An Apology for the Nonconformists Ministry, Treatise · Part 4 – Part 1
IV. OUR Fourth main Reason why we dare not cease our Ministry, is, Because we shall sin against Nature it self, even the great and radical Law of Love, and shall be guilty of murdering mens souls. And because Magistrates cannot dispense with the great and necessary Laws of Nature, we put them all into one for brevity.
1. If we were Lay men, yet charity would naturally oblige us, to do our best to save mens souls, in a way that doth not greater hurt▪ Deny this, and you deny the master-points of natural obligation, and are unfit to dispute about things indifferent. And the judgment of the ancient Church, (as the case of Origen and other Teachers and Catechists at Alexandria, as well as that of Frumentius and Edesius do witness) is flat against you▪ and so is the common judgment of Divines, both Protestants and Papists, who use to cite these instances to prove that in some case Lay-men may be publick Teachers. But if they might not in Churches (lest they seem usurpers) yet in other places they may do it, when necessity requireth it, and so they exceed not their abilities in their undertakings.
2. But being once consecrated as Ministers to Christ, we are now under a double Law of diligence; the Law of Nature, and the positive Law of the Ministry; (as a Father sinneth against the Law of Nature and Love, and against the positive Laws of his Relation, if he famish his Children.)
And here we must take into consideration, 1. That a soul is more precious than a body, and a mans salvation or damnation is a thousand times more than his life or death. 2. That yet the murder of mens natural life is a sin so great, that no man hath power to allow us in or justifie. 3. That Love and the expressions of it are so very great duties, that it is called, The fulfilling of the Law; and according to it the process and doom of mens final judgment is described in Mat. 25. It is for not feeding, not clothing, not visiting, &c. that men perish; and not feeding and saving souls is worse. 4. That murder of body or soul may be committed by Privative means, as truly as by Positive. He that provideth not for his own, and his family, hath denied the faith, and is worse than an Infidel. The Father that famisheth his Children, murdereth them, as well as he that cuts their throats. And if Ezekiel (Chap. 18. 33.) &c. had so strict a charge of the people as Gods watchman, that their blood should be required at his hands if he were silent; though we are no Prophets, we are called by the ordinary way (as the Priests then were) to as real a charge. So that their damnation may be charged on us if we be silent, whoever forbids us, when our Preaching is necessary. And when in our thoughts we compare the peoples lying for ever in Hell, with our lying in prison for a little time, or lying under displeasure or reproach, O how vastly different is the case! If you your selves believe not such a state of impenitent souls hereafter, and that convincing and converting teaching, is needful to prevent it, give over your callings, and lay not claim to Tyths, and Glebes, and Lands, and Lordships, for a needless work. But if you do believe it, judg then of our case as men that do believe it. Suppose those damned souls were now crying out against us, Why did you not teach us, and call upon us, and warn us, that we might not have come to this place of torment? and we should answer them. The Magistrates forbad us. would this answer seem wise and honest to your selves, if you did but see the things you hear of?
Obj. But the Magistrate may chuse the objects of your charity, and also he may regulate it: And so the Law forbiddeth you to relieve the wandring poor; Charity in general is necessary; but what way it shall be used in, whether high ways, or Bridges, or building▪ Churches, &c. the Magistrate may determine.
Ans. There are more things go for indifferent with some men, than Ceremonies. Charity in general without any determinate object or way of expression, is nothing. It is but a Logical name. And as for the objects, some are to our charity of standing necessity, and so are some expressions of it; and some other acts of charity are about mutable circumstances to be governed by men; that is, the Universal Laws of the Universal Soveraign, have predetermined of some, and not left them as mutable to the Laws of men. It is not in our judgment an indifferent thing, nor alterable by the will of Princes, whether Parents shall nourish their Children, or whether Children shall supply their Parents wants if able? Nor whether we shall give food to him that is dying through famine? Nor whether we shall seek to save mens lives from fire or water, or other dangers? Otherwise all the charge against the damned at the day of Judgment, described Mat. 25. might be answered in a word, and Christs mouth be stopped, by saying, Rulers forbad us to feed thee, to clothe thee, to visit thee in thy members. He that may not command me to murder the innocent by action, may not command me to do it by omission or privation; except in case that the publick good or safety, or the lives of many will be hazarded by my saving the life of one. It is not to us a thing indifferent whether a man or many thousand men, be saved or damned. Nor is it in mans power to warrant us to forbear that means that is really necessary to mens Salvation, according to Gods ordinary way of working.
