Baxters Narrative of His Life and Times, Part 3 · Floating text 2
In order to Comprehension, it is Humbly Offered,
1. That such persons, as in the late times of disorder have been ordained by Presbyters, shall be admitted to the Exercise of the Ministerial Function, by the Imposition of the Hands of the Bishop, with this, or the like Form of Words: [Take thou Authority to Preach the Word of God, and to Minister the Sacraments in any Congregation of the Church o… England where thou shalt be lawfully appointed thereunto] An Expedient much of this Nature was practised and allowed of, in the Case of the Catharists and Melesians, Vid. 8th Canon Concil. Nic. & …ynodical Epistle of the same to the Churches of Egypt, Gelasius, Cyzicenus, Hist. Con. Nic. 2d part.
2. That all persons to be admitted to any Ecclesiastical Function, or Dignity, or the Employment of a School-master (after the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy) shall (instead of all former Subscriptions) be required to subscribe this, or the like Form of Words [I A. B. do hereby profess and declare, That I do approve the Doctrines, Worship and Government Established in the Church of England; as containing all things necessary to Salvation; and that I will not endeavour, by my self, or any other, directly or indirectly, to bring in any Doctrine contrary to that which is so Established: And I do hereby promise, That I will continue in the Communion of the Church of England, and will not do any thing to disturb the Peace thereof.
3. That the Gesture of Kneeling at the Sacrament, and the use of the Cross in Baptism, and bowing at the Name of Iesus, may be left indifferent, or may be taken away, as shall be thought most expedient.
4. That in Case it be thought fit to review and alter the Liturgy and Canons, for the satisfaction of Dissenters, that then every person to be admitted to preach, shall, upon his Institution, or Admission to preach, upon some Lord's Day (within a time to be limited) publickly and solemnly read the said Liturgy, and openly declare his Assent to the Lawfulness of the use of it, and shall promise, That it shall be constantly used at the time and place accustomed.
In order to Indulgence of such Protestants as cannot be comprehended under the publick Establishment, it is Humbly offered,
1. That such Protestants may have liberty for the Exercise of th…r Religion in publick, and at … Charges to build or procure places for their publick Worship, either within or near T…s, as shall be thought most Expedient.
2. That the Names of all such persons who are to have this Liberty be Registred, together with the Congregations to which they belong, and the Names of their Teachers.
3. That every one admitted to this liberty, be disabled to bear any publick Office, (but shall fine for Officers of Burden.
4. And that upon shewing a Certificate of their being listed among those who are indulged, they shall be freed from such legal penalties, as are to be inflicted on those who do not frequent their Parish-Churches.
5. And such persons so indulged shall not for their meeting in Conventicles, be punished by Confiscation of Estates.
6. Provided that they be obliged to pay all publick Duties to the Parish where they inhabit under penalty.
7. This Indulgence to Continue for three years.
That the Liturgy may be altered by omitting,—&c.
BY using the reading Psalms in the New Translation. By appointing some other Lessons out of the Canonical Scripture instead of those taken out of the Apocrypha. By not … God-fathers and God-mothers, when either of the parents are ready to answer for the Ch…ld. By omitting that clause in the Prayer at Baptism [By spiritual Regeneration.] By changing that Question, wilt thou be baptised, into, Wilt thou hauehave this Child baptised.] By omitting those words in the Thanksgiving after publick and private baptism [To regenerate this Infant by thy holy Spirit, and to receive him for thy Child by adoption. And the first Rubrick after baptism, It is certain by God's word, &c. By changing those words in the Exhortation after baptism [Regenerate and Graffed into the body] into [Received into the Church of Christ.] By not requiring reiteration of any part of the service about baptism in publick, when it is evident that the Child hath been lawfully baptized in private. By omitting that Clause in the Collect after Imposition of hands in confirmation [After the Example of thy holy Apostles, and to certify them by this sign, of thy favour, and gracious goodness towards them.] And by changing that other passage in the prayer before Confirmation [who hast vouchsafed to regenerate, &c.] into [who hast vouchsafed to receive these thy servants into thy Church by baptism]. By omitting that clause in the Office of Matrimony [with my body I thee worship]. And that in the Collect [who hast conse…rated, &c.] By allowing Ministers some liberty in the visitation of the …ick, to use such other prayers as they shall judge expedient. By changing that clause in the prayer at burial [For asmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take to himself, &c.] into [For as much as it hath pleased Almighty God to take out of this World the Soul, &c.] And that clause [In a sure and certain hope, &c.] into [in a full assurance of the resurrection by our Lord Iesus Christ, who is able to change our vile, &c.] By omitting that Clause, We give thee hearty thanks for that it hath pleased thee to deliver this our brother out of the miseries of this sinful World.] And