Sacred Therapy, Book 3 · Chapter 9
CHAP. IX.
Of the case of conscience, dealing treacherously under pretense of liberty of conscience.
PRevarication or treacherous dealing, is strictly taken, when for a bud or bribe the conscience doth betray the cause which it should defend: and it is borrowed from the unfaithfull advocat, who for a bribe doth sell the cause which he pretends to defend, and give over the plea of his client, and falleth in to the adverse party. Such is the man whose affection to some lust and worldly advantage, doth blind-fold his conscience and moveth it to speak contrary to its duty, and mean time doth pretend he is only following the light of his conscience, for whose liberty he ought to dispute; the mater may be seen in an example or instance one or two: King Saul receives a command from God to slay all the Amalekits and destroy them and their beasts; when it cometh to execution, Saul conceiveth it shall be for his honour to spare Agag and reserve him for a triumph, and that it should be for his advantage to spare the fattest of the cattel, whereof the people might make use for sacrifice; So advantage and honour do sollicit him. The peoples consent who followed him, helpeth on his resolution to spare Agag and the fattest of the cattel: fear to offend the people whom he had drawn on to consent unto his mind, concurreth to the giving forth his decreet, contrary to Gods command; and so his conscience being bribed, faileth against the command of God. In which resolution and practice Saul doth please himself.
The like treachery in Saul falleth forth in the mater of the Gibeonits: The Gibeonits preserved from Ioshuas time, did grow in number to the detriment of the Israelits as he conceived, the oath of a covenant sworn for sparing their lives standeth up on the one hand to hinder him from slaying of them, the advantage which his kindly subject might have by killing them and possessing their lands and goods, standeth up to intise him to kill them, on the other hand: Saul being taken with the bait of advantage and honour from the people of Israel, for whom he was zealous, inclineth his conscience to mis-regard the oath of the covenant, partly because it was given without Gods counsel and consent, yea contrary to his positive command, discharging a covenant with the Canaanits; partly because the Gibeonits deceived Ioshua and the elders, and fained themselves not to be of the number of the Canaanits, but men of a far country; partly because many years had interveened between the day of Ioshua's covenant with them and his time, and it seemed unto Saul very unreasonable, that a rash and unadvised oath should be still in force from generation to generation; and partly also because the form of the civil Government was now changed, whereby Saul conceiving himself not to be obliged as successor to the Judges, but as King ordained at Gods special direction, as free a Monarch as any in the world, and not bound by the oath of the rash swearing Judges and Elders in Ioshuas time, doth treacherously seduce his own conscience, and falleth upon the off-cutting of the Gibeonits by the sword. How many are they who by such intisements, having deceived their own hearts, and for worldly gain or glory, or for eshewing of damnage, do embrace errors in religion, and follow that course which most serveth to satis…ie their own lusts, or is most applauded unto of them who are in power? From which sort of treacherous dealing nothing can divert, and draw back the man to repentance, except the Lord partly by disputation, and partly by Church-censures and civil punishments, shall discover unto them their treacherous dealing in selling the truth and betraying their conscience for base ends, and so bring them to repentance.
In this case, such as are pretended maintainers of liberty of conscience, but in effect patrons of licentious living after their own lusts, put in their objections.
1. Obj. It is necessary for me, saith one, to do what I do, and to think what I think; I conceive I have reason for me and am perswaded that what I do and professe is lawfull, and that that is not lawfull whereunto censures and punishments tend to draw me.
