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<DATE>2010-11-29</DATE>
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<NAME>Megan Marion</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<STC T="W">D2881</STC>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>The Plain Way OF PEACE and UNITY IN Matters of Religion.</P>
<P>Shewed By &s;ome Maxims &s;uppo&s;ed to be undeniable, which <HI>John Durie</HI> hath made u&s;e of in Ne|gotiating with all the Churches.</P>
<P>AND By &s;ome Expedients &s;uppo&s;ed to be effectual, which he hath endeavoured to make practicable among the Churches, for the pre&s;erving and promo|ting of the Prote&s;tant Religion abroad.</P>
<P>And now are offered For the preventing of further Breaches, and the Set|tlement of Unity among&s;t our &s;elves at home.</P>
<Q><BIBL>Rom. 12. 18.</BIBL> <P>If it be po&s;&s;ible, as much as lieth in you live peace|ably with all men.</P></Q>
<Q><BIBL>Phil. 2. 1, 2, 3, 4.</BIBL> <P>If there be any con&s;olation in Chri&s;t, if any com|fort of love, if any fellow&s;hip of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies; fulfill ye my joy, That ye be like-minded, having the &s;ame love; being of one accord, of one mind.</P>
<P>Let nothing be done through &s;trife or vain glory, but in lowline&s;&s;e of minde, let each e&s;teen other better than them&s;elves.</P>
<P>Look not every man on his own things, but every man al&s;o on the things of others, &amp;c.</P></Q>
<Q><BIBL>Eph. 4. 1, 2, 3.</BIBL> <P>I be&s;eech you that you walk worthy of the vacation where with ye are called.</P>
<P>With all lowline&s;&s;e and meekne&s;&s;e, with long-&s;uffering, forbearing one another in love.</P>
<P>Endeavouring to keep the unity of the &s;pirit in the bond of peace, &amp;c.</P></Q>
<P>LONDON, Printed for <HI>Fr. Tyton</HI> at the three Daggers in <HI>Fleet&s;treet,</HI> 1660:</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>The Plain Way of Peace and Unity IN Matters of Religion, Shewed By undeniable Maximes, and by effectual Ex|pedients, to per&s;erve and promote The Prote&s;tant Religion, By preventing further Breaches, and advancing a Settlement among&s;t our &s;elves at home.</HEAD>
<P N="1">1. _THe Prote&s;tant Religion can nei|ther be propagated abroad; nor maintained at home; ex|cept the Principles upon which it is grounded be upheld pub|lickly, and the practice made conformable thereunto.</P>
<P N="2">2. The fundamental Principles which di&s;tin|gui&s;h the Prote&s;tant Religion from Popery, are chiefly the&s;e:</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That the word of God in the Scriptures is the only Rule of Faith and Obedience.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. That this Word is infallible and clear in all things nece&s;&s;ary for &s;alvation.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. That this Word is perfectly &s;ufficient to make a man wi&s;e unto &s;alvation, and throughly furni&s;hed unto all good works.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<PB N="2" REF="3">
<P N="3">3. The Practice of the Prote&s;tant Pro|fe&s;&s;ion cannot be made conformable unto the&s;e Principles, except two things be ob&s;erved:</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That all things to be taught and to be done by and in this profe&s;&s;ion have a war|rant from the word of God.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. That they who teach and do the&s;e things do the &s;ame knowingly and in Faith, and not becau&s;e it is a cu&s;tome long ago re|ceived and enjoyned by humane Autho|rity. For Chri&s;t &s;aith, <HI>Matth. 15. 9. In vain doe they wor&s;hip me, teaching for Doctrines the commandments of men.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="4">4. If the&s;e Principles, and this Practice be upheld in a Go&s;pel-way; that is, if they be made evident to the con&s;cience of upright minded men by a Demon&s;tration of Truth, and not impo&s;ed upon all men, becau&s;e &s;ome in power will have it &s;o, then the Prote&s;tant Religion will be propagated without the mix|ture of Popery, but not otherwi&s;e.</P>
<P N="5">5. And if it &s;hould be effectually propagated it mu&s;t be upheld not onely to be free from Popery, which is a dependance upon the Pope as infallible, and &s;uper&s;titiou&s;ne&s;s impo&s;ed by Power: but al&s;o as oppo&s;ite to prophanene&s;s which leads to Athei&s;m, and to Di&s;orderline&s;s, which leads back either to Prophanene&s;s, or to Popery; or begers <HI>Enthu&s;ia&s;tical</HI> Fancies, and therewith endle&s;s Divi&s;ions.</P>
