Parallels Censures, Letter 1 · Section 2
The ſecond Section.
Theſe oppoſitions of yours you have written in a lettre which came of late to my ſight: which are thus in your lettre.
Touching your oppinions in theſe things shall I never be perſwaded that you doe well in:
1, In Seperating from all the Reformed Churches.
2. In holding that one ſinne of one man publiquely & obſtinately ſtood in & not reformed by a true conſtituded Church doth ſo pollute it, that none may commicate with it in the holy things of God til the partie offending be by the Church put out after lawful conviction.
3. In maintayning that its not lawful to heare any miniſters amongſt vsus whatſoever thy be, nor to joyne in prayer with ſuch as feare God among vsus.
4. In holding that Princes have no more to doe in Eccleſiaſtical cauſes, thē one of you in a particular congregation.
5. That the powre of binding & loſing is given to the whole multitude, & not to the principal members therof.
6. That the word truly preached & Sacraments rightly adminiſtred are no infallible tokens of a true Church.
7. That a miniſter may be made without Elders ordinarily I meane for extraordinary courſes are not now to be vſed, for ought I ſee.
8. That ſuch as are not in your way are to be accounted without after the Apoſtles meaning, 1. Cor. 5.12.
9. That thoſe which are not of a true conſtituted Church are no ſubjects of Chriſts Kingdom.
10. That an erroneous conſtitution of a Church is a real Idol.
11. That only Saints as Mr. Smith defineth them by 4 proporties are the matter only of a viſible Church.
12. That every of our aſſemblies are falſe Churches, al our miniſters falſe miniſters, our worship a falſe worship.
13. That a company truly fearing God, if any open wicked joyne with them are not capable to choſe them a miniſter over them.
14. That baptiſme is not adminiſtred among vsus ſimply into the faith of Chriſt, but into the faith of the Bbs. or Church of England.
15. That miniſters ought only to live of voluntary contribution & not of ſtipends or any ſet mayntenance.
16. That our Churches ought to be raſed downe, & not to be imployed to the worship of God. Al which I do verely beleeve to be crrors, & I ſee not which way men can joyne to you to ſwallow vp al theſe as truths into which you doe runne in avoyding our corruptions: & that with ſuch deep condemnation of vsus, as is greatly in your behalf to be lamented: but I am tedious, &c. … R. B.
This is your writing word for word: wherein you have taxed mee by name in one particular, & indeed in moſt of them: it shalbe my part therfor to cleer theſe matters for your information, that if it be the wil of God, you may ſee the truth & walk in it, which I vnfeynedly deſire of the Lord: or els that you may no longer ſeduce others from the truth, your corrupt walking being once diſcovered vntounto the ſimple: my intent therfor is not to take theſe points in that order which you have placed them in, but to aſſume thē in the natural order wherin things vſually among Schollers are diſcourſed.
Paralleles, Cenſures, Obſervations, aperteyning to the Second Section.
I deſire heer to advertiſe the reader, that theſe 16. points which Mr. Bern. accounteth error are againe in his book intituled the Seperatifts Schiſme rehearſed, refined, augmēted changed, as it pleaſeth the forger into another order, shape & nomber which it shal not be impertinent heer to propound for evidence ſake, that the Reader comparing theſe 16. points with thoſe 22. (For ſo they are in nomber) may diſcerne the agreement & difference, & ſo more fully be informed of the whole cauſe.
The particulars are theſe following, as they are expreſſed in divers pages of his booke as. pag. 78 the title of them is this.
The Errors of the Seperatiſts, & the matter of their Schiſme.
1. They hold that the conſtitution of our Church is a falſe conſtitution, pag. 78.
2. They hold our conſtitution a real Idol, & ſo vsus idolaters, pag. 79.
3. That ſuch as are not of a particular conſtituted Church (to wit ſuch a one as theirs is) are no ſubjects of Ch. Kingdom. pag. 80.81.
4. That all not in their way are without; & do apply againſt vsus, 1. Cor. 5.12. Eph. 2.12. pag. 82.
5. That only Saynts, (that is) a people forſaking al knowne ſinne of which they may be convinced, doing al the knowne wil of God in creaſing & abiding ever therein, are the only matter of a viſible Church, pag 83.
6. That the powre of Chriſt, that is, authority to preach, to adminiſter the Sacramēts & to exerciſe the cenſures of the Church belongeth to the whole Church, yea to every one of them, & not to the principal members thereof. pag. 48.
7. That the ſinne of one man publiquely & obſtinately ſtood in being not reformed, not the offender caſt out, doth ſo pollute the whole congregation, that none may cōmunicate with the ſame in any of the holy things of God (though it be a Church rightly conſtituted) til the partie be excommunicated, pag. 102.103.
