Judgment of Nonconformists About Difference Between Grace and Morality, Tract 2 – Title page 3
THE JUDGMENT OF NON-CONFORMISTS OF Things Indifferent Commanded by Authority.
Queſt. WHether things antecedently lawful do therefore become unlawful, becauſe commanded by Lawful Authority? Neg.
We take the Queſtion as we hear it ſtated by ſome Accuſers of the Non-conformiſts, who feign them to affirm it: And ſome ſeem ſerious in the Fiction, as if they did indeed believe themſelves; by which they diſpatch theſe ſeveral works of no ſmall moment; viz.
1. They hereby render the Non-Conformiſts contemptible and odious, as Brain-ſick Perſons, who keep up a dividing Faction in ſpight of the Light and Obligation of the Common Principles of Humanity and Society.
2. They hereby imprint the Stamp of Satan, viz. the hatred of their Brethren, upon the minds of ſuch hearers as will believe them, and receive the Impreſs.
3. They hereby fill Families, Cities, and Countries, with all that Spawn of ugly ſins, which are the genuine Fruits of ſuch hatred and contempt, and keep men alſo from Repentance for any thing that they have ſaid or done (how cruelly ſoever) againſt ſuch Miniſters, and others, as are repreſented as ſo odious to them.
4. They hereby fortifie the Peoples Souls againſt receiving converting, or edifying inſtruction, by ſuch accuſed Miniſters.
5. They furniſh Papiſts, Inſidels, and other Adverſaries, with Matter of Accuſation againſt one part of the Miniſters and Servants of Chriſt: They are able now to ſay, that ſuch and ſuch Proteſtant Clergy-men themſelves reported it.
6. They tempt the worſer and weaker ſort of the accuſed, to return the like meaſure to them again, and to judge as they are judged: Satan hereby gets Matter for a Temptation, to call the Accuſers Fools in revenge, to bring them to the danger mentioned, Mat. 5. 22. and to hate their Brethren for hating them, that they may be as Murderers, that have not eternal Life abiding in them, 1 Joh. 3. 15.
7. And laſtly, they hereby perhaps quiet their own Conſciences, and deceive themſelves; or at leaſt for a while, with ſome, preſerve their Reputations, by making it believed, that their Conformity, or difference from the Non-Conformiſts, conſiſteth but in the rejection of ſuch wild Opinions, as the Affirmers hold; and in being the wiſe Spectators of ſuch as are beſide themſelves.
But the Sun will ariſe after the longeſt, and the darkeſt Night: In the mean time this Candle may ſerve the formerly deceived Reader, to ſave his Soul from the mortal ſin, of hating his Brethren wrongfully, which falſe Accuſers would tempt him to be guilty of.
The Terms need little Explication: 1. We call things here [Lawful and Unlawful] in reſpect to the Laws of God: For as to the Laws of Men the Affirmation of the Queſtion, were but a mad Contradiction.
2. We ſpeak of that which is Antecedently Lawful as Cloathed with all its Accidents, ſave this ſubſequent one (being commanded by Authority) And that the Queſtion is, whether the Command of Authority be an Accident that rendereth it Unlawful.
3. We take [Lawful Authority] to be a Tautologie; (for all Authority is Lawful, being in the Senſe in the Queſtion nothing elſe, but a Jus R…gendi; and [Jus Juſtum, or a Lawful Right] is a Tautologie: If it be not Lawful, or a Jus, it is but equivocally called Authority:) Yet becauſe the equivocal uſe of the Word, may to ſome need ſuch an Expoſitory Epithete, it may here be born.
And we ſuppoſe that the Word ſigniſieth [Authority over the Perſons, and in General, over the Affairs in Queſtion; ſo that you may ſee firſt here what is not the Queſtion, and thereby the more eaſily perceive what it is.
1. The Queſtion is not of a thing before Lawful meerly as an Act in genere, vel ſpecie, but Unlawful by ſome other Accident, e. g. It is Lawfal to kill, and to kill a Man, (elſe none could be put to death for Capital Crimes;) but it is Unlawful to kill a juſt Man: And if Rulers Command it, it is ſtill Unlawful; but not becauſe it is Commanded by them, but becauſe it is forbidden of God. It is Lawful to forbear preaching, (elſe Women might not forbear;) but not for a true Miniſter of Chriſt to forbear it, when mens Souls notoriouſly need his preaching, and he is able conſideratis conſideran…is to perform it: If then Rulers forbid it him, it is ſtill Unlawful to forbear; but not becauſe they forbid him, but becauſe God Commandeth him in ſeaſon, and out of ſeaſon, inſtantly to preach, 2 Tim. 4. 1, 2.