<PB N="3" REF="3">
<P N="6">6. The expedient to avoid Prophanene&s;s is to educate Youths carefully in the Principles of Chri&s;tianity, and of &s;ound Learning; and by civil Laws to repre&s;s the Intemperancies and Exce&s;&s;es of Riot and Wantonne&s;s, in tho&s;e that are of Age, that being kept &s;ober and ra|tional, their con&s;cience may have its proper work in them.</P>
<P N="7">7. The expedient to avoid Di&s;orderline&s;s in the profe&s;&s;ion of Religion, is to unite the Pro|fe&s;&s;ours together &s;o farre as they have attained, and to keep them from biting and devouring one another, for that whereunto they have not attained.</P>
<P N="8">8. They cannot be united in that where|unto they have attained, except they know one anothers attainments; and owne each other &s;o farre as they are come.</P>
<P N="9">9. The attainments of all may be known by their publick or private Confe&s;&s;ions, and their owning of each other therein, will be di&s;|cerned by the Harmony thereof in matters of Faith, and in the Rules of Obedience to God and men.</P>
<P N="10">10. They cannot be kept from biting and devouring one another about the things where|in they differ; except the occa&s;ions of offences which they give to each other, be fir&s;t removed and afterward prevented.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="4">
<P N="11">11. The occa&s;ions of offences cannot be removed, except the parties offended on each &s;ide, be willing to meet and agree upon the way of removing the &s;ame according to the Rules of the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P N="12">12. Nor can the occa&s;ions of offen|ces be prevented, &s;o long as Chri&s;tians are not taught by their Leaders, and pre&s;&s;ed in Con&s;cience to walk by the &s;ame Rule of Cha|rity, to bear one with another, and to forbear di&s;puting with, and murmuring at one another.</P>
<P N="13">13. To oblige them in con&s;cience to walk by this Rule, the expedient is to let them all equally enjoy a Regulated Liberty, &s;o as they may not fear to be impo&s;ed upon by power, nor hindered by tumults in their way, nor un|dermined by Policy in their Con&s;titution.</P>
<P N="14">14. This liberty may be Regulated, if each party can be obliged to declare that which they would have others do, or not do towards them|&s;elves, for their edification; and then if they be obliged to do, and not to do the &s;ame to|wards others al&s;o for their edification reci|procally.</P>
<P N="15">15. The expedient to oblige them to for|bear di&s;puting one with another about their particular differences, is to divert their thoughts and put them upon publick tasks, wherein they &s;hall have no cau&s;e to di&s;pute with any for
<PB N="5" REF="4">
a victory, but onely to &s;hew their abilities for the &s;ervice and good of all.</P>
<P>The&s;e tasks may be many, but at pre&s;ent three &s;eem mo&s;t u&s;efull to be &s;et upon.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. What the things are wherein all Prote|&s;tants agree in Doctrine, Wor&s;hip and Di&s;cipline.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. How they who differ not in Fundamen|tals, may notwith&s;tanding le&s;&s;er differen|ces, edifie one another according to the Rules of Chri&s;tian Moderation.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. What Truths Prote&s;tants &s;hould unani|nimou&s;ly hold forth to <HI>Jews, Turks</HI> and <HI>Heathens,</HI> for their conver&s;ion to Chri|&s;tianity.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="16">16. The expedients which will oblige them to forbear murmuring one at another, are:</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. To aboli&s;h the names of parties, as Pre&s;|byterial, Prelatical, Congregational, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and to be called Reformed Chri&s;tians of <HI>England, Scotland, France, Germany,</HI> &amp;c.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. To di&s;countenance controver&s;al writing by private per&s;ons, and to oblige every party to &s;uppre&s;s it within them&s;elves, by requiring their members to ob&s;erve that wherunto the Cardinal <HI>Richelieu</HI> brought the <HI>French</HI> Prote&s;tants, namely, <HI>That all things which &s;hould be publi&s;hed for the de|fence of a party &s;hould be reviewed and
<PB REF="5">
