Sin Stigmatized, Part 1 · Section 30
§ 30.
BUt as the Church doth not owne ſuch wicked and prophane wretches for her children, ſo, Drunkards deſerve (like dirt in the houſe of God) to be throwne out.if they had their due (like dirt in the houſe of God) they ſhould be throwne out into the ſtreete, or as excrements, and bad humors in mans body, which is never at eaſe till it bee thereof disburthened, as St. Auguſtine ſpeakes.
Neither could they blame any (except themſelves) in caſe they were marked with the blacke cole of infamy, and their company avoided, as the Apoſtle adviſeth, Rom. 16.17. 2 Theſ. 3.6.14. Eph. 5.5.7. 1 Cor. 5.5.11. 1 Tim. 1.20. if they were to us, as Lepers were among the Iewes; or as men full of plague ſoares are amongſt us: for, as the Holy Pages before quoted warrant this, ſo there are many good reaſons for it, as.
Firſt, becauſe even the Goſpell, 1 Becauſe they bring an ill name upon the Goſpell, & cauſe the enemy to blaſpheme God.and the name of God is blaſphemed among the Gentiles, and an evill ſcandall raiſed upon the whole Church, through their ſuperlative wickedneſſe, Rom. 2.24. As what elſe (but the unchriſtianlike behaviour of ſuch Chriſtians) hath cauſed the Turkes even to deteſt the true Religion? And what was it that alienated the Indians from the Chriſtian Religion, and made them refuſe the Goſpell brought by the Spaniards, but this, they ſaw their lives more ſavage then thoſe ſavages? Yea, it made the poore Indians reſolve, that what religion ſoever the Spaniards were of, they would be of the contrary; thinking it unpoſſible, that ſuch cruell and bloody deeds could proceed from any true Religion; or that hee could be a good God, who had ſuch evill Sonnes: and the argument is of force, for, who are Scythians, if theſe be Saints? who are Canniballs, if theſe be Catholiques.
Whereas in the primitive times, more of them were wonne to the faith by the holy lives of Chriſtians, then by the doctrine which they taught: they made the world to reade in their lives, that they did believe in their hearts; and cauſed the Heathen to ſay, this is a good God, whoſe ſervants are ſo good: for thus they reaſoned; theſe men are ſurely of God, and without doubt, looke for a world to come. Neither was the Goſpell thus honoured by ſome few onelyonly, but by all that profes't it; For Tertullian witneſſeth, that in his time a Chriſtian was knowne from another man, only by the holineſſe and uprightneſſe of his life and converſation. But as for prime Chriſtians, viz. the auncient Fathers, their labours, their learning, their ſincerity to men, and devotion to God, was the wonder of the world: whereas all the difference betweene theſe, and very infidells, is, only this; the one are infidells in their hearts, the other are infidells in their lives, as Auguſtine pithily. And ſure I am, that in thoſe purer times the Church would have denied her bleſſing to ſuch Sonnes of Belial as theſe are, who make a trade of ſinne, as though there were no God to judge, nor Hell to puniſh; and ſo live, as though they had no ſoules to ſave; ſuch as have ſhaken out of their hearts the feare of God, the ſhame of the world, the love of Heaven, the dread of Hell, not caring what be thought, or ſpoken of them here, or what becomes of them hereafter; yea, ſuch a monſtrous, menſtruous brood, that (like a certaine mountaine in Arabia) breede, and bring forth nothing but monſters, whoſe deeds are too fowle for my words, being ſuch as ought not to be once named amongſt Chriſtians, as the Apoſtle ſpeakes, Eph. 5.3, 4. ſuch as neither Moſes nor Aaron, Caeſar nor Paul, Miniſter of the word nor Miniſter of the ſword finde reverence in their hearts, or obedience in their lives: being like mettal often fired and quenched, ſo churliſh that it will ſooner break than bow; for they contemn all authority, as boyes grown tall and ſtubborn contemn the rod: yea, even ſuch as ſpeake evill of them that are in authority, and whoſe mouths utter ſwelling and proud words againſt ſuch as are in dignity, as S. Peter and S. Iude hath it: yea, they be mockers of all, that march not under the pay of the Devill.