Ans. What necessity can be pretended for a deliberat mans actions and profession except a morall necessity of doing duty and of not sinning? Natural necessity he cannot alledge for the justifying of deliberat sinfull actions: For if he pretend original sin and native corrupt inclination to sin, it is no excuse for sin, but a granting himself a sinner by kind, by natural inclination and custom; or, if he pretend a civil necessity, it is either for hope of gain or fear of wordly loss, and that is but a base reason to move a man to do what is in it self sinfull. If conscience be pretended, and that he cannot without sin do what is against his conscience, he must know that a conscience mis-informed cannot warrant a sinfull tenet or practice: for except a man renounce the error which he hath embraced, both the error is his sin, and the profession and practice according to the error, doth make his sin double; if he pretend, that except he do as his conscience diteth unto him, he sinneth, because the conscience is the rule of a mans actions, he must know, that the conscience is not the absolute rule of a mans actions, but the Word of God must be the rule of his conscience and of his actions also. Because if he put his conscience in the place of Gods Word, and not in subjection and subordination thereto, he must justifie the murtherers of the Martyrs, of whom Christ giveth warning, that they who kill his servants shall think (to wit in their conscience) that they do unto God good service, Ioh. 16. 2. If he pretend, that upon this ground, liberty of conscience is altogether destroyed, if men living under civil and ecclesiastick Government, must renounce the light of their conscience and give obedience to mens commandments, he must know, that he is mistaken, and that the true liberty of the conscience standeth in the following Gods Word, and doing service unto God. Neither doth sound doctrine tye any man to renounce the liberty of his conscience, but to renounce the error which hath blinded him, and to renounce his lust which hath opened the door unto the error which hath misled him, lest both he perish in his sin, and the society wherein he liveth be infected with the error, and fall under the wrath of God. If he pretend, that neither the will of a man, nor his conscience can be compelled: For, the nature of the conscience and will, is to determine freely what the man shall do; and the Lords people must be a willing people, Ps. 110. 3 He must know, that albeit the will and conscience cannot be compelled, yet the carnal lusts which have seduced the conscience, may be crossed and curbed by ecclesiastick censures and civil punishments, that the conscience and will, being better informed, after the discovery of the deceitfulnesse of their lusts, which did mislead them, they may freely disclaim the error, & their unhappy venting thereof▪ If he pretend, that God is the only Lord of the Conscience, and no man may take upon him that power to prescrib unto, and command another mans conscience▪ let him know that God indeed is the only Lord of the conscience, and because he is Lord, therefore hath he appointed his Ministers to teach men the truth, and to presse the disobedient members of the visible Church with censures; and hath put the sword in the Magistrats hand to see his will done, and to punish such as refuse to give obedience to his commands, that so obedience may be procured to God the only Lord of the conscience, In which case albeit the acts commanded by the will and conscience, are curbed and restrained, yet the will and conscience, is not compelled, but is brought to a better determination of its own elicit acts, that having obtained a clearer light about its duty, it may command the outward man to say & do what is right. If he pretend, that religion is not to be propagat and press'd by force, but by the word preached, and heresies are to be rooted out, not by the sword but by the power of truth holden forth to the heretick, let him know, that there is a difference between propagation of religion among Pagans, or people not under the charge of the civil Magistrat, or Church Judicatories, and the preservation or purgation of religion among them that are within the visible Church, and under the power of the civil Magistrat.
For albeit the only way to bring religion in request among heathen nations and strangers to the covenant of promises, be that way which the Apostles did follow, preaching the Gospel to all, and receiving such as embraced the Gospel into Church-fellowship, yet the Magistrat, having civil dominion over heathen Idolaters, may after information of them by the Preachers of the Gospel, break their Idols and abolish them, and restrain them from doing contempt unto the true Religion, or abusing of the Sabbath, as the fourth command of the moral law doth give warrant; yea, and may compell them to use the means whereby they may be instructed in the true Religion. Again, let him know there is a difference between dealing with Pagans and strangers from the commonwealth of Israel, and dealing with these who have given up their names unto Christ, have entered in covenant with God, and by baptisme have consecrat themselves and their children unto the faith, worship and obedience of God, and do professe the christian Religion, and yet go about by their errors and practices to corrupt and over-turn the true Religion and saith of others among whom they live: for, such may and should be not only instructed by Sermon, con…rence and dispute, but also punished by the civil Magistrate for their deceiving of the people, and troubling the flocks of Christ, Deut. 13. and Rom. 13. If he pretend, that Church-censures and civil punishments can serve for nothing but to make men dissemblers and hypocrits in the mater of religion, which is most odious in the sight of God and wise men, let him know, that every hypocrit shall bear his own iniquity: Ecclesiastick censures and civil punishments concern the words and deeds of the outward man, that they may be ordered so as Religion and the peace of the Kingdom may not suffer detriment. If any man say and do that which is right in hypocrisie and dissimulation, the society wherein he liveth is safe; but for his hypocrisie let the dissembler answer to God for it. And yet it is not to be presumed, that all who by censures, and fear of civil punishments do forsake error and embrace truth, are dissemblers and hypocrits in so doing, because they are means appointed of God for curbing and reclaiming erroneous persons, wherewith he giveth his blessing when it pleaseth him: for by censures and civil punishments, the allurements which have enduced them to error are cut off, such as are applause of men, vain glory, worldly advantage, sensual pleasure, and such like, wherein the erroneous have been taken as in an evil net, which being broken, the insnared captive may come freely off his error, and embrace the truth, and take in good part the censures and civil punishment which drew him out of the snare into the right way: As we are assured by the prophesie of Zechariah, chap. 13. 6. And one shall say (to wit, to the converted sectary) what are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. But whether by those means the erroneous be reclaimed heartily or in dissimulation, respect must be had to Gods commands and his peoples good, by curbing of vice and error, according as God hath given power to the Church and to the civil Magistrat, Rom. 13. 3, 4. who is appointed the minster of God for the peoples good.
