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<DATE>2007-10-18</DATE>
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<NAME>Elspeth Healey</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<VID>118273</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>Thirty Queries, Mode&s;tly propounded in order to a Di&s;covery of the Truth, and Mind of GOD, in that Que&s;tion, or Ca&s;e of Con&s;cience; <HI>Whether the Civil Magi&s;trate &s;tands bound by way of Duty to interpo&s;e his Power or Authority in matters of Religion, or Wor&s;hip of God.</HI></P>
<P>By JOHN GOODVVIN, Mini&s;ter of the Go&s;pel of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<Q>The &s;ervants &s;aid unto him, Wilt thou then that we go, and gather them up? But he &s;aid, Nay; le&s;t while ye gather up the tares, ye root up al&s;o the Wheat with them. Let both grow together until the Harve&s;t, &amp;c.</Q>
<BIBL>Matth. 13. 28, 29, 30.</BIBL>
<Q>Man, who hath made me a Judg, or Divider over you?</Q>
<BIBL>Luke 12. 14.</BIBL>
<Q>Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind:</Q>
<BIBL>Matth. 15. 14.</BIBL>
<Q>Dei lex nos docuit quid &s;equamur: humanae leges hoc docere non po&s;&s;unt. Extorquere &s;olent timidis commutationem: fidem in&s;pirare non po&s;&s;unt.</Q>
<BIBL><HI>Ambro&s;. Epi&s;t.</HI> 13.</BIBL>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>J. M.</HI> for <HI>Henry Cripps</HI> and <HI>Lodowick Lloyd,</HI> 1653.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="discourse">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<HEAD>Some <HI>Queries</HI> concerning the Duty of the Civil Magi&s;trate, in, and about his publique Interpo&s;ure in matters of Faith, the Wor&s;hip of God, and the promoting Chri&s;ti|an Religion.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>I.</HEAD>
<P>WHether any thing be incumbent by way of Duty upon the Civil Magi&s;trate, being <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> &s;imply in re&s;pect of his Office or place of Magi&s;tracy, becau&s;e of his be|ing <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> which would not have been matter of Duty to him, in cafe he had been <HI>Pagan,</HI> and not <HI>Chri&s;tian?</HI> Or whe|ther the Office and Work of the Civil Magi&s;trate, as &s;uch, be not entire within it &s;elf, and con&s;i&s;ting within its own appro|priate bounds and limits; &s;o that nothing more accrues unto him, by way of Duty, in his Office, by his being <HI>Chri&s;tian;</HI> nor is any thing, which is matter of Duty unto him, as a Magi&s;trate, dimini&s;hed or taken off from him, by his being, or turning, <HI>Pa|gan?</HI> And if &s;o, whether doth God require of a <HI>Pagan</HI> Magi|&s;trate, that according to his pre&s;ent Judgment and Con&s;cience, he &s;hould interpo&s;e and umpire with his Authority in matters of Chri&s;tian Belief, or in things appertaining to the Wor&s;hip of God?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="4" REF="3">
<HEAD>II.</HEAD>
<P>Whether doth it appertain to the Civil Magi&s;trate, as &s;uch, to provide by Civil penalties, as by di&s;gracing, fining, impri&s;on|ment, death, &amp;c. for the ob&s;ervation of any other Law in his Territories, but of the Law of Nature only; and of this &s;o far only, as either it clearly dictateth or pre&s;cribeth the doing of &s;uch things, which have a rational connexion with the welfare, honor, and pro&s;perity of that community of men, which is un|der his in&s;pection and government; or as it, with like clearne&s;s, re&s;traineth the doing of &s;uch other things, which are in the eye of Rea&s;on contrary hereunto; con&s;idering that matters of a more &s;piritual nature, and &s;uch which relate either by way of &s;ympathy, or oppo&s;ition, only to an holy and humble walking with God, and not properly or directly to the Civil Intere&s;t, are of another cogni&s;ance, and committed by God to the care and faithfulne&s;s of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Magi&s;trates, in conjunction with the Common Councel of &s;uch Chri&s;tian Churches, which are under their in&s;pection, re&s;pectively?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>III.</HEAD>