2. We fully grant that the Magistrate may regulate acts of Charity, that is, he may govern us in them for the better promoting of their ends. But he may not hinder them on that pretence, or destroy the end. I will obey the Law that forbiddeth me to relieve a wandering beggar, if really he be not in danger of death for want of food; but if he be ready to die at my door, I will disobey the Law, except in case that the saving of that one mans life would destroy many, or hinder a greater good. If the Law make one in every Parish an Overseer of the poor, and forbid all other relief but by that Overseer; and either through the number of the poor, or his own disability or negligence, he relieveth not one of twenty, or at least so poorly, that twenty, or ten, or two to one are in danger of famishing, I will disobey that Law, and relieve them as far as I am able, though I go to Goal for it, and be voluminously railed at as a Schismatick or Rebel.
Yea more, if the poor be ideots, foolish, proud and surly, and will rather famish than beg relief of their Overseer, I will take my self as guilty of their death, if I relieve them not when I am able; and if I think their folly to be my excuse, I shall be deceived.
And here I cannot but confess my dissent from the Ecclesiastical Politician in the case of Scandal, Pag. 230, 231. I do not believe that the Schools distinction of Scandal into datum & acceptum, is apparently false and impertinent, and is the main thing that hath perplexed all discourses of this Article: Much less that all the obligations of scandal proceed purely from that extraordinary height of charity and tenderness, of good nature, &c. Nor yet that if it proceed from humour, or pride, or wilfulness, or any other vicious principle, then is the man to be treated as a peevish and stubborn person; and no man is bound to part with his own freedom, because his neighbour is froward and humourous, &c. I perceive by many such passages as these, that we differ in Doctrinals as well as in Ceremony, from some that are for our suffering; yea that indeed we are not of the same Religion: For love is the life of our Religion. And our love is not not so limited and narrow a kind of love, nor so feeble and impotent as this here described; much less do we number it with things indifferent, or that are left to our liberty, or with those that some call either works of Supererogation, or of Evangelical perfection, as answering to counsels and not to commands. We are not ashamed of our judgment in this point, whoever shall account it heresie or error, we hold that it is our duty to love our neighbours as our selves; and that this is not an act of extraordinary charity (unless as the malice of uncharitable men doth eventually make and denominate it extraordinary.) But that it is essential to all true saving love, and common to every true member of Christ that shall be saved. We believe that this love must be extended to the proud and peevish, and unto our very enemies; and therefore we pray (more conformably to the Liturgy than such Conformists) that God will forgive our enemies, persecutors and slanderers, and turn their hearts. Accordingly it is part of our Religion, that we are obliged to do good to the proud and peevish, as well as others; yea unto all men to the utmost of our power; except those who by Law are taken out of our care, by being destined to death for their crimes, whose bodies we may not endeavour to save, but their souls are as much under our necessary duty as others; we hold that even a Traytor, Murderer or Felon, going to the Gallows, must be so far loved, pitied and helped, that we must do much more than forbear a thing indifferent to save their souls. For we long ago received Pauls opinion, that we should rather chuse never to eat flesh while we lived, than to hinder their Salvation for whom Christ died. We believe very confidently, that if a proud or peevish man were cutting his own throat, or hanging or drowning himself, that by an ordinary obligation common to men, we are bound in charity to do our best to save his life, to cut the rope, to pull him out of the water, though we lost for it the liberty of a lawful game, or feast, or rest, yea, though it must cost us dear. And we believe that if we do not this, we do not only fail of an extraordinary height of charity, but that we are murderers; and that we do not only cross the tenderness of good nature, but common humanity; we cannot deny but we take him for a beast, and worse than an Infidel, that will not only famish his family, but stand by and let them cut their own throats, if he can but say, they are stubborn, proud and peevish, or drunk; or that will see his neighbours drown or hang themselves, if they do it in pride, or peevishness, or stubbornness, rather than he will forsake his liberty in a thing indifferent. And therefore it is contrary to our Religion to sell a soul (much more many thousands) for a Ceremony. We take the sixth Commandment to mean, Thou shalt not murder the good or the bad, the patient or the peevish by commission or by omission. And as much as Souls are more worth than Bodies, and everlasting life than temporal, so much the greater sin do we take it for, to be the murderers of Souls by omission, than of Bodies. And that it will be an insufficient excuse for omissive soul-murdering, to say, He was peevish, and I should have parted with my freedom. Could we once think that doing no harm is all our necessary Religion, and that doing good is only the work of an extraordinary height of charity, then we could be in this of another mind (and could think a stone or tree more Religious than a mortal Saint.) But we have not so learnt to be Religious.