that other [As our hopes is that our brother doth]. By changing that Clause in the Common service, [our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, &c.] into [our sinful Souls and Bodies may be cleansed by his precious body and blood]. By not enjoyning the reading of the Commination. That the Liturgy may be abbreviated as to the length of it. Especially as to morning-service; By omitting all the Responsal prayers from [O Lord open thou our, &c.] to the Litany, and the Litany and all the prayers from [Son of God we beseech thee, &c.] to [we humbly beseech thee O Father, &c.] By not enjoyning the use of the Lords Prayer above once, viz. Immediately after the absolution, except after the Minister's Prayer before Sermon. By using the Gloria Patri only once, viz. after the Reading Psalms. By omitting the venite exultemus, unless it be thought fit to put any or all of the first seven among the sentences at the beginning. By omitting the Communion service, such times as are not Communion Days; excepting the 10 Commandments, which may be read after the Creed: And injoyning the prayer, Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep these Laws, only once at the End. By omitting the Collects, Epistles and Gospels, except only on particular holidays. By inserting the prayers for the Parliament into the Litany immediately after the prayer for the Royal Family, in this or the like form [That it may please thèe to direct and prosper all the Consultations of the High Court of Parliament, to the Advantage of thy Glory, the good of the Church, the safety, honour and welfare of our Sovereign and his Kingdoms.] By omitting the two hymns in the Consecration of Bishops, and the Ordinati…n of Priests. That after the first Question in the Catechism, [What is your Name?] This may follow [When was this Name given you?] And after that [What was promised for you in Baptism?] Answer [Three things were promised for me; &c.] In the Question before the Commandments it may be altered [You said it was promised for you, &c.] To the 14 Qu. [How many Sacraments hath Christ ordained?] The Answer may be [Two only: Baptism, and the Lord's Supper.
§ 67. Upon Consultation we altered their paper in some things, and added some more (for we were held to those proposals) only leaving the point for Toleration to be debated with our Brethren of the Congregational way: And I privately acquainted Dr. Owen with the substance of the business, and consulted him, that they might not say, we neglected them. And we offered them the following form which was not what we desired, but more than Dr. Wilkins (after Bp. of Chester) would grant us (still professing himself willing of more, but that more would not pass with the Parliament, and so would frustrate all our Attempts.)
§ 68. The paper offered by us.
1. Those who have been ordained only by meer Presbyters, or the Presidents of their Synods shall be instituted, and authorized to exercise their Ministry (and admitted to Bènefices) therein in such manner and by such persons as by his Majesty shall be thereto appointed, by this form and words alone [Take, &c.] Provided that those who desire it, have leave to give in their professions that they renounce not their Ordination, nor take it for a nu…ty, and that they take this, as the Magistrates License and Confirmation, and that they be not constrained to use any words themselves which are not consistent with this profession.
2. All persons to be admitted by Ordination, Institution, License, or otherwise, into any Ecclesiastical function and dignity, or to any preferment in either Vnivesity, or to the Employment of a Schoolmaster, shall first take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, and instead of all other Oaths, Subscriptions and Declarations (except the Ancient Vniversity Oath) shall be required only to subscribe to this form of Words:
J. A. B. Do hereby profess and Declare my unfeigned assent to the truth of all the holy Canonical …criptures, and to the Articles of the Creed [and to the Doctrine of the Church of England contained in the 36 Articles] or [to the Doctrinal part of the 39 Articles of the Church of England] or [excepting only the 3 Articles of Ceremonies and Prelacy.] And I do hold that the Doctrine, Worship and Government there established doth contain all things absolutely necessary to salvation: And I will not knowingly by my self or any other, endeavour to bring in any Doctrine contrary to this aforesaid so established. And it is my true Resolution to hold Communion with the Churches of England, and faithfully to preserve the peace and happiness thereof.
And all those who are qualified with abilities according to the Law, and take the Oaths and Declarations abovesaid, shall be allowed to preach Lectures and Occasional Sermons and to Catechize and to be presented and admitted to any Benefice, or to any Ecclesiastical, or Academical promotions, or to the teaching of Schools.
3. Every person admitted to any Benefice with cure of Souls, shall be obliged himself, on some Lord's day, within a time prefixed to read the Liturgy appointed for that day (when it is satisfactorily altered), and the greatest part of it in the mean time, and to be often present at the reading of it and sometimes to administer the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, according to the said Liturgies; And it shall by himself or some other allowed Minister be constantly used in his Church, and the Sacraments frequently administred as is required by the Law.