<P>Whether is the con&s;ent of the generality of the inhabitants of many Nations, in one and the &s;ame principle, (e&s;pecially re|lating to the maintenance and upholding of their re&s;pective Idolatries and Super&s;titions,) any competent or &s;ufficient proof, that this principle is agreeable to the light, or Law of Nature, or &s;afe for Chri&s;tians to practi&s;e and walk by; con&s;i|dering, that the Devil (the God of this world) laboreth in the very fire to corrupt the Judgments, to blind the Under&s;tand|ings, to pollute the Con&s;ciences of Men in matters appertaining to the Wor&s;hip of God, and hath &s;o &s;adly prevailed over the world herein, as we generally know he hath done? Or whe|ther is that principle of <HI>Mahometani&s;m,</HI> according unto which the men of this Super&s;tition judg it lawful to put a <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> or any other per&s;on, to death, who &s;hall in any of their Terri|tories, call <HI>Mahomet,</HI> Accur&s;ed (wherein probably many other Idolatrous Nations accord with them, in reference to their re&s;pective Gods, &s;o called) a &s;ufficient ground for <HI>Chri|&s;tians</HI> to put a <HI>Mahometan</HI> to death for calling <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> Ac|cur&s;ed,
<PB N="5" REF="3">
in their Dominions? Or in ca&s;e a <HI>Christian</HI> State &s;hould thus practi&s;e, would it not be a &s;nare of confirmation and obduration upon the <HI>Mahometan</HI> in his way?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>IV.</HEAD>
<P>Whether our Saviours intent in the Parable of the <HI>tares,</HI> where the hou&s;holder forbiddeth his &s;ervants to GATHER <HI>up the tares, le&s;t while&s;t they gathered up the&s;e, they</HI> PLUCKED UP <HI>the Wheat al&s;o</HI> <NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Mat 13 29.</NOTE>, was not to prohibit &s;uch Magi&s;trates, who are <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> and Orthodox, the exerci&s;ing of any degree of &s;everity again&s;t Bla&s;phemers, Seducers, Heretiques, erroneous per&s;ons, &amp;c. &s;imply as &s;uch, for this rea&s;on, le&s;t by &s;uch an exam|ple they occa&s;ion, or be acce&s;&s;ary unto, the exerci&s;ing of much greater &s;everity by Idolatrous and Heretical Magi&s;trates upon <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> and godly per&s;ons, that are Orthodox and &s;ound in their Judgment? And whether is not this &s;ence of the &s;aid pa&s;|&s;age, argued and a&s;&s;erted from the Context it &s;elf, and by other Arguments, again&s;t all rea&s;onable contradiction, in a Di&s;cour&s;e (not many years &s;ince publi&s;hed) entituled, <HI>Hagioma&s;tix,</HI> &amp;c. pag. 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 25. as al&s;o in another Di&s;cour&s;e printed not long after, and with relation to it, entituled, <HI>a Po&s;t|&s;cript,</HI> or <HI>Appendix,</HI> p. 14, 15.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>V.</HEAD>
<P>Whether is that right of power to interpo&s;e in matters of Religion, as in puni&s;hing Idolaters, Seducers, fal&s;e Prophets, &amp;c. which &s;eems to have been given to the Civil Magi&s;trate a|mong&s;t the <HI>Jews</HI> under the Mo&s;aical Di&s;pen&s;ation, any rea&s;on|able or competent ground on which to judg, that Civil Magi|&s;trates now, under the Go&s;pel, and among&s;t the Gentiles, ought to a&s;&s;ume (yea, or lawfully may a&s;&s;ume) the like power? Or are there not many rea&s;ons, and the&s;e pregnant and undeniable, to prove the contrary, extant in the Di&s;cour&s;e mentioned, en|tituled, <HI>Hagiomo&s;tix, pag.</HI> 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, &amp;c.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>VI.</HEAD>
<P>Whether the Lord <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> him&s;elf, did not &s;trictly charge his Di&s;ciples them&s;elves, as well as others, not to accept of the title of <HI>Rabbi,</HI> or <HI>Ma&s;ters,</HI> from men, in the&s;e words, <HI>But be not ye called, Rabbi</HI> <NOTE N="c" PLACE="marg">Mat. 23. 8.</NOTE>? and again, <HI>Neither be ye called Ma&s;ters?</HI> And whether they do not much more then accept of the&s;e
<PB N="6" REF="4">
titles, even compell men to give them unto them, who un|der civil Mulcts and Penalties &s;hall exerci&s;e a Magi&s;terial Juri&s;diction over the judgements and con&s;ciences of men in matters appertaining to God, requiring of them either to beleeve &s;uch or &s;uch doctrines, or to &s;ubmit to &s;uch or &s;uch practices, whil&s;t their judgments and con&s;ciences remain un&s;atisfied and unconvinced of the truth of the one, and lawfulne&s;&s;e of the other?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>VII.</HEAD>
