Works of Joseph Hall, Section 6 – Section 10
SECTION VI.
BVT all theſe examples, perhaps are not ſo much to warrant what you hauehave done,What ſeparation is to bee made by churches in their planting or reſtauration. In his Preface to the Reader, and in his cauſes of ſeparation defended, pag. 4. Eiuſdem p. 10. Refutat. of M. Gyff. p. 22. & 2. Tranſgreſſ. p. 51. 52. & 55. 66. & 70. 85. & 86. &c. Inconſtance of Browne, p. 110. Inquiry into M White, confeſſed by Fr. Iohnſon pag. 63. Paſſage twixt Clifton and Smith: And concerning the conſtitution of the Churches, &c. But the conſtituting of Churches now after the defection of Antichriſt, may more properly be called a repairing than a conſtitution, &c. as to condemne the Church of England for what ſhee hath not done: for ſuch a ſeparation ſhee neither hath made nor doth make, but ſtands actually one with all that part of the World within the Kingdome without ſeparation. Loe, here the maine ground of this Schiſme, which your Proto-Martyr BARROVV hammers vponupon in eueryevery page; an ill conſtitution: Thus hee comments vponupon your words: For where ſuch prophane confuſe multitudes, without any exception, ſeparation or choice, were all of them from publike Idolatry, at one inſtant receiued or rather compelled to bee members of the Church, in ſome Pariſh or other, where they inhabited, without any due calling to the faith, by the preaching of the Goſpel going before, or orderly ioyning together in the faith, there being no voluntarie or particular confeſſion of their owne faith and duties made or required of any, and laſtly, no holy walking in the faith amongſt them; who can ſay that theſe Churches conſiſting of this people, were euer rightly gathered or built according to the rule of Chriſts Teſtament? In his words and yours I finde both a miſcollection, and a wrong charge. For the former: the want of noting one poore diſtinction, breeds all this confuſion of Doctrine, and ſeparation of men: for there is one caſe of a new Church to be called from Heatheniſme to Chriſtianitie, another of a former Church to be reformed from errors, to more ſincere Chriſtianitie. In the firſt of theſe is required indeed a ſolemne initiation by Baptiſme; and before that, a voluntarie and particular confeſſion of faith, and therefore a cleare ſeparation, and exception of the Chriſtian, from the Infidell: In the latter, neither is new Baptiſme lawfull (though ſome of you belike of old were in hand with a rebaptization: which not then ſpeeding, ſucceedeth now to your ſhame) nor a new voluntarie and particular confeſſion of Faith, beſides that in Baptiſme (though very commendable) will euer be proued ſimply neceſſarie to the being of a Church; ſo long as the erring parties doe actually renounce their doctrines, and in open profeſſion imbrace the truth; and (as generaly in the publike confeſſion) ſo particularly vponupon good occaſion giuegive iuſt teſtimonies of their repentance: This is our caſe, wee did not make a new Church, but mended an old: your CLIFTON is driuen to this hold by neceſſitie of Argument; Otherwiſe he ſees there is no auoiding of Anabaptiſme: Mended, ſaith your Doctor, and yet admitted the miſceline rabble of the prophane? Say now, that ſuch ſeparation were not made: Let ſome few be holy, and the more part prophane: Shall the lewdneſſe of ſome diſanull Gods Couenant with others? This is your mercy; Gods is more: who ſtill held Iſrael for his, when but few held his pure ſeruice: Let that Diuine Pſalmiſt teach you how full the Tents of Iſrael were of mutinous Rebels in the Deſart; yet the Pillar by day and night forſooke them not; and Moſes was ſo farre from reiecting them, that he would not endure God ſhould reiect them to his owne aduantage: Looke into the blacke cenſures, and bitter complaints of all the Prophets, and wonder that they ſeparated not: Looke into the increaſed maſſe of corruptions, in that declined Church; whereof the bleſſed eyes of our Sauiour were witneſſes, and maruell at his ſilent and ſociable incuriouſneſſe: yea, his charge of not ſeparating; Yee know not of what ſpirit you are:Mat. 23. Now you flie to conſtitution, as if notorious euils were more tolerable in continuance, than in the collection of Aſſemblies: Sardi had but a few names that had not defiled their garments;Reuel. 3.4. God praiſes theſe, bids them not ſeparate from the reſt. Thyatira ſuffers a falſe propheteſſe: the reſt that hauehave not this learning,Reuel. 2.24. yet are bidden but to hold their owne; not to ſeparate from the Angell, which hath not ſeparated IEzABEL from the Church.