If he shall object, that he who chargeth him for his error, is no lesse subject to error, then he whom he chargeth, yea, that Governours ecclesiastick and civil are no more exeemed from the danger of erring, then privat persons, yea, that the determinations of Synods and Councils are not infallible, yea, that he is perswaded the error he is charged of, is no error, but not perswaded of the truth which the reformers of him pretend unto. Let him know that the force of his objection doth assert, that truth and righteousnesse is settled upon the mis-perswaded sectaries part, and that the Church and Magistrat who …indeth fault with him, hath nothing to perswade them of the truth, which they do presse upon the sectary, and so cannot condemn or punish him; but he must know, that it is one thing to say one may erre in the latitude of a possiblity indefinit, another, to say one doth erre in such a particular wherein he hath the light of Scripture and reason clear for him. The sectary will not deny he may erre, but he will maintain that in such one or other article of his profession he doth not erre. Shall he maintain his plea, that he doth not erre in such a point of error? and shall not the Magistrat and Church maintain their plea, that they do not erre in punishing such an obstinat erroneous person? Christ hath committed the keyes of doctrine and discipline to his Church, that privat persons may know Christs will by the ministery of the Church, except he will be holden for an heathen or publican, Mat. 18. 17. He hath also committed the power of the sword unto the Magistrat, who doth not bear the sword in vain, Rom. 13. And therefore let the Church and Magistrat do their duty, and let erroneous persons cease to stumble the Lords people by their error and practice, and suffer themselves to be brought in order by such as have commission and power to move them by censures and civil punishment thereunto.
If still he will insist and alledge, that by this means a Christian by censures and civil punishment, is compelled to sin against his conscience, let him know, that a scandalous sectary or licentious libertine, is not compelled at all to sin, but to say and do that which is right and to hearken to the Word of God rather then to his own erring conscience; for the scandalous sectary, schismatick or heretick lyeth in a twofold sin, the one is in his spirit, believing and embracing an error, the other in his external words and deeds corrupting the minds and maners of Gods people. If after conference and disputation, the sin of his misled mind cannot be taken away, yet the correcting of him by Church-censures and civil punishment may restrain and bind him up from troubling, and infecting others with his leaven and ill example; and so his sinning externally is cut off, and he made in so far to cease from evil: wherein he doth not sin in so far, because sin is not every transgression of the ditement of the conscience simply, but the transgression of the law, and ditement of the conscience speaking according to the law, is a sin. It is true indeed, that whosoever doth judge the ditement of his conscience to be the Law of God, and yet doth the contrary, must by interpretation of his deed be holden guilty of sin, because he who by fear or hope can be moved to do contrary to the ditement of his erring conscience, in effect doth professe he may be moved by hope or fear to do contrary to the ditement of his conscience well informed. Mean time it is expedient, not only for the good of the society of Gods people, but also for the good of the erroneous person himself, that he be curbed and hindered, by these that have lawfull power, from doing yet more harm, and restrained from following the course of sin and filling up the full measure of sinning, which he was about to do.