<P>Whether may the Civill Magi&s;trate, who derives and re|ceives his power of Magi&s;tracie from the people, lawfully exerci&s;e by vertue of his office, any other kind of power, or any further degree of power, then may lawfully be delega|ted unto him, and intru&s;ted with him, by this people; yea, or may he lawfully exerci&s;e any further degree of power then may rea&s;onably be pre&s;umed that the people intended, or at the utmo&s;t ought to have intended, to confer upon him, or put into his hand? If he may, from whom, or by whom, &s;hall this &s;urplu&s;&s;age of power be conceived to be de|rived unto him? or upon what account can be ju&s;tifie him|&s;elf in the exerci&s;e of it? If he may not, then by what right can he exerci&s;e any power in matters of Faith, or over the judgements or con&s;ciences of men, in as much as the com|mon people from whom he receiveth the intire body or &s;um of that power, which he admini&s;treth, have no right at all, nor colour of right, to delegate unto any man any authority or power to intermeddle or officiate in one kind or other in the affairs of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and his Kingdom, or to regulate (authoritatively) the judgements and con&s;ciences of men (no, not their own) in little or much, in things appertain|ing unto God?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>VIII.</HEAD>
<P>Whether did not the Lord <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> rebuke his Di&s;ciples (and this &s;omewhat roundly) who de&s;ired a Commi&s;&s;ion or au|thority from him to <HI>call for fire from Heaven,</HI> as <HI>Eliah</HI> for|merly had done, <HI>to con&s;ume</HI> tho&s;e, who refu&s;ed to receive him; did he not (I &s;ay) &s;harply reprove them in &s;aying to
<PB N="7" REF="4">
them, <HI>Ye know not what manner of &s;pirit ye are of</HI> <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Luk. 9. 54, 55, 56</NOTE>? [mean|ing, that they did not con&s;ider the nature of the Go&s;pel, and what lenity ought to be &s;hewed towards &s;inners, in order to the propagation thereof, above what the &s;everity of the Law admitted.] And doth not the rea&s;on which he immediately &s;ubjoyneth, plainly &s;hew this to have been his meaning; <HI>For the Son of man is not come to de&s;troy mens lives, but to &s;ave them;</HI> as if he had &s;aid, The end (or, one great end) of my coming into the world, was not that any mans life &s;hould be de&s;troyed, or taken from him for my &s;ake, or for any injury done unto me <NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Ultra natu|ram aliquid monet, nempe inimicos dili|gendos e&s;&s;e, ad|ver&s;arios veri|tatis tolerandos &amp;c.&mdash;Docet item regnum&punc; <HI>Dei</HI> non e&s;&s;e regnum in quo gladiis et fu&s;ti|bus res agatur. <HI>Marlorat. Ex|po&s;it. Eccle&s;i|a&s;tica in Luk.</HI> 9. 55.</NOTE>; but that I might mediate, per&s;wade, and pre|vail with tho&s;e, who otherwi&s;e are &s;evere again&s;t offenders, as you are, to exerci&s;e all lenity and patience towards them, and to be tender over their lives, in order to the Salvation of their Souls?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>IX.</HEAD>
<P>Whether, as the ancient &s;aying among&s;t the Fathers was, <HI>Sanguis Martyrum, &s;emen Eccle&s;iae,</HI> i. e. <HI>the blood of the Martyrs was the &s;eed of the Church,</HI> &s;o it be not altogether as true, and this upon the &s;ame account in rea&s;on, and experi|mented accordingly in all ages, that <HI>Sanguis Haereticorum, &s;e|men Haere&s;eos,</HI> the blood of Heretiques is the &s;eed of Here&s;ie? And whether is not that &s;aying of <HI>Tacitus, Punitis ingeniis gli&s;cit authoritas,</HI> Puni&s;hment doth but make the authority and credit of any mans wit, or parts, to glow, &s;hine, and pre|vail the more, altogether as true <HI>in re Eccle&s;iastic&acirc; &s;ive Chri|&s;tian&acirc;,</HI> in matters of an Eccle&s;ia&s;tical or <HI>Christian,</HI> as of a Politique or Civil, import?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>X.</HEAD>
<P>Whether had not an <HI>&V;zzah</HI> an hone&s;t and upright intenti|on to accommodate the Ark, and to pre&s;erve it from harm by &s;haking, when he put forth his hand to keep it &s;teady by hold|ing it? and whether was not God offended with him not|with&s;tanding, making a breach upon him by &s;laying him in the place? Or was the Ark of God in any real danger of &s;uffering inconvenience by the &s;haking of the Oxen, in ca&s;e <HI>&V;zzah</HI> had not intermedled to prevent it?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="section">
<PB N="8" REF="5">
<HEAD>XI.</HEAD>
<P>Whether might <HI>Paul</HI> in his days have been lawfully puni&s;h|ed by the Civil Magi&s;trate in <HI>Ephe&s;us,</HI> for that &s;edition, or <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 19. 23, 24, &amp;c.</NOTE> tumult, which was occa&s;ioned in this City, by his preaching the Go&s;pel, and paricularly of this Doctrine, <HI>That they be no gods which are made with hands?</HI> It not, whether may &s;uch Mini&s;ters or Preachers, upon occa&s;ion of who&s;e preaching Tu|mults are frequently rai&s;ed by rude and incon&s;iderate people, be puni&s;hed by the <HI>Christian</HI> Magi&s;trate upon this account? Or ought not rather the Heads and Principals in &s;uch Tumults be enquired out, and puni&s;hed?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XII.</HEAD>