SECTION VII.
What ſeparation the Church of England hath made. Bar. p. 22. & 55. Fr. Iohnſ. againſt M. H. Act. & Mon. poſſ….YOVR charge is no leſſe iniurious; that the Church of England hath made no ſeparation: Concerning which you hauehave learned of your Martyr, and ouer-ſeers ſo to ſpeake, as if before her late diſclamation of poperie, in Queene ELIzABETHS time, ſhe had not beene. Her monuments could hauehave taught you better, and hauehave lead you to her ancient Pedigree not much below the Apoſtolike dayes, and in many deſcents hauehave ſhewed you not a few worthy witneſſes and patrons of Truth; all which, with their holy and conſtant off-ſpring, it might hauehave pleaſed you to hauehave ſeparated from this imputation of not ſeparating: Will you know therefore how the Church of England hath ſeparated? In her firſt conuerſion ſhee ſeparated her ſelfe from Pagans: in her continuance ſhee ſeparated her ſelfe from groſſe heretiques, and ſealed her ſeparation with bloud: in her reformation ſhee ſeparated her ſelfe from wilfull Papiſts, by her publike profeſſion of Truth, and proclaimed hatred of error; and ſhee daily doth ſeparate the notoriouſly euill, by ſuſpenſions, by excommunications, though not ſo many as yours;Troubl. & excom. p. 191. M Spr. p 1. Beſides the particular ſeparations of many from the acknowledged corruptions, in iudgement, profeſſion, practiſe. All theſe will bee auowed in ſpight of all contradiction: with what forhead then can you ſay; The whole Church of England hath not at all ſeparated?
After all your ſhifts and idle tales of conſtitution, you hauehave ſeparated from this Church againſt the Lord; not with the Lord, from it: If there bee Chriſt with vsus, if the Spirit of God in vsus,F: Iun. lib. de Eccleſ. if Aſſemblies, if calling by the word: whatſoeuer is, or is not elſe in the Conſtitution, there is whatſoeuer is required to the eſſence of a Church. No corruption either in gathering or continuance can deſtroy the truth of being, but the grace of being well: If Chriſt hauehave taken away his word and ſpirit, you hauehave iuſtly ſubduced; elſe you hauehave gone from him in vsus.
And when you hauehave all done, the Separatiſts Idol, viſible Conſtitution, will proue but an appendance of an externall forme, no part of the eſſence of a true Church: and therefore your ſeparation no leſſe vaine than the ground, than the Authors. Laſtly, if our bountie ſhould (which it cannot) grant, that our collection was at firſt deeply faultie:Ratibabitio retrahi, &c. Subſequens conſenſus Iacobi in Leam fecit eos coniuges, d. 29. q. 1. S. ſed obijcitur. Barrow againſt Gyff. cannot the Ratibabition (as the Lawyers ſpeake) be drawne backe? may not an after-allowance rectifie and confirme it? In contracts (your owne ſimilitude) a following conſent iuſtifies an act done before conſent: and why not in the contract betwixt God, and his viſible Church? Lo, he hath confirmed it by his gratious benedictions, and as much as may be in ſilence giuen vsus abundant proofes of his acceptation: That after-act, which makes your Baptiſme lawfull, why can it not make our Church?
SECT. VIII.