owned by the leaders of that party.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. To bring Refutatory &s;cribling out of u&s;e, (except it be in matters of Fact, where witne&s;&s;es may be had to di&s;prove un|truths) and to oblige men to declare their own &s;en&s;e of truths affirmatively and ne|gatively, without in&s;ulting over others for their &s;uppo&s;ed errours.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. To &s;et &s;ome Peace-makers a work, to deal with the leading fierce men of both &s;ides, to take off the edge of their jealou|&s;ies and pa&s;&s;ions again&s;t one another, and if there could be a Council or Committee of &s;uch Peace-makers formed, it would do the work.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="17">17. If the Di&s;putings and murmurings which by rea&s;on of jealou&s;ies begin already to work, be not &s;peedily prevented, a relap&s;e may make our breaches wor&s;e and incurable,</P>
<LG>
<L>Principiis ob&s;ta &s;ero Medicina paratur</L>
<L>Cum mala per longas invaluere moras.</L>
</LG>
<P N="18">18. To make the&s;e expedients effectual and practicable among&s;t our &s;elves for Unity at this time; it's humbly conceived, that nei|ther a <HI>Conference,</HI> &s;uch as was at <HI>Hampton-Court;</HI> nor a <HI>Synod,</HI> &s;uch as was at <HI>Dort,</HI> or at <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter;</HI> will heal our breaches, but rather multiply or confirm the &s;ame: except the way
<PB N="7" REF="5">
and manner of their conferring, or of their meet|ing in a Synod be &s;o ordered, that they never &s;hall come to di&s;pute and argue one with ano|ther about their Principles, or the matters wherein they differ; for I know not any Con|ference or Synod wherein different parties met to di&s;pute, which ever brought them to an agreement. True it is, that parties at confe|rences have &s;ome times driven one another to ab&s;urdities, and in Synods, according to the power which called them, have over-voted one another; but never have any acknowledged publickly a conviction by a Conference, nor yeelded to the determination of the Synod. The Council of <HI>Trent</HI> hath made the Rent be|tween Prote&s;tants and Papi&s;ts irreconcilable. The Synod at <HI>Dort</HI> did not reclaim the Remon|&s;trants from their way; not the A&s;&s;embly at <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter</HI> the Independents or di&s;&s;enting brethren, as they were then termed, notwith|&s;tanding the &s;everal attempts of an accommo|dation; only becau&s;e the manner of proceeding did rather tend to argue and debate, then to prevent and heal prejud ces.</P>
<P>19. Now to prevent Di&s;putes, and thereby prejudices both at a Synodical meeting, or at a Conference, the expedients will be, to prede|termine the aim thereof, and the &s;ubject matter which &s;hould be onely concerning matters of
<PB N="8" REF="6">
agreement to &s;ettle them;) and to limitate the manner of the Treaty, which &s;hould be only Declarative and Deliberative, and not Argu|mentative and contradictory.</P>
<P N="20">20. And to make &s;uch a Treaty &s;uccesfull; two things mu&s;t be avoided, which have made commonly all meetings almo&s;t and conferences about matters of Religion without effect. The fir&s;t is, the jealou&s;ies which they who come to meet, have commonly one of another. The &s;e|cond is, the incon&s;ideratene&s;s and heats which fall out in verbal conferences; be&s;ides mi&s;takes and other inconveniencies.</P>
<P N="21">21. Now to avoid and prevent both the&s;e; the expedients will be,</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That each party, which &s;hould treat, be authorized to meet by it &s;elf; and chu&s;e &s;uch as they will Depute to attend a meeting in their name, with others from whom they differ.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. That the&s;e Deputies of the parties, be ap|pointed to meet &s;everally each by them&s;elvs in di&s;tinct places, giving liberty to all of their own way, to bring in to them their thoughts concerning the things which are to be in agi|tation; by which means each party will be free within it &s;elf, and be able to know fully the &s;en&s;e of all that go along with them; when the Brethren as well as the leaders &s;hall have acce&s;s unto the Deliberations.</ITEM>
<PB N="9" REF="6">