<P>Whether are not, Formality, Hypocri&s;ie, Simulation, Di&s;|&s;imulation &amp;c. in, and about the Wor&s;hip of God, &s;ins of an high provocation in the &s;ight of God? If &s;o, is it not &s;imply unlawful, either for the Civil Magi&s;trate, or any other per&s;on what&s;oever, either to compel, or to invite or tempt, unto any of the&s;e &s;ins? Or is not the puni&s;hing of &s;uch per&s;ons, for not frequenting the publique places of Divine Wor&s;hip, who have no &s;en&s;e of a Deity; or others, for not coming, or joyning in, a State-wor&s;hip, who&s;e Judgments and Con&s;ciences inwardly abhor &s;uch a Wor&s;hip, as much as a compelling of men unto tho&s;e &s;ins? Or whether is a <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> State any whit the more like to receive countenance or ble&s;&s;ing from God, for &s;uch practices in it as the&s;e?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XIII.</HEAD>
<P>Whether was it rea&s;onable, or at all plea&s;ing unto God, that <HI>Pharaoh</HI> and his Taskma&s;ters &s;hould require of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> their full tale of work, and yet not give them &s;traw? Or is there any whit more rea&s;on or equity, that Magi&s;trates &s;hould require &s;ubjection unto &s;uch Laws from men, to whom they neither give (nor indeed are able to give) either wi&s;dom or &s;trength, whereby they &s;hould be enabled to yield &s;uch &s;ub|jection; at lea&s;t if it be &s;uppo&s;ed that they have no &s;ufficiency of &s;trength and power in this kind given unto them by any other; yea &s;uch a &s;ufficiency, whereby they are enabled to yield this obedience or &s;ubjection under any temptation what&s;oever
<PB N="9" REF="5">
to the contrary? Or is it a thing equitable or lawful to impo&s;e Mulcts and Penalties upon blind men, who&s;e eyes were put out by their parents, becau&s;e they &s;ee not?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XIV.</HEAD>
<P>Whether can there any thing demon&s;tratively, yea or pro|bably, be concluded for the puni&s;hing of Idolaters by the Civil Magi&s;trate, from this pa&s;&s;age in <HI>Job; If I beheld the Sun when it &s;hined, or the Moon walking in brightne&s;s: and my heart hath been &s;ecretly enticed, or my mouth hath ki&s;&s;ed my hand; this al&s;o were an iniquity to be puni&s;hed by the Judg</HI> <NOTE N="c" PLACE="marg">Job 31. 26, 27, 28.</NOTE>, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> con&s;idering, 1. That the&s;e words, <HI>to be puni&s;hed by the,</HI> have nothing in the Original corre&s;ponding with them, but are in|&s;erted by the Tran&s;lators upon their own account, as the dif|ferent character, wherein they are printed, importeth. 2. That this latter clau&s;e, <HI>this al&s;o were an iniquity to be puni&s;hed by the Judg</HI> (upon which the &s;tre&s;s of the pretended in<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">erence lieth) is thus rendred, out of the <HI>Hebrew,</HI> by <HI>Arias Monta|nus: Etiam hoc iniquitas judicata;</HI> i. e. <HI>this al&s;o</HI> [is, or hath been] <HI>an adjudged iniquity;</HI> meaning, that &s;uch a practice, or practices, which <HI>Job</HI> had now mentioned and de&s;cribed, had been adjudged, <HI>[viz.</HI> by men fearing God] or rather was to be adjudged by all men, impiou&s;ly &s;inful. 3. That though the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Tran&s;lation of the &s;aid clau&s;e be admitted, yet it is no ways nece&s;&s;ary that by <HI>the Judg</HI> therein mentioned, we &s;hould under&s;tand the Civil Magi&s;trate, or any Earthly <HI>Judg,</HI> but rather the Judg of all the Earth, God him&s;elf. 4. (And la&s;tly) That the &s;in of Idolatry was not like to be <HI>puni&s;hed</HI> by the <HI>Judges</HI> of the Earth in <HI>Jobs</HI> days, being for the mo&s;t part, if not generally, Idolaters them&s;elves?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XV.</HEAD>
<P>Whether is then a Sword put into the hand of the Civil Magi&s;trate for the puni&s;hment of fal&s;e Teachers, by this pa&s;|&s;age in <HI>Zechary; And it &s;hall come to pa&s;s that when any &s;hall yet prophecy, then his Father and Mother that begat him, &s;hall &s;ay unto him, Thou &s;halt not live: for thou &s;peake&s;t lyes in the Name of the Lord: and his Father and his Mother that begat him, &s;hal thru&s;t him through, when he prophecyeth</HI> <NOTE N="d" PLACE="marg">Zech. 13. 3.</NOTE>;
<PB N="10" REF="6">
