to be observed Where they have not
in following Ages But however in the present case it helps us not The one only narrow way which leads to Heaven is not better known to the Magistrate than to private Persons and therefore I cannot safely take him for my Guide who may probably be as ignorant of the way as my self and who certainly is less concerned for my Salvation than I my self am Amongst so many Kings of the Iews how many of them were there whom any Israelite thus blindly following had not fall'n into Idolatry and thereby into Destruction Yet nevertheless you bid me be of good Courage and tell me that all is now safe and secure because the Magistrate does not now enjoin the observance of his own Decrees in matters of Religion but only the Decrees of the Church Of what Church I beseech you Of that certainly which likes him best As if he that compells me by Laws and Penalties to enter into this or the other Church did not interpose his own Judgment in the matter What difference is there whether he lead me himself or deliver me over to be led by others I depend both ways upon his Will and it is he that determines both ways of my eternal State. Would an Israelite that had worshipped Baal upon the Command of his King have been in any better condition because some body had told him that the King ordered nothing in Religion upon his own Head nor commanded any thing to be done by his Subjects in Divine Worship but what was approved by the Counsel of Priests and declared to be of Divine Right by the Doctors of their Church If the Religion of any Church become therefore true and saving because the Head of that Sect the Prelates and Priests and those of that Tribe do all of them with all their might extol and praise it what Religion can ever be accounted erroneous false and destructive I am doubtful concerning the Doctrine of the Socinians I am suspicious of the way of Worship practised by the Papists or Lutherans will it be ever a jot the safer for me to join either unto the one or the other of those Churches upon the Magistrates Command because he commands nothing in Religion but by the Authority and Counsel of the Doctors of that Church But to speak the truth we must acknowledge that the Church if a Convention of Clergy-men making Canons must be called by that Name is for the most part more apt to be influenced by the Court than the Court by the Church How the Church was under the Vicissitude of Orthodox and Arrian Emperors is very well known Or if those things be too remote our modern English History affords us fresh Examples in the Reigns of Henry the 8 th Edward the 6 th Mary and Elizabeth how easily and smoothly the Clergy changed their Decrees their Articles of Faith their Form of Worship every thing according to the inclination of those Kings and Queens Yet were those Kings and Queens of such different minds in point of Religion and enjoined thereupon such different things that no man in his Wits I had almost said none but an Atheist will presume to say that any sincere and upright Worshipper of God could with a safe Conscience obey their several Decrees To conclude It is the same thing whether a King that prescribes Laws to another mans Religion pretend to do it by his own Judgment or by the Ecclesiastical Authority and Advice of others The Decisions of Church-men whose Differences and Disputes are sufficiently known cannot be any founder or safer than his Nor can all their Suffrages joined together add any new strength unto the Civil Power Tho this also must be taken notice of that Princes seldom have any regard to the Suffrages of Ecclesiasticks that are not Favourers of their own Faith and way of Worship But after all the principal Consideration and which absolutely determines this Controversie is this Although the Magistrates Opinion in Religion be sound and the way that he appoints be truly Evangelical yet if I be not thoroughly perswaded thereof in my own mind there will be no safety for me in following it No way whatsoever that I shall walk in against the Dictates of my Conscience will ever bring me to the Mansions of the Blessed I may grow rich by an Art that I take not delight in I may be cured of some Disease by Remedies that I have not Faith in but I cannot be saved by a Religion that I distrust and by a Worship that I abhor It is in vain for an Unbeliever to take up the outward shew of another mans Profession Faith only and inward Sincerity are the things that procure acceptance with God. The most likely and most approved Remedy can have no effect upon the Patient if his Stomach reject it as soon taken And you will in vain cram a Medicine down a sick mans Throat which his particular Constitution will be sure to turn into Poison In a word Whatsoever may be doubtful in Religion yet this at least is certain that no Religion which I believe not to be true can be either true or profitable unto me In vain therefore do Princes compel their Subjects to come into their Church-communion under pretence of saving their Souls If they believe they will come of their own accord if they believe not their coming will nothing avail them How great soever in fine may be the pretence of Good-will and Charity and concern for the Salvation of mens Souls men cannot be forced to be saved whether they will or no. And therefore when all is done they must be left to their own Consciences Having thus at length freed men from all Dominion over one another in matters of Religion let us now consider what they are to do All men know and acknowledge that God ought to be publickly worshipped Why otherwise do they compel one another unto the publick Assemblies Men therefore constituted in this liberty are to enter into some Religious Society that they may meet together not only for mutual Edification but to own to the world that they worship God and offer unto his divine Majesty such service as they themselves are not ashamed of and such as they think not unworthy of him nor unacceptable to him and finally that by the purity of Doctrine Holiness of Life and Decent form of Worship they may draw others unto the love of the true Religion and perform such other things in Religion as cannot be done by each private man apart These Religious Societies I call Churches and these I say the Magistrate ought to tolerate For the business of these Assemblies of the People is nothing but what is lawful for every man in particular to take care of I mean the Salvation of their Souls nor in this case is there any difference between the National Church and other separated Congregations But as in every Church there are two things especially to be considered The outward Form and Rites of