<ITEM>3. That the propo&s;al of matters to be agita|ted, &s;hall not be left to either of the parties to be contrived, or offered to each other; but &s;hall be pre&s;cribed by form of Que&s;tion, by his Maje&s;ty, to be re&s;olved from the word of God by each party.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. That the An&s;wer of each party &s;hall be gi|ven up in writing to his Maje&s;ty, and &s;hall have the&s;e properties ob&s;erved.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That it &s;hall contain both the <HI>The&s;is</HI> and the <HI>Antithe&s;is</HI> of the matters in que&s;tion, with the rea&s;ons thereof.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. That it &s;hall deliver nothing as the opini|on of other men to refute it, but only the &s;en&s;e of the party it &s;elf, which doth offer the an&s;wer.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. That it &s;hall be put in Aphori&s;ms, and not in a large Di&s;cour&s;e.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. That it &s;hall be given to his Maje&s;ty, and not communicated to any before he re|ceive it.</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="22">22. Perhaps it will be objected, that this is a long&s;ome and tedious way.</P>
<P>I an&s;wer; That in this ca&s;e the farthe&s;t way about is the neare&s;t way home. For that which doth prevent all inconveniencies, which make all &s;horter wayes ineffectual ought not to be counted long or tedious; and that which infal|libly will make Peace, is the only &s;hort and de|lightfull
<PB N="10" REF="7">
way of proceeding. Moreover becau&s;e the expedients here mentioned are obvious to every mans capacity, and commonly known by all; therefore the way is more ea&s;ie and without contradiction, and mo&s;t &s;utable to the Principles of Go&s;pel-&s;implicity and Chri&s;tian-liberty; whereof the former being de&s;pi&s;ed or neglected; and the latter incroached upon or abu&s;ed, are the cau&s;es of all our divi&s;ions and di&s;tractions, or the chief ingredients which make the&s;e cau|&s;es mo&s;t powerfull in their operation. The plaine&s;t way of dealing, if it hath an orderly tendency to the right end is lea&s;t followed, for none can follow it, but he who without all &s;elf|&s;eeking de&s;ign or intere&s;t, hath learned to deny him&s;elf: and who&s;oever in &s;eeking Peace doth not &s;tudy through &s;elf-denial to &s;erve others in love; <HI>will make to him&s;elf crooked paths, and he that goeth therein &s;hall not know peace,</HI> I&s;a. 59. 8.</P>
<P N="23">23. In all the&s;e fore-mentioned expedients, it is pre&s;uppo&s;ed that each party is fully agreed within it &s;elf, concerning the matter which it doth declare to be the common &s;en&s;e of all that belong unto it; but in ca&s;e it fall out, that the members of each party do not agree fully a|mong&s;t them&s;elves, either in their Tenets or in their way of acting (which I have &s;eldom &s;een fall out otherwi&s;e.) The que&s;tion then will be, What expedient is to be u&s;ed to prevent a new
<PB N="11" REF="7">
fraction of a party within it &s;elf, when it is a|bout to treat of an union with others:</P>
<P>The expedient may be this.</P>
<P N="1">1. Suppo&s;ing there are three or four &s;ub-di|&s;tinctions of profe&s;&s;ors in a party, which for the main tenet do agree, and &s;o are under one de|nomination; let each &s;ub-di&s;tinction name a deputy or two for it &s;elf, to whom it will intru&s;t its concernments.</P>
<P N="2">2. Let the&s;e Deputies agree upon a Directo|ry how to order their proceedings within them|&s;elves for the credit and intere&s;t of their party, that all that can be done by common con&s;ent may be done, notwith&s;tanding &s;ome particular di&s;tinction of waies or difference of opinions, which may be emergent among&s;t them; and let this Directory be propo&s;ed to the leaders of the Congregations for their advice and ap|probation, and it may contain propo&s;als to this effect.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That nothing &s;hall be reputed an Act of a party, but that which all the Leaders of the Congregations &s;hall be made acquainted with and con&s;ent unto, or at lea&s;t not di&s;&s;ent from.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. That to form an Act &s;o to be reputed, the matter whereof it is to be formed, &s;hall be notified to all the leaders of each &s;ub-di&s;tin|ction, to de&s;ire them to bring in their &s;ugge|ge&s;tions
<PB N="12" REF="8">