con&s;idering that many worthy Expo&s;itors, as well ancient, as modern, under&s;tand the words in a figurative &s;ence; yea and M^r <HI>Deodate,</HI> who lived where High <HI>Pre&s;bytery</HI> had her Throne, as likewi&s;e our Engli&s;h Divines, though de&s;irous to enthrone the &s;ame Government al&s;o among&s;t them, yet in their joynt labor of <HI>Annotations</HI> upon the Bible, plead for the &s;ame Inter|pretation? This with much more, for the opening the mind of the Holy Gho&s;t in the &s;aid pa&s;&s;age of Scripture, is to be &s;een in a &s;mall Di&s;cour&s;e written upon this account only, publi&s;hed &s;ome years &s;ince under the Title of a <HI>Po&s;t&s;cript,</HI> or <HI>Appendix,</HI> being an <HI>Explication</HI> of <HI>Zech.</HI> 13. 3.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XVI.</HEAD>
<P>Whether was it not the &s;ence of <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Antiquity even after <HI>Con&s;tantine's</HI> days, That the Civil Magi&s;trate, as &s;uch, had no right of umpirage in matters of Chri&s;tian Religion? And whether doth not this &s;ufficiently appear by the&s;e and &s;uch like pa&s;&s;ages of <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> in his thirteenth Epi&s;tle, written to the then Emperor, <HI>Valentinian. When did you hear, mo&s;t gra|cious Emperor, that Laicks [i. e.</HI> per&s;ons in no Eccle&s;ia&s;tical, or Church Office] <HI>did</HI> ever cen&s;ure, or <HI>&s;entence any Bi&s;hop</HI> [or Pa&s;tor of a Church] <HI>in matters of Faith</HI> [or Chri&s;tian Reli|gion?] And again: <HI>Your Father</HI> (through the goodne&s;s of God) <HI>having lived to maturity of years, &s;aid, that it did not belong to him to give judgment between Bi&s;hops,</HI> [mean|ing, as before, <HI>in caus&acirc; fidei,</HI> in a ca&s;e of Faith, or <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Be|lief.] So al&s;o: <HI>The Law of God hath taught us what we are to follow</HI> [or believe,] <HI>the Laws of men cannot teach us this. They may extort from per&s;ons timorous a change</HI> [of their former profe&s;&s;ion,] <HI>but they cannot inspire</HI> [them with an inward] <HI>belief</HI> [of what they outwardly profe&s;s <NOTE N="e" PLACE="marg"><P>Quando au|di&s;ti, Clemen|ti&s;&s;ime Impera|tor, in cau&s;a fidei Laicos de Epi&s;copo judi|ca&s;&s;e?</P>
<P>Pater tuus (Deo favente) maturicris aevi, dicebat, non e&s;t meum judicare inter Epi&s;copos.</P>
<P><HI>Dei</HI> lex nos docuit quid &s;e|quamur; hu|manae leges hoc docere non po&s;|&s;unt. Extor|quere &s;olent ti|midis commu|tationem; fidem in&s;pirare non P<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;unt.</P></NOTE>?] Now i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> the &s;ence of Antiquity was, That the Supreme Magi&s;trate, though Chri&s;tian, was not to umpire between Bi&s;hops, or Pa&s;tors of Churches, in matters of Faith, evident it is that they were of the &s;ame mind touching his incompetency to judg between other per&s;ons al&s;o in like ca&s;es; and con&s;equent|ly that matters of Faith did not at all appertain to his cogni|zance, as a Magi&s;trate. For the rea&s;on why they conceived that
<PB N="11" REF="6">
it did not belong to the Emperor to judg between Bi&s;hops in ca&s;es of Faith, could not be any con&s;ideration of the par|ticular qualitie, rank or function of the&s;e per&s;ons, but onely the nature and qualitie of tho&s;e things, being &s;piritual, about which they were at variance among&s;t them elves. This plain|ly appears by the expre&s;&s;e &s;pecification (in the words cited) of tho&s;e ca&s;es wherein the Emperour (as they conceived) had no right of deci&s;ion between the per&s;ons mentioned, as <HI>viz.</HI> in matters of Faith: which clearly &s;uppo&s;eth, that in other ca&s;es <HI>viz.</HI> &s;uch which are of a Civil nature and cogni|zance, they had the right and power we &s;peak of; however the. Church of <HI>Rome</HI> hath &s;ince apo&s;tatized from this truth (with many others) and imbraced a lie in &s;tead of it. Of like impott with the former is that pa&s;&s;age of <HI>Tertullian,</HI> where he &s;aith, <HI>That it is palpably unrea&s;onable, that men who are free, &s;hould be forced again&s;t their wills to &s;acrifice; when as it is the willingne&s;&s;e of the mind that is required in all Divine Services; yea it may well be judged ridiculous that one man &s;hould be compelled by another to honour the Gods, when as he &s;tands bound at his peril to render the&s;e propitious unto him of his own accord,</HI> <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Facile ini|quum videtur liberos homines invites urgeri ad &s;acrifican|dum; (nam &amp; alias divinae rei faciundae libens animus indicitur) certe ineptum exi&s;ti|maretur &s;i quis ab ali<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> cogere|tur ad honorem Deorum, quos ultro &s;ui cau&s;a placare deberet, ne prae manue&s;|&s;et jure liberta|tis dicere, n<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">l<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> mihi Jovem propitium, <HI>Ter|tul. Apol, c.</HI> 28.</NOTE> <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XVII.</HEAD>