2. The Queſtion is not of the Command of Uſurpers, Civil, or Eccleſiaſtical: For their Command ſometimes may make a thing Antecedently Lawful to become Vnlawful, by Accident, at that time, and to that Perſon. As it is Lawful in it ſelf to meet an Uſurper, and to put off the Hat to him, and to give him Money; but if he by pretended Authority Command the Kings Subjects to appear before him as their King, or to put off the Hat in token of ſubjection to him, or to pay him Tribute as his Subjects, it is an Unlawful owning of him, ſo far to obey him.
It is in it ſelf Lawful to go to Rome, but not in obedience to the Pope, who is an Uſurper, if he Command it us. It is in it ſelf Lawful to take an Oath, yea an Oath of Obedience (viz. To the King:) But if the Pope, or one of his Prelates would Command the Kings Subjects to take an Oath of Obedience to him; yea, or to perform Obedience as ſuch, it may become Unlawful ſo to own his Uſurpation.
It is Lawful, and a Duty, to be juſtly obedient to a true Paſtor, or Biſhop of the Church: But if Arrians be obtruded on Antioch, A…exandria, Ceſarea, and other Eaſtern Churches, even by the Emperour Valens, the Churches will reſolutely refuſe to obey, or hear them: Or if ſede vacante one intrude without a true Call, and will tyranically make himſelf a Paſtor, or is obtruded by the Pope, or other Foreign Power, without the conſent of the Church (either the Clergie, or the Flocks) or any one that hath true power to chuſe him to that place or Office, it may be a ſin to own ſuch an Uſurper, though by … in it ſelf.
3. The Question is not of men that have Lawful …, and not over the Perſon in Queſtion: The King of France may have Lawful Authority there, and yet no Authority to Command us in England.
4. Nor is the Queſtion of a Ruler that hath Authority in other matters, but not in the matters now in Queſtion. For as Rich. Hooker ſaith, Though a man be a Lawful Governour, yet if he extend his Commands beyond his Authority, and Command that which he hath no true power to Command, it is not diſobeying Authority, therein to diſobey him: e. g. If the Judge of the Common-Pleas Command that which is proper to the Judges of the Kings-Bench, extra proprium forum, they have no Authority. If a Biſhop would command Husband-men when to Plow and Sow, and with what Seed; and what Cloaths to wear, and what Meat to eat in particular; or all Phyſitians what Phyſick to give each Patient; theſe Commands are Uſurpations, and make no Duty: Nay unleſs greater Accidents preponderate to make the thing needful on ſome other accounts, it may do ſomewhat towards the making of an Act otherwiſe Lawful to become Unlawful, when the doing it will encourage and ſtrengthen ſuch Uſurpers, and be a ſcandalous ſeeming to own their Uſurpation. So if a Juſtice would preſume to arrogate the power of a Judge, or a Conſtable of a Juſtice, or a Church-warden of a Conſtable, or a Magiſtrate of the Paſtors of the Church, &c.
But becauſe it ſeemeth doubtful, whether the Queſtion be of one that hath Authority to Command the Lawful thing in Queſtion; or only of one that hath Authority in General, whether his Authority extend to the Point in Queſtion: and if not, whether his Command make the Act Unlawful to be done: We ſhall include what we aſſert in theſe Propoſitions, which will ſhew what it is that we deny.
Pr. 1. To queſtion whether it be Lawful, yea or a Duty, to obey them Whom we ſuppoſe to have Authority to Command the very thing queſtioned, is but to queſtion the ſame thing which we firſt affirm; and to deny it, is to deny what we firſt affirm.
For to have Authority to Command an Action, is nothing elſe but to have Authority to oblige me to do that Action by Command. And is it a wiſe Mans Queſtion, whether he that hath Authority to oblige me by his Command to do an Action, doth not, by making it my Duty, make it become Unlawful? That is, whether Duty be Sin, whether Life be Death, and Light be Darkneſs? Why ſhould Men be feigned ſo mad, as to argue at this rate?
Pr. 2. If the Queſtion be, whether any Ruler have power to Command a thing which would be no Duty, but indifferent, if he did not Command it? It is to question that which all ſober Perſons muſt aſſert, in the disjunctive uſe of Things, or Actions, as to each other. That is,
1. Nothing is to be done or commanded, that is not good before, or made good and uſeful by the Command: Idle Laws are not good, if idle words be bad.
2. The End and Benefit of an Action may be neceſſary, and the commanding of an Action or Circumſtance before indifferent, (comparatively as to others,) may be disjunctively neceſſary, (either this or that;) and the indifferency taken away, and the thing made both Naturally and Morally good, by the Determination of the Command.