and carried their Conquests as far as Euphrates Amongst so many Captives taken so many Nations reduced under their Obedience we find not one man forced into the Jewish Religion and the Worship of the True God and punished for Idolatry tho all of them were certainly guilty of it If any one indeed becoming a Proselyte desired to be made a Denison of their Commonwealth he was obliged to submit unto their Laws that is to embrace their Religion But this he did willingly on his own accord not by constraint He did not unwillingly submit to shew his Obedience But he sought and sollicited for it as a Privilege And as soon as he was admitted he became subject to the Laws of the Common-wealth by which all Idolatry was forbidden within the Borders of the Land of Canaan But that Law as I have said did not reach to any of those Regions however subjected unto the Iews that were situated without those Bounds Thus far concerning outward Worship Let us now consider Articles of Faith. The Articles of Religion are some of them Practical and some Speculative Now tho both sorts consist in the Knowledge of Truth yet these terminate simply in the Understanding Those influence the Will and Manners Speculative Opinions therefore and Articles of Faith as they are called which are required only to be believed cannot be imposed on any Church by the Law of the Land. For it is absurd that things should be enjoyned by Laws which are not in mens power to perform And to believe this or that to be true does not depend upon our Will. But of this enough has been said already But will some say let men at least profess that they believe A sweet Religion indeed that obliges men to dissemble and tell Lies both to God and Man for the Salvation of their Souls If the Magistrate thinks to save men thus he seems to understand little of the way of Salvation And if he does it not in order to save them why is he so so sollicitous about the Articies of Faith as to enact them by a Law Further The Magistrate ought not to forbid the Preaching or Professing of any Speculative Opinions in any Church because they have no manner of relation to the Civil Rights of the Subjects If a Roman Catholick believe that to be really the Body of Christ which another man calls Bread he does no injury thereby to his Neighbour If a Iew do not believe the New Testament to be the Word of God he does not thereby alter any thing in mens Civil Rights If a Heathen doubt of both Testaments he is not therefore to be punished as a pernicious Citizen The Power of the Magistrate and the Estates of the People may be equally secure whether any man believe these things or no. I readily grant that these Opinions are false and absurd But the business of Laws is not to provide for the Truth of Opinions but for the Safety and Security of the Commonwealth and of every particular mans Goods and Person And so it ought to be For Truth certainly would do well enough if she were once left to shift for her self She seldom has received and I fear never will receive much Assistance from the Power of Great men to whom she is but rarely known and more rarely welcome She is not taught by Laws nor has she any need of Force to procure her entrance into the minds of men Errors indeed prevail by the assistance of forreign and borrowed Succours But if Truth makes not her way into the Understanding by her own Light she will be but the weaker for any borrowed force Violence can add to her Thus much for Speculative Opinions Let us now proceed to Practical ones A Good Life in which consists not the least part of Religion and true Piety concerns also the Civil Govrnment and in it lies the safety both of Mens Souls and of the Commonwealth Moral Actions belong therefore to the Jurisdiction both of the outward and inward Court both of the Civil and Domestick Governor I mean both of the Magistrate and Conscience Here therefore is great danger least one of these Jurisdictions intrench upon the other and Discord arise between the Keeper of the publick Peace and the Overseers of Souls But if what has been already said concerning the Limits of both these Governments be rightly considered it will easily remove all difficulty in this matter Every man has an Immortal Soul capable of Eternal Happiness or Misery whose Happiness depending upon his believing and doing those things in this Life which are necessary to the obtaining of Gods Favour and are prescribed by God to that end it follows from thence 1 st That the observance of these things is the highest Obligation that lies upon Mankind and that our utmost Care Application and Diligence ought to be exercised in the Search and Performance of them Because there is nothing in this World that is of any consideration in comparison with Eternity 2 dly That seeing one Man does not violate the Right of another by his Erroneous Opinions and undue manner of Worship nor is his Perdition any prejudice to another Mans Affairs therefore the care of each Mans Salvation belongs only to himself But I would not have this understood as if I meant hereby to condemn all charitable Admonitions and affectionate Endeavours to reduce Men from Errors which are indeed the greatest Duty of a Christian. Any one may employ as many Exhortations and Arguments as he pleases towards the promoting of another man's Salvation But all Force and Compulsion are to be forborn Nothing is to be done imperiously No body is obliged in that matter to yield Obedience unto the Admonitions or Injunctions of another further than he himself is perswaded Every man in that has the supreme and absolute Authority of judging for himself And the Reason is because no body else is concerned in it nor can receive any prejudice from his Conduct therein But besides their Souls which are Immortal Men have also their Temporal Lives here upon Earth the State whereof being frail and fleeting and the duration uncertain they have need of several outward Conveniences to the support thereof which are to be procured or preserved by Pains and industry For those things that are necessary to the comfortable support of our Lives are not the spontaneous Products of Nature nor do offer themselves fit and prepared for our use This part therefore draws on another care and necessarily gives another Imployment But the pravity of Mankind being such that they had rather injuriously prey upon the Fruits of other Mens Labours than take pains to provide for themselves the necessity of preserving Men in the Possession of what honest industry has already acquired and also of preserving their Liberty and strength whereby they may acquire what they further want obliges Men to enter into Society with one another that by mutual Assistance and joint Force they may secure unto