<P>Whether the Lord <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath not expre&s;sly charged all men without exception not to call any man, Father, upon the Earth, in the&s;e words, <HI>and call no man your Father upon the Earth, for one is your Father which is in Heaven</HI> <NOTE N="c" PLACE="marg">Mat. 23. 9.</NOTE>? And whe|ther do not they &s;in with an high hand again&s;t this charge, who &s;hall receive, or con&s;ent unto, any Doctrine, or &s;ubmit unto any practice in, or about the Wor&s;hip of God, upon the account only of &s;uch or &s;uch a mans, or of &s;uch or &s;uch mens judgement or authority, and without any &s;atisfactory ground within them&s;elves, that &s;uch, whether doctrine, or practi&s;e, is agreeable to the Word of God?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XVIII.</HEAD>
<P>Whether are any two, four, or &s;ix per&s;ons, &s;uppo&s;e all of them godly, learned, and competently (yea let it be, if you plea&s;e, excellently) quilified for the Mini&s;try of the Go<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">el,
<PB N="12" REF="7">
competent Judges of the gifts, parts, and Mini&s;terial abili|ties of many thou&s;ands of their Brethren? Or is it <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> or meet to make or &s;et up <HI>Nebuchadnezzars</HI> in the Church of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> per&s;ons (I mean) who &s;hall Eccle&s;ia&s;tically &s;lay whom they will, and whom they will keep alive; &s;et up whom they will, and whom they will, put down? Or in ca&s;e it &s;hall be judged expedient for the affairs of the Go|&s;pel, that any &s;uch number of Per&s;ons be inve&s;ted with &s;uch a prodigiou&s;ne&s;s of power, who are competent Judges of the meetne&s;&s;e, or worthine&s;&s;e of Per&s;ons to be intru&s;ted here|with; e&s;pecially where there are &s;o many thou&s;ands, as this Nation (through the abundant ble&s;&s;ing of God upon it) af|fordeth, of very excellent abilities and endowments, a|mong&s;t whom it is next to an impo&s;&s;ibility for men to &s;in|gle out any two, four, or &s;ix Per&s;ons, to who&s;e worth and abilities all the re&s;t &s;hall by any Law of God, or of equity and rea&s;on it &s;elf, &s;tand bound to &s;toop or do homage? Or is it not a Soleci&s;m in rea&s;on and con&s;cience, that greater parts, learning, and worth, &s;hould be compelled to go on foot, whil&s;t tho&s;e which are meaner and more &s;ervile are made to ride on Hor&s;es?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XIX.</HEAD>
<P>Whether in ca&s;e any two, four, or &s;ix per&s;ons &s;hall be ad|vanced to that Power and Intere&s;t now mentioned, are not they like to be the men, who <HI>wear &s;oft raiment, and live in Kings Hou&s;es;</HI> I mean, who&s;e applications have been to the greatne&s;&s;e of this World, who by ignoble artifices and compliances have infinuated them&s;elves into the familiarity and friend&s;hip of the <HI>anointed Cherubs</HI> of the Earth, and &s;uch, who being a&s;cended on High, are able to give <HI>gifts unto men?</HI> And whether are &s;uch per&s;ons as the&s;e, who cannot, Charity her &s;elf being Judg, but be judged great lo|vers of this pre&s;ent World, meet to be intru&s;ted with that High Umpitage &s;pecified, in the affairs of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t?</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XX.</HEAD>
<P>Whether hath not God in his Word directed, pre&s;cribed, and injoyned all methods, waies, and means any waies nece&s;|&s;ary
<PB N="13" REF="7">
(at lea&s;t &s;o judged by him) for the propagation of the Go|&s;pel in the world? If &s;o, is not any additional cour&s;e, or device of men in order hereunto (I mean any &s;uch cour&s;e, which is not reducible to &s;ome, or other, one, or more, of the means pre|&s;cribed by him) a con&s;tructive in&s;inuation, either that men are wi&s;er, or el&s;e more provident and careful, of &s;aving the Souls of men, then God him&s;elf? Or is the device of authorizing a &s;mall number of men to commi&s;&s;ion whom they plea&s;e for the preaching of the Go&s;pel, and again to exclude whom they plea&s;e from preaching the Go&s;pel, either any of tho&s;e means, which God hath &s;anctified for the propagation of the Go&s;pel, or re|ducible to any of them?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="21" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XXI.</HEAD>