For Inſtance: It is neceſſary that the Army keep together, and march in Unity and Order: It is therefore neceſſary that they all meet, or Rendezvous at one determinate certain place; and it is neceſſary that they meet at one determinate certain time, or day: It is therefore neceſſary that one certain place and time be determined: By Conſent it will not be: It is therefore neceſſary that it be done by Command. None of this is indifferent: But the place, and day, may be antecedently ſo indifferent, that no Man can ſee a Reaſon, why one, rather than the other ſhould be choſen; no more than why of two equal Eggs I ſhould chuſe this, rather than the other. In this caſe it is not properly chuſing, but taking: I do not chuſe this rather than the other, there being no preſerence of Eſteem; but only I take this, and not the other; becauſe I muſt take one, and I muſt take but one. And when the indifferent Place and Time is determined of, it then, and thereby, is made profitable to the End, which is Unity and Order. Thus far things neceſſary in genere (this or that disjunctively) and unneceſſary antecedently in particular (this no more neceſſary than that,) may be commanded by Authority, and are thereby made Naturally uſeful, and Morally the Subjects Duty.
Pr. 3. If the Queſtion be only in matters of God's worſhip or Religion, whether the ſame hold there; we affirm that it there holdeth alſo. Which we thus explain.
1. No Ruler hath Authority to forbid what God commandeth, or to command what God forbiddeth, as to Action, or any Circumſtance of an Action.
2. No Man can command by pretence of an Authority co-ordinate with God's, but only derived, and ſubordinate.
3. No Man can do any thing which God hath appropriated to himſelf as his own proper work; as to make Univerſal Laws for the whole World, or Church; to make another Goſpel, Divine Covenant, or Sacraments of Gods Covenant; to add to, or diminiſh, or alter the Word of God; to alter the Miniſtry, Churchſtate, or Laws which he hath made, or to make the like; or to change his Inſtitutions.
4. No Man can command any thing, but what God giveth him Authority to command; for there is no Power but of God.
5. But God giveth Men Authority to command things before indifferent in his Worſhip, ſuch as we before deſcribed about Civil or Military things: That is, It is neceſſary that the Worſhip of God be orderly performed in Sacred Aſſemblies; and that Unity and Concord be there kept: It is therefore neceſſary that many meet in the ſame Place, and the ſame Time, and uſe the ſame Tranſlation of Scripture at that time, and the ſame Metre and Tune of Pſalms, and hear the ſame Preacher on the ſame Text, and the ſame Sermon; and that the Preacher at that time uſe the ſame words and Method of Prayer and Sermon to them all, whether by Notes, or without, &c. But whether it be this place or that, this day and hour or that; this Tranſlation, Metre, Tune, or that; this Chapter, Text, Method, words, or that, may be indifferent before, and needful and a Duty to the People after the Determination of the Ruler, to whom it doth belong.
Pr. 4. If a Ruler do not Act quite out of the Matter or Circuit of his own Juriſdiction, about a thing which belongeth not to him, nor by his Determination of Circumſtances ſubvert the thing Circumſtantiated, and the very End or Work it ſelf; though he miſs it in a Work which belongeth to his Office, and do it not the beſt way, but be culpable in his Command, the Subject yet may be bound to do what is ſo commanded, and is not excuſed by the faultineſs of the Rulers determining Commands. Which we thus explain.
1. It belongeth not to a King to govern a Mans thoughts. Therefore if he make Laws for our thoughts, it is doubted by many, whether they oblige; unleſs as he is the Official Promulgator of God's Laws, or exhort Men to obey them: Yet knowing that he is God's Miniſter for our good, if he ſhould Miniſterially command us not to think ill of God, or well of wickedneſs, &c. we will not concur with thoſe that affirm, that no ſecondary Obligation ariſeth from his Command; as long as we all hold, that if a Church-Paſtor Miniſterially as Chriſt's Officer, forbid blaſphemous, malicious, filthy thoughts, and Command holy meditation, and mental Prayer and Thanksgiving, his Miniſterial Command hath an anſwerable Obligation. It ſufficeth us therefore to ſay, that Kings cannot puniſh Men, or reward them for their thoughts; which is from their Natural Incapacity of knowing them: For could they know a Thoughtful Plot of Treaſon, or a wiſe and honeſt contrivance or deſign for Publick good, we cannot ſay that they might not anſwerably puniſh and reward them.