2. And indeed we think that this opinion would almost excuse the whole world from works of charity to any, at least except Ideots and Infants. For (to confess all our cross opinions freely) we deny not but that we hold the Doctrine of Original sin as inherent in all the seed of Adam; and we must have pardon in our Nonconformity for Conformity so far to the Scriptures and the Articles and Doctrine of the Church of England, and of the Universal Church. And therefore we hold that the whole nature of man is corrupted from the womb with some vicious Principle; yea more than so, with the particular Principles of pride, humour, and stubbornness, and peevishness. And therefore that according to this rule, which we dissent from, all the world should be suffered to be hanged and damned for ever, rather than a Conformist should lose a game at Chess, or a cup of Sack, or abate a Ceremony. Because if it proceed from humour, pride or peevishness, or any other vicious principle—no man is bound to part with his own freedom, because his neighbour is froward and humourous.
And we hold, that there are few men, or none, that have lived so innocently, but that (if Original sin were denied) they have by practice contracted some vicious principles, even of pride, and humour, and frowardness. And we hold that it was to cure such viciated souls, and such principles, that Christ came into the world, and that he made the Gospel, and instituted the Ministry; and that we are workers under Christ in this work; and that this seeking and saving of that which is lost, even of the proud and froward, and humour some, and peevish, is the very employment of our office. And that none of these are that blasphemy of the Holy Ghost that maketh sin unpardonable and uncurable. And that though dogged hearing us, and swinish contempt of the Gospel it self, may excuse us from further importunity with some, and allow us to shake off the dust off our feet against them; yet so will not every vicious principle, nor the frowardness and humour here described. Nor yet will a particular humour or peevishness allow us to neglect the souls of them, that in the main have received the Gospel of Salvation. I confess we are of the number of them that mourn for the reproach of those pitified Churches, where the Pastors are of these opinions, and think that if all the Children of Christs family be but peevish and froward, the Nurses may let them all sin and be damned, and not part with any of their freedoms to cure them, or to save them. Were I also of this opinion, I should not stick to make merchandize of souls, and to sell an hundred for a Benefice, and twenty thousand for a Bishoprick, nor to give over Preaching to prevent my suffering, were fouls so contemptible, and of so little value.
And consequently we think that the School-distinction of Scandal given and taken, is not so false and impertinent as is here said. The sense of the distinction is, that the fault is sometimes in the giver, and sometimes only in the taker. Scandal being a snare, a trap, a stumbling-block, or a temptation to sin; we think there are several sorts of scandal: First, Scandal given is by actions otherwise sinful (for its no wonder if one sin be a temptation to another) or by actions sinful only in this. And that scandal is, 1. When the action otherwise lawful is purposely intended as a snare or temptation. 2. When it is not so intended but hath a strong natural tendency in it self to tempt, and being unnecessary, is the effect of great inadvertency, carelesness, rashness, and want of love to others souls. But scandal taken and not given, (that is, not culpably given) is, when it is either from a necessary duty of ours, or from a thing so harmless as that there is no probability that it should be a temptation to any but those that go out of their way to seek for matter of temptation to themselves, by an extraordinary perverseness. We think it no false distinguishing to say, that it is one thing to lay a trap or dig a pit purposely for men to fall in; and another thing rashly and carelesly to dig a pit and cover it, to catch wild beasts in, in the common high-way, or very near it; and another thing to dig a pit quite out of all ordinary passage of men, where yet a drunkard, or one that will seek a pit to leap into, may possibly find it. Scandalum datum is that which charity and prudence bind men carefully to prevent; and Scandalum acceptum is that which ariseth not from any omission of the duty of him from whom it is taken. But more of this anon. We have told you our Religion, but we are not now disputing against yours. If the naming of such opinions be confutation enough, the owners have confuted them themselves. If it be not, let them pass. Our work at present is only Apology, (though we are tainted too with the disputing disease.) And so much for our Reasons for Preaching Christs Gospel against mens will. The sum of all is this, It is an indispensible duty lying on us as men and Ministers, by the obligation of Gods Law of Charity, and as Ministers, also by the obligation of our own Vows or self-dedication at our Ordination, to do our best in the exercise of all our talents, Humane, Christian, and Ministerial, to seek to save the peoples souls, and so to preach, or teach, and exhort them in the manner which most conduceth thereto, when and where our teaching is truly and evidently necessary. But now in the Kings Dominions our teaching is to these ends truly and evidently necessary, therefore it is our duty so to teach.
III. BEcause many of your contrary Reasonings are already answered before, I will here annex the rest, that they may not have the disadvantage of too great a distance.