4. The 4th was against the Ceremonies without alteration, in their own words save about bowing at the Name …esus, as after.
5. No Bishop, Chancellor, or other Ecclesiastical Officers shall have power to silence any allowed Minister, or suspend him … officio vel beneficio, arbitrarily, or for any cause without a known Law: And in case of any such arbitary or injurious silencing and suspension there shall be allowed an appeal to some of his Majestie's Courts of Iustice, so as it may be prosecuted in a competent time, and at a tolerable expence, being both Bishops and Presbyters and all Ecclesiastical persons are under the Government of the King, and punishable by him, for gross and injurious male-administrations.
6. Though we judge it the Duty of Ministers to Catechize, instruct, exhort, direct and comfort the people personally as well as publickly upon just occasion, yet lest a pretended necessity of Examinations before the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or an unwarrantable strictness should introduce Church-Tyranny, and wrong the faithful by keeping them from the Communion, let all those be admitted to the Communion who since their Infant baptism have at years of discretion manifested to the Bishop, or the Ministers of the Parish Church where they live, a tolerable understanding of the Essential points of Faith and Godliness, that is, of the Baptismal Covenant, and of the nature and use of the Lord's Supper, and have personally owned before them or the Church, the Covenant which by others they made in Baptism, professing their Resolution to keep the same, in a Faithful, Godly, Righteous, Charitable and Temporal Life, and are not since this profession revolted to Atheism, Insidelity, or Heresy, (that is the denying of some Essential Article of faith) and live not impenitently in any gross and scandalous sin; And therefore in the Register of each Parish let all their Names be written, who have either, before their Confirmation or at any other time thus understandingly owned their Baptismal Covenant, and a Certificate thereof from the Minister of the place shall serve without any further examination, for their admission to Communion in that or any other Parish Church where they shall after live, till by the aforesaid revolts they have merited their suspension. duplicate page duplicate page
7. Because in many families there are none who can read or pray, …or call to remembrance what they have heard to edify themselves and spend the Lords day in holy Exercises, and many of these live so far from the Church, that they go more seldom than the rest, and therefore have great need of the assistance of their Neighbours, it is not to be taken for a Conventicle or unlawful meeting when Neighbours shall peaceably joyn together in reading the Scripture or any good books, or repeating publick Sermons, and praying, and …ging …salms to God, whilst they do it under the inspection of the Minister, and not in opposition to the publick Assemblies. Nor yet that meeting where the Minister shall privately Catechize his Neighbours, or pray with them, when they are in sickness, danger, or distress, tho persons of several Families shall be present.
8. Whereas the Canon and Rubrick forbid the ad…ission of notorious scandalous sinners to the Lords table, be it enacted that those who are proved to deride or scorn at Christianity, or the holy Scriptures, or the Life of Reward and Punishment, or the serious practice of a Godly Life, and strict obedience to Gods Commands, shall be numbered with the Scandalous sinners mentioned in the Canon and Rubrick, and not admitted, before repentance, to the holy Communion.
§ 69. The following paper will give you the reasons of all our alterations of their form of Words: But I must add this, that we thought not the form of Subscription sufficient to keep out a Papist from the established Ministery (much less from a Toleration, which we medled not with). And here and in other alterations I bore the blame, and they told me that no Man would put in such doubts but I. And I will here tell Posterity this Truth as a Mystery (yet only to the blind) which must not now be spoken, that I believe that I have been guilty of hindering our own Liberties in all Treaties that ever I was employ'd in: For I remember not one in which there was not some crevice, or contrivance, or terms offered, for such a Toleration, as would have let in the moderate Papists with us: And if we would but have opened the Door to let the Papists in, that their Toleration might have been charged upon us; as being for our sakes, and by our request or procu…ement, we might in all likelihood have had our part. But though, for my own part, I am not for Cruelty against Papists, any more than others, even when they are most cruel to us, but could allow them a certain degree of liberty, on Terms that shall secure the common Peace, and the People's Souls; yet I shall never be one of them that by any renewed pressures or severities, shall be forced to petition for the Papists liberty; if they must have it, let them Petition for it themselves: No craft of Iesuits or Prelates, shall thunder me, cudgel me, or cheat me into the Opinion, that it is now necessary for our own Ministry, Liberty, or Lives, that we, I say, we Nonconformists, be the famed Introducers of the Papists Toleration; that so neither Papists, nor Prelatists may bear the odium of it, but may lay it all on us. God do what he will with us, his way is best, but I think that this is not his way.
§ 70. Upon these Alterations, I was put to give in my Reasons of them; which were as followeth.