BVT for as much as Conſtitution is the very ſtate of Browniſme,Conſtitution of a Church. Let vsus (I beſeech you) inquire a little into the complexion of your Conſtitution: Whether Phyſicke, or Law, or Architecture hauehave lent you it: ſure I am, it is in this vſe, Apocryphall: Neuer man vſed it this ſcrupulouſly till your times: Though, what need you the helpe of Fathers or Schooles? new words muſt expreſſe new Paradoxes. It is no treaſon to come termes: What then is Conſtitution? Your Doctor can beſt tell vsus: As the Conſtitution of a Common-wealth, or of a City,H. Anſworth. Counterp. p. 170. is a gathering or vniting of a people together into a ciuill Politie: So (ſaith he) the Conſtitution of the Common-wealth of Iſrael, and of the City of God, the new Ieruſalem, is a gathering and vniting of people into a diuine Politie. The forme of which Polity, is Order: which Order is requiſite in all actions, and Adminiſtrations of the Church, as the Apoſtle ſheweth, and ſpecially in the Conſtitution thereof: So that next vntounto faith in God, it is to be eſteemed moſt neceſſary for all holy ſocieties.Coloſſ. 2.5. Hence Paul reioyced in the Coloſsians Order and Faith: To this Conſtitution therefore, belong a people, as the matter; ſecondly, a calling, or gathering together, as the forme, whereof the Church conſiſteth. The Conſtitution of the Church of England is falſe in both: Why ſo? HaueHave we not a people? Are not thoſe people called together? To preuent this, you ſay our Conſtitution is falſe, not none: Why falſe? Becauſe thoſe people hauehave neither Faith, nor Order. For Faith firſt: Who are you that dare thus boldly breake into the cloſets of God,Tertull. de Praeſcript. Tu vt homo extrinſecus vnumquem que noſti, putas quod vides, vides autem quouſ que oculos habes, ſed oculi Domini ſunt alti, Homo in faciem, Deus in praecordia contemplatur. Principles and inferences concerning the viſible Church. Anno 1607. p. 13. the hearts of men? and condemne them to want that, which cannot bee ſeene by any but diuine eyes? how dare you intrude thus into the throne of your Maker? Conſider, and conferre ſeriouſly: What faith is it, that is thus neceſſarily required to each member in this Conſtitution? Your owne Doctor ſhall define it: Faith required to the receiuing in of members, is the knowledge of the Doctrine of ſaluation by Chriſt, 1 Cor. 12.9. Gal. 3.2. Now I beſeech you in the feare of God, lay by a while all vnchriſtian preiudice, and peremptory verdicts of thoſe ſoules, which coſt Chriſt as much bloud as your owne: and tell me ingenuouſly, whether you dare ſay, that not onelyonly your Chriſtian brethren with whom you lately conuerſed, but euen your fore-fathers which liued vnderunder Queene Elizabeths firſt confuſed reformation, knew not the doctrine of ſaluation by Chriſt: if you ſay they did not, your raſh iudgement ſhall be puniſhed fearefully, by him whoſe office you vſurpe. As you looke to anſwer before him that would not breake the bruiſed Reed, nor quench the ſmoaking Flax; preſume not thus, aboue men and Angels. If they did, then had they ſufficient claime both to true Conſtitution and Church: But this faith muſt be teſtified by obedience; ſo it was. If you thinke not ſo, yours is not teſtified by louelove: both were weake, both were true: Weakneſſe in any grace or worke, takes not away truth: Their ſinnes of ignorance could no more diſanull Gods couenant with them, than multiplicity of wiues with the Patriarchs.
SECT. IX.
Order, 2. Part of Conſtitution, how farre requiſite, and whether hindered by conſtraint. D. Alliſ. againſt the Deſcript. Confeſſ. of the Browniſts. Brow. State of true Chriſtians. Inquire into M. White. Anſ. ibid. Ariſt. Pol. 3. c. 1.WHat wanted they then? Nothing but Order; and not all Order, but yours: Order, a thing requiſite and excellent; but let the world iudge whether eſſentiall. Conſider now, I beſeech you in the bowels of Chriſt Ieſus, whether this be a matter for which heauen and earth ſhould be mixed: whether for want of your Order, all the world muſt be put out of all Order, and the Church out of life and being: Nothing (ſay we) can be more diſorderly, than the confuſion of your Democracie, or popular ſtate (if not Anarchie): Where all (in a ſort) ordaine and excommunicate; We condemne you not for no true members of the Church: what can be more orderleſſe (by your owne confeſſions) than the Trine-vne Church at Amſterdam? which yet you grant but faulty. If there be diſproportion and diſlocation of ſome parts, is it no true humane body? will you riſe from the feaſt, vnleſſe the diſhes be ſet on in your owne faſhion? Is it no Citie, if there bee mudwalles halfe broken, low Cottages vnequally built, no State-houſe? But your order hath more eſſence than you can expreſſe; and is the ſame which Polititians in their trade call (foreign) an incorporating into one common ciuill body, by a voluntary vnion, and that vnderunder a lawfull gouernment: Our Church wants both: wherein there is both conſtraint, and falſe office. Take your owne reſemblance and your owne asking: Say that ſome Tyrant (as Baſilius of Ruff…) ſhall forcibly compell a certaine number of Subiects into Moſco, and ſhall hold them in by an awfull Garriſon, forcing them to new lawes and Magiſtrates, perhaps hard and bloudy: They yeeld; and making the beſt of all, liue together in a cheerefull communion, with due commerce, louing conuerſation, ſubmiſſiue execution of the enioyned lawes: In ſuch caſe, Whether is Moſco a true Cittie, or not? Since your Doctor cites Ariſtotle, Ariſt. Pol. 3 c. 1. Edeſius & Frumentius pueri à Meropio Tyrio Philoſopho in Indiam d…portati, poſtca ibi Chriſtianam religionem plantarunt, Ruff…n. l. 1. c. 9. Foemina inter Iber…s.let it not irke him to learne of that Philoſopher, who can teach him, that when Caliſthenes had driuen out the Tyrant from Athens, and ſet vp a new Gouernment, and receiued many ſtrangers, and bondmen into the Tribes, it was doubted, not which of them were Citizens, but whether they were made Citizens vniuſtly. If you ſhould finde a company of true Chriſtians in vtmoſt India, would you ſtand vponupon termes, and enquire how they became ſo? Whiles they hauehave what is neceſſary for that heauenly profeſſion; what need your curioſity trouble it ſelfe with the meanes?