<P>Whether &s;ince the days of Chri&s;t, and of his Apo&s;tles, can it be proved, or is it in it &s;elf at all probable, that ever any per&s;on, who preached the Go&s;pel, how faithful and &s;erviceable &s;oever to God and men in his way, was wholly free from error, or uni|ver&s;ally Orthodox? Or can it rea&s;onably be thought either plea&s;ing to God, or profitable unto men, or advantagious to the Go&s;pel, that no man &s;hould be admitted to the preaching of it, but only tho&s;e, who &s;hall be adjudged by a few men, and the&s;e in &s;ome things (without all doubt or que&s;tion) po&s;&s;ibly in ma|ny things, weak and erroneous them&s;elves, to be throughout the whole circumference of their Faith un&s;potted with error, and in all their Tenents and Opinions unque&s;tionably Orthodox and &s;ound? Or, in ca&s;e &s;ome heterodox or un&s;ound Opinions may be tolerated in tho&s;e, who &s;hall be permitted to preach the Go&s;pel, what, or of what nature, or to what degree dangerous, may the&s;e Opinions be? Or who, according to the Word of God, &s;hall be judged meet to umpire in this &s;o great and diffi|cult an affair?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="22" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XXII.</HEAD>
<P>Whether is it meet or <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> for any man, or any number of men (e&s;pecially for any &s;maller or incon&s;iderable number of men) to pre&s;ume &s;o far of their own gifts, abilities, wi&s;dom, learning, knowledg, in&s;ight into the Scriptures, &amp;c. as to judg them&s;elves worthy or meet to pre&s;cribe authoritatively, and to the expo&s;ing of tho&s;e, whom they &s;hall make Delinquents, to
<PB N="14" REF="8">
Civil penalties or inconveniences, unto the gifts, parts, learning and knowledg of other men, and the&s;e (probably) no ways in|ferior, po&s;&s;ibly &s;uperior to them&s;elves, in all &s;uch qualifications and endowments? Or is it <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> or rea&s;onable, either to tempt men into &s;uch a conceit, or to indulge men under &s;uch a conceit, of them&s;elves, by delegating &s;uch a power, or authority unto them?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="23" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XXIII.</HEAD>
<P>Whether is it not generally held, and maintained by our be&s;t Prote&s;tant Writers, Divines, and others, again&s;t Papi&s;ts, that even General Councels them&s;elves may err in matters of Faith? and that there is no infallible Judg on Earth in Controver&s;ies incident to Chri&s;tian Religion?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="24" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XXIV.</HEAD>
<P>Whether is not <HI>the manife&s;tation of the Spirit</HI> (as the A|po&s;tle termeth the manife&s;t gifts of the Spirit of God) <HI>given to every man to profit withall?</HI> If &s;o, who can with a good Con&s;cience inhibit &s;uch from publi&s;hing or preaching the Go|&s;pel, upon pretence of an un&s;oundne&s;s in &s;ome di&s;putable Opi|nions, or for want of that, which &s;ome men call Ordination, who&s;e abilities for that work are at lea&s;t competent, and the exerci&s;e of them de&s;ired by many for their Edification?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="25" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XXV.</HEAD>
<P>Whether did tho&s;e <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> who, upon occa&s;ion of a great per&s;ecution rai&s;ed again&s;t the Church at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> being <HI>&s;cat|tered abroad, went every where preaching the Word,</HI> pa&s;s any <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 8. 1, 4</NOTE> te&s;t of their abilities, or &s;ufficiency for the work, before they put forth their hand unto it? Or is their fact in preaching the Go&s;pel upon &s;uch terms, and before any publique approbation, any ways cen&s;urable by the Word of God?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="26" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XXVI.</HEAD>
<P>Whether is it likely that per&s;ons called to the work of Magi|&s;tracy and Civil Government, <HI>upon which very thing,</HI> if con&s;ci|entious, <HI>they do attend</HI> CONTINUALLY <NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Rom. 13. 6.</NOTE>, and &s;o have little time to wade into the depths of controver&s;al Divinity, or to in|form their Judgments throughly on which &s;ide of the way the Truth lieth in many difficult and ab&s;tru&s;e Que&s;tions, much agi|tated and debated by &s;tudious and learned men, &s;hould be able
<PB N="15" REF="8">
to di&s;tingui&s;h (as it were by the face) who are the Orthodox, and who the Heterodox men? And if this be not likely, whether can they rea&s;onably claim any &s;uch Intere&s;t or right of power, wher|by to nominate and appoint men for the tryal of the meetne&s;s of all other men, for the work and &s;ervice of the Go&s;pel?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="27" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XXVII.</HEAD>