But to go to clearer Inſtances: It belongeth to the King to give general regulating Laws to Phyſicians, to Mariners, to Parents, to Nurſes, to Farriers, to Brewers, Bakers, Cooks, &c. He may forbid Phyſicians the uſe of ſome dangerous Drugs; and Mariners ſome times, and places, that are unſafe; and Parents, and Nurſes, to give their Children ſome pernicious Food, or wicked Counſel or Education; and Brewers, Bakers, and Cooks, to poiſon Men, or deceive them in the matter of their Trades. But if he make ſuch Laws as take theſe Mens Callings out of their hands; If he will chuſe a Phyſician for every Patient, and the Medicines that every Phyſician ſhall uſe, with Doſe, Time, and other Circumſtances; and what Food every Parent ſhall give his Children, with the Meaſure, Time, &c. and ſo of the reſt; This is to go beyond his Calling, and ſo beyond his true Authority, and ſuch Laws oblige not.
So if a King will give ſuch Laws to Chriſt's true Miniſters, as turn them out of their Callings, and take them all upon himſelf; it is an acting beyond, and without Authority, and doth not oblige. It is the Office of a Paſtor of the Church, to have and uſe the Keys of the Church, to be the immediate Miniſterial Judge of Individuals, who is to be taken in by Baptiſme, and entertained in holy Communion, and in Sin called to Repentance; and for Impenitency ſhut out by Excommunication; and upon Repentance reſtored by Abſolution. For the right performance of all theſe the King may give general regulating Laws, ſubſervient to Chriſt's Laws, to ſecure and promote their execution; and he may forbid and puniſh groſs abuſes of the Miniſtry, as well as of Phyſicians, and other Callings. But if he will uſurp the Miniſtry in the Parts aforeſaid, or take thoſe Parts out of the Miniſters hand, and as Uzziah burn Incenſe: If he will chuſe for the Miniſter what Text ſtill to Preach on, and what Words in Preaching and Prayer ſtill to ſay; and bid him inſtruct, reprove, comfort, direct, baptiſe, abſolve no man but ſuch as are named to him by the King, nor in any words but ſuch as he preſcribeth; this being, 1. A deſtroying of an Office of Chriſt's Inſtitution. 2. And an uſurping of it without Chriſt's conſent; ſuch Laws oblige not, but are null as to Conſcience, for want of true Authority in the Makers: As the Sentence of a Judge in foro alieno, or in a Circuit, City, or Corporation, where the Power is appropriated to others.
2. And if a Prince, or Inferiour Ruler, who hath power to determine Circumſtantials about the Callings of his Subjects, ſhall ſo determine them as ſhall overthrow the very End and Work it ſelf, in a Calling which God by Nature, or Scripture, hath made neceſſary; this Determination bindeth not, it being an Act without Authority: For it is as true of Magiſtracy, as of Paul's Apoſtleſhip, We have this power for edification, and not for deſtruction, 2 Cor. 10. 8. & 13. 10. Eph. 4. 12. 2. Cor. 12. 19. 1 Cor. 14. 5. 12. 26.
It is the pernicious errour of ſome Papiſts, to Dream that their Pope and Church hath a Power of obligatory judging in matters of Faith and Practice, in partem utramlibet; and in this wicked ſuppoſition they Cant over and over to the ignorant, Who ſhall be Judge. To which we ſay, That Publick Judgment belongeth to Publick Perſons; that is, To the Magiſtrate [who ſhall have Civil Communion] (even on Religious accounts,) and to the Paſtors [who ſhall have Church-Communion;] and private Judgment (diſcerning each Mans Duty) belongs to every rational man. But all men are Subjects of God, and their judging Power is limited by his Laws.
If the Queſtion be, Whether there be a God, a Chriſt, a Scripture, a Heaven, an Immortality of Souls, &c. Kings, and Paſtors, and Councils may, and muſt judge that there is; but none of them may judge that there is not; if they do, it's worſe than null: And in Practicals, if the Queſtion be, Whether we may, or muſt pray for the hallowing of God's Name, the coming of his Kingdom, the doing of his Will on Earth as it is done in Heaven; or whether we muſt love and worſhip God, and hear him, and meditate on his Word; and whether true Miniſters of Chriſt may, or muſt Preach in ſeaſon and out of ſeaſon; and ſeek to inſtruct and ſave Mens Souls; whether we muſt honour our Parents, relieve the Poor, and ſave Mens lives, in danger, from Murderers, &c. They have Authority to judge affirmatively, but none at all to judge negatively; which if they do, it's worſe than null.