SECT. X.
Conſtraint requiſite. 2 Chr. 33.16. 2 Chr. 34.32, 33. 2 Chr. 15.13. Barr. againſt Gyff. Brow. Reformation without tarrying. Greenewood, Conference with Cooper, Browne, Reformation without tarrying Conference with Doctor Andr. Maſter Hutch. Conference with D. Andr. Reformation without tarrying Ber. Fides ſuadenda non cogenda. Counterpoyſon. Dixit Pater familias ſeruis, Quoſcun que inueneritis, cogite intrare, &c. Aug. Epiſt. 48. Pleſſ. de Eccleſ. c. 10. Aug. Quod ſi …ogip. riegem aliquem vel ad bona ſicuiſſet, vos ipſi miſeri à nobis ad fidem puriſſimam cogi deluiſtis: ſed abſit à noſtra conſcientia, vt ad fidem noſtram aliquem cogamus. Aug. Epiſt. 48. & 68. Qui phreneticum ligat, & qui letharg. excitat, ambobus moleſtus, ambos amat, Ibid. Cl…mant, Neminem ad vnitatem cogendum; quid hoc aliud, quam quod de vobis quidam. Quod volumus ſanctum eſt.YOu ſee then what an idle plea conſtraint is in the conſtitution of a Citie, the ground of all your exception: But it is otherwiſe in Gods citie, the Church; why then doth his Doctorſhip parallel theſe two? And why may not euen conſtraint it ſelfe hauehave place in the lawfull conſtitution or reformation of a Church? Did not Manaſſes after his comming home to God, charge and command Iuda to ſerue the Lord God of Iſrael? Did not worthy Ioſiah, when he had made a couenant before the Lord, cauſe all that were found in Ieruſalem, and Beniamin, to ſtand to it, and compelled all that were found in Iſrael, to ſerue the Lord their God? What hauehave Queene Elizabeth, or King Iames done more? Or what other? Did not Aſa vponupon Obeds propheſie, gather both Iuda and Beniamin, and all the ſtrangers from Ephraim, Manaſſes, and Simeon, and enact with them, that whoſoeuer would not ſeeke the Lord God, ſhould bee ſlaine? What meanes this peruerſeneſſe? You that teach we may not ſtay Princes leiſure to reforme, will you not allow Princes to vrge others to reforme? What crime is this, that men were not ſuffered to bee open Idolaters, that they were forced to yeeld ſubmiſſion to Gods ordinances? Euen your owne teach, that Magiſtrates may compell Infidels to heare the doctrine of the Church; and Papiſts, you ſay elſewhere (though too roughly) are Infidels: But you ſay, not to be members of the Church: Gods people are of the willing ſort: True, Neither did they compell them to this: They were before entred into the viſible Church by true Baptiſme, though miſerably corrupted: They were not now initiated, but purged: Your ſubtill Doctor can tell vsus from Bernard, that faith is to be perſwaded, not to bee compelled: yet let him remember that the gueſts muſt be compelled to come in, though not to eat when they are come. Compelled, not by perſwaſions; for theſe were the firſt inuitations; therefore by further meanes; Though this conceit hath no place with vsus, where men are vrged not to receiue a new faith, but to performe the old; to abandon that wicked Idolatry which had defiled them, and to entertaine but that truth, which the very power of their Baptiſme challenged at their hand: But this was the old ſong of the Donatiſts; Farre bee it from our conſcience, to compell any man to the faith. If God did not draw vsus, and by a ſweet violence bend our wils to his, when ſhould wee follow him? Either you hauehave not read, or not cared for the practiſe of the ancient Church, and Auguſtines reſolution concerning the ſharp penalties impoſed vponupon the Donatiſts (would God none of your kindred) in his time; with his excellent defences of theſe proceedings.