<P>Whether &s;uch per&s;ons, which &s;hal be nominated and appoint|ed by the chief Rulers in a State, to adjudg the meetne&s;s, and unmeetne&s;s of men for preaching the Go&s;pel, are not like to be of a State Religion; I mean, to be every ways conformable in their Judgments to &s;uch Tenents and Opinions in Religion, which that State, or generality of people in that State, con&s;ent unto, hold, and maintain? And if &s;o, whether are they not like to be corrupt, rotten, or un&s;ound in many of their Religious Principles, or Opinions, con&s;idering, 1. That (for the mo&s;t part) men in rule, authority, and power, are enemies to <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> <NOTE N="c" PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15 24 25. compared.</NOTE>, and &s;o not like to receive the Go&s;pel in the purity and truth of it. 2. That the generality or great bulk of people in any State (who generally are of the &s;ame Religion, both for principles and practice, with their <HI>Supreme Heads and Gover|nors,</HI> as the&s;e likewi&s;e are of the &s;ame Religion with them in both) were never known to have embraced, or admitted &s;uch Evangelical Doctrines, or Truths, which are clearly and plainly de&s;tructive to the fle&s;h, or who&s;e faces are directly &s;et again&s;t their corrupt, &s;en&s;ual, profane, and vain practices and ways; nor is it (indeed) in it &s;elf a thing any ways likely ever thus to be?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="28" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XXVIII.</HEAD>
<P>Whether are not all men bound to <HI>pray, that the Lord would &s;end forth Laborers into his harve&s;t</HI> <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Mat. 9 38.</NOTE>; and if their prayer in this behalf be (as it may, and ought to be) effectually fervent, whether &s;hall it not prevail, and con&s;equently will not the Lord of the Harve&s;t him&s;elf &s;end forth Laborers hereinto? If &s;o, are not &s;uch per&s;ons, who &s;hall be commi&s;&s;ioned with power to Elect and Reprobate whom they plea&s;e, among&s;t tho&s;e who&s;e hearts &s;hall &s;tir them up to labor in this Harve&s;t, more like to refu&s;e or keep back tho&s;e (at lea&s;t &s;ome of them) whom
<PB N="16" REF="9">
the Lord &s;hall &s;end forth <HI>(i. e.</HI> &s;hall &s;tir up their hearts to go) into this Harve&s;t, then any wayes to accommodate him in his way, or to promote the Harve&s;t-work it &s;elf?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="29" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XXIX.</HEAD>
<P>Whether is there any whit more ground for the Civil Ma|gi&s;trate to act out of his &s;phere, (I mean, in matters which are not of a politick or civil, but of a &s;piritual or eccle&s;ia&s;tick con&s;ideration) then there is for the Church Magi&s;trate, or Ec|cle&s;ia&s;tical Elder to act out of his, and to interpo&s;e in matters of State, and civil policie? And if the Lord <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> refu&s;ed to arbitrate in a civil ca&s;e between Brethren, replying to him that de&s;ired it at his hand, <HI>Man, who made me a Judg, or Di|vider over you;</HI> <NOTE N="a" PLACE="marg">Luke 12. 14.</NOTE> Whether hath not the Civil Magi&s;trate, as much, or more, rea&s;on to di&s;claim all interpo&s;ure, as a Magi|&s;trate, in &s;piritual affairs, and to &s;ay unto tho&s;e, who &s;hall de|&s;ire or expect any thing from him in this kind, Who made me an Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Judg, or Spiritual Decider over you?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="30" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>XXX.</HEAD>
<P>Whether, when the Apo&s;tle, &s;peaking of the Civil Magi|&s;trate, &s;aith of him, that <HI>he is the Mini&s;ter of God, a Reven|ger to execute wrath on him that doth evil,</HI> <NOTE N="b" PLACE="marg">Rom. 13 4.</NOTE> are the&s;e words, <HI>him that doth evill,</HI> to be extended as well to him that is a &s;piritual Delinquent or Evil Doer onely <HI>(viz.)</HI> that teacheth fal&s;e Doctrine, reproveth or di&s;parageth him that teacheth true, wor&s;hippeth God in a fal&s;e manner, or otherwi&s;e then he ought, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> or to be confined to &s;uch <HI>Evil Doers</HI> onely, who &s;in again&s;t the clear light and Law of Nature, or the lawful politick con&s;titutions of the State where he lives? Or hath it not by &s;ondry undeniable grounds and rea&s;ons been proved, that the &s;aid words ought to be thus limited and under&s;tood, in the Di&s;cour&s;e formerly mentioned under the title of <HI>Hagioma&s;tix,</HI> Pag. 58. 59, 60, 61, 62, &amp;c.</P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