8. That every of our aſſemblies are falſe Churches, pag. 109.
9. Al our Miniſters ſay they, are falſe Miniſters, pag. 128.
10. Our worship ſay they is a falſe worship, pag. 146.
Divers other opinions they hold which I will alſo ſet downe: & they be theſe, pag. 150.151.
1. That our congregations as they ſtand are all & every of them vncapable before God to choſe them Miniſters, though they deſire the meanes of ſalvtion. pag. 151.
2. That God in our beſt aſſemblies is worshipped after a falſe manner, pag. 151.
3. That baptiſme is not adminiſtred into the faith of Ch. ſimply. but into the ſayth of Bishops or Church of England, pag. 152.
4. That our ſaith & repentance is a falſe faith & falſe repentance, pag. 152.
5. That our Miniſters converting men to God heere, do it not as Paſtors, but as Teachers, pag, 152.
6. That our Church ſtandoth in an adulterous eſtate, pag. 152.
7. That they cannot ſay certaynly by any warrāt off Gods worde that any of vsus hath eyther fayth, or ſeare god. pag. 152.
8. That none off our Miniſters may be heard, pag. 152.
9. That it is not lawful to joyne in prayer with any off vsus, pag. 155.
10. That Miniſters may not celebrate marriage, nor bury the dead, pag. 156.
11. That Miniſters should only live off voluntary contribution, & not eyther off ſett ſtipends or tithes, pag. 156.
12. That our Churches ought to be raced downe, & not to be imployed to the true worship of God, pag. 156.
And thus much off this & al other their Browniſtical opinions, pag. 157.
This is the Recapitulation of our Browniſticall opiniōs, as Mr. Bern. of his blaſphemous vncharitablenes giveth them their denomination: Remember herein that every cōpany of men whome god raiſed vp in this latter age to teſtifie for the truth againſt the man of ſinne, hath been intitled with like names, as Lutherans, Calviniſts, Zwinglians, &c. As in the act: Chriſtiās are caled the Sect of the Nazarits. whēce I for my part should rather gather encouragemeht in the truth we hold then any diſcouragemēt, ſeing no other thing befalleth vsus herein then befell al the witneſſes of the L. truth in al ages: but let Mr. Bern & his conforts vnderſtand that we chardg them with Antichriſtianiſ me, which they can not deny, but which the beſt & moſt ſincere profeſſors of the truths which he calleth Browniſtical, we juſtifie frō the holy Scriptures, wherein let Mr. Bern. conſider whither he doe not wound the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Apoſtles, Chriſt Ieſus himſelf, & the Holy Spirit, the author off the Holy Scriptures, & that through our ſides. For if theſe opinious as wee hold them be the truth of God, then is he a blaſphemer in a very high degree & I would know whither he that heretofore oft tymes confeſſed them for truths can nowwithout horrible impiety apoſtacy & blaſphemy, proclayme them Browniſtical opinions: ſee alſo whither his conſcience can be cleer in this
Now Further I deſire the reader to compare theſe 22. particulars, with the 16. points which I in this lettre have anſwered, & therby he shal obſerve two things. Firſt that Mr. Bern her in chardgeth vsus with no thing truly which is not already anſwered in this lettre, & therfor he needed not againe to have objected theſe things publiquely except he had firſt published the lettre & anſwered the particulars therof, but herin it ſeemeth he thought to bleare the eyes of the world, & to beare mē in hand that he had ſomthing to ſay which was vnanſwerable, which notwithſtanding was already anſwered as may be perceaved. Secondly, that this book of Mr. Ber. is moſt properly & directly aymed at my lettre, wherin I am moſt eſpecialy intereſſed to yeeld anſwer, & though it be once anſwered by another: & happily may receave a third anſwer, yet I cannot overpaſſe it leaſt I ſeme to betray the truth who am by name ſingled out to the cōbat? finaly ſeing Mr. Bern. hath published againſt vsus without anſwer to this lettre, let vsus alſo herin cōſider his fraud & decept, in perverting, miſconſtruing, adding, detracting, falſely chardging vsus following therein the dealing off his Father the Devill, with Chriſt, & our firſt parents: For all theſe evil courſes I wil diſcover evidently to the reader, that Mr, Bern. in the particular Sections of this lettre hath vſed with mee: & ſo let theſe be added to his former ſinnes mentioned in the Firſt Section, & it wil appeare that he is now manifeſted by the L. to be one that hath fulfilled the meaſure of his iniquity.