in writing to him who is their depu|ty within a time limited.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. That each Deputy having &s;ummed up the agreements of his own &s;ub-di&s;tinction, &s;hall meet with the re&s;t to conferre notes, and ga|ther out of all the &s;ugge&s;tions a generall a|greement.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. This generall agreement being drawn up &s;hall at a generall meeting be propo&s;ed to get a general a&s;&s;ent, that none may &s;eem to be impo&s;ed upon in a matter of con&s;cience.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. That there &s;hall be no perpetuall Chairman but the Deputies &s;hall pre&s;ide by turns for the ordering of matters within them&s;elves relating to the party.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. That the common &s;cribe of the party &s;hall keep all the writings which &s;hall be given in upon all matters of deliberation; and that a double of the agreement of each &s;ub-di&s;tin|ction within it &s;elf, &s;hall be kept for &s;uch of the Leaders of the Congregations as &s;hall de&s;ire to &s;ee it, or to take a Copy of it.</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. That the meetings of the Deputies with the leaders of the Congregations, &s;hall begin and end with prayers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="24">24. If by the&s;e expedients every party can prevent further inconveniences within it &s;elf, and pre&s;erve the union whereunto it is come; and if that degree of Union wherein it &s;tandeth
<PB N="13" REF="8">
with other parties in the grounds and duties of Chri&s;tianity, may be held forth and di&s;covered, there is a po&s;&s;ibility of healing the breaches, which hitherto have di&s;tracted us, and made us a prey unto all the enemies of the Truth; who cun|ningly have in&s;inuated, and will in&s;inuate them|&s;elves more and more among&s;t us, to foment our divi&s;ions and our di&s;tempers, if we re&s;olve not to own one another in that whereunto we have at|tained, and to walk by one Rule of charity and mutual forbearance in that whereunto we are not yet come, which is the coun&s;el of the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul, Phil.</HI> 3. 15, 16. in a ca&s;e of greater difference between the Jewi&s;h and Gentile Profe&s;&s;ors of Chri&s;tianity, than any is between Prote&s;tants ei|ther abroad or at home. And to bring this Rule of the Apo&s;tle into practice among&s;t Prote&s;tants, a Negotiation hath been entertained for many years with all the Churches and Univer&s;ities a|broad, under the countenance and authority of the Supreme Magi&s;trate of every place: that the breaches between the Churches being repaired upon Go&s;pel-grounds, and the offences removed by the concurrence of Authority, the Communi|on of Saints might be upheld, and the truth of the Go&s;pel-profe&s;&s;ion might be maintained again&s;t the common Adver&s;aries thereof, and unani|mou&s;ly propagated to Jews, Turks and Heathens, for the enlargement of the kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t unto the ends of the earth.</P>
<P>And although the effect of this negotiation hath not hitherto been &s;o vi&s;ible as hath been wi&s;hed and prayed for, by rea&s;on of the civil di|&s;tractions wherewith God hath puni&s;hed all the
<PB N="14" REF="9">
Nations of <HI>Europe,</HI> putting a cup of fury and trembling into their hand, to make them rather wa&s;te and de&s;troy one another, than minde the waies of Chri&s;tian peace and unity: yet if now the Lord will be appea&s;ed towards his people, and break the &s;hield, the hurtful &s;word and the battel; we may hope that the thoughts of reconciling Religious differences, upon the grounds of the&s;e maximes and expedients, will become &s;ea&s;ona|ble; for &s;eeing they are matters neither of ab&s;tru&s;e contemplation, but plain truths, nor of deep con|trivance, but of common apprehen&s;ion, yet being &s;o fundamentally nece&s;&s;ary for a Go&s;pel-Refor|mation, that no true peace, nor religious unity can be had or continued, without the con&s;tant u&s;e of them; Therefore they are now extant for a Te&s;ti|mony of the guilt more or le&s;s of all patties, who knowing the&s;e maximes and principles, and not being unacquainied with the&s;e expedients and rules of walking towards a &s;ettlement, yet, have not been inclined by their own ingenuity, nor in|duced by the per&s;wa&s;ion and earne&s;t &s;ollicitation of others to put the &s;ame in practice, and thereby to become &s;ub&s;ervient to the kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t in their generation, which fault will never ri&s;e up in judgement again&s;t him; who hereby bearing witne&s;&s;e to the&s;e truths, doth endeavour to awaken all unto their duty, as it becometh him who hath made him&s;elf for the&s;e 30 years pa&s;t, a con&s;tant &s;ollicitour of the means of Truth and Peace, among&s;t the Prote&s;tant Churches, whereof they are all Witne&s;&s;es, for</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>The unworthy Servant of Chri&s;t in the Go&s;pel of Peace. JOHN D&V;RIE.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