So Kings and Paſtors have power to judge that we may not take God's Name in vain, nor be perjured, nor prophane his ſeparated day, nor forſake the aſſembling of our ſelves for his Publick Worſhip, nor Murder, nor commit Adultery, nor ſteal, nor lye, or bear falſe witneſs, nor perſecute, nor hurt any man injuriouſly; but they have no power to judge that we may do any one of theſe: and if they ſo judge, or command, it is a nulli…y to the Subject, and worſe to themſelves. God hath made no men abſolute Judges, but given them a Regulating and Limiting Law to Judge by.
Even ſo thoſe Rulers who have Power to Judge and Command ſome Circumstances of Divine Worſhip, they have it but as a means of promoting that Worſhip, and its Ends, by the means of Edifying-Order; and they have no Power to deſtroy the Worſhip, or its Ends. For Inſtance, whoever hath Power to determine of the Place of Publick Worſhip, hath that Power for the Worſhip, and Worſhippers ſake; and is to be obeyed when he doth it accordingly. But if he Command a thouſand Perſons to meet no where but in a Room that will not hold two hundred, or three hundred; or fifty thouſand Perſons to meet no where but in one Temple, where above three thouſand cannot hear; this is, on pretenſe of ordering and placing God's Worſhip, to forbid it to all the reſt; for which God never gave him Power: So alſo it is, if he command them to meet no where but forty, or thirty, or twenty miles off from their Habitation, or where they cannot go without deſtroying the Work and End.
So whoever hath Power to chuſe the Day, or the Hours of God's Publick Worſhip, hath this Power for the Work ſake, and the Peoples edification; and is to be obeyed when his Commands are anſwerable. But if he ſhould Command Men to worſhip God only once a Year, or once a Month; or to do it only at Mid-night, and ſo deſtroy the Work by ill-timing it; this is a nullity, as being an Act without Authority, and worſe, as againſt the Laws of God.
So whoever it be that hath Power to appoint Paſtors and Teachers to the Churches or Publick Aſſemblies, if they ſhould, as Conſtantius and Valens, ſend Arrians to be Biſhops, or any other intollerable Perſons, who through utter inſufficiency, Hereſie, or Malignity are uncapable, and will do more hurt than good; or if they would limit the Churches, or Countries, to an utterly incompetent Number, and ſay, No other ſhall Preach, but ſuch uncapable Perſons; or no more than one to fifty thouſand Souls, or where ten or twenty are neceſſary; this is to forbid Preaching, or corrupt it, and deſtroy Mens Souls on pretenſe of Order: And it is a nullity, and worſe.
So if the ſame Rulers ſhould ſay, that, You ſhall Preach only in Country Villages, but not within many miles of Cities, or Corporations, which truly and notoriouſly want your Preaching; this were but to forbid ſuch Cities, and Corporations, to hear the neceſſary Preaching of the Goſpel, and the Miniſters to Preach it; and is a nullity and worſe, as being both without any Authority from God, and againſt his Laws.
3. But if true Rightful Governours, who have Power to determine Circumſtantials, Civil, or Religious, ſhall miſ-determine them; yet ſo as not to deſtroy the Work, or End, nor put Subjects on the breaking of any Law of God; here their fault will not diſoblige us from the Duty of obeying. Though it be a ſinful miſtake of theirs, we may be yet obliged to do what they Command us. For Inſtance,
The Ruler chuſeth a Place leſs convenient, that hath no Seats, or an ill acceſs, yet capable of the Aſſembly; He chuſeth a leſs convenient Hour of the Day; he placeth the Pulpit in a leſ… convenient Place; he appointeth a tollerable, but not the beſt Tranſlation of the Scripture, and Metre of the Pſalms, or Tunes, to be uſed; he appointeth a Bible of a worſer Print; and (ſuppoſing him Authorized to chuſe the Preacher) he appointeth not the beſt, or fitteſt Preacher which might be had: And whether it be the preſent Paſtor, or any other (we now diſpute not that) who hath Authority to chuſe Chapters, and Texts, and word the Sermons and Prayers, if he chuſe a leſs convenient Chapter, Text, or Subject, and leſs convenient Method and Words in Preaching and Prayer; all this is his Infirmity and Fault, but yet the People muſt not refuſe the thing ſo commanded: Not that we muſt obey it ſub ratione ma…, as ill choſen and inconvenient, but [Though it be ſuch;] not qua but quod inconveniens.
And the Reaſons are, 1. An inconvenient ill-choſen Place, Time, Text, Tranſlation, Metre, Tune, &c. may be good as a means of Union and Concord in the Worſhip, which without that would not be had; and that Union and Concord is a Duty: Therefore ſo is the neceſſary means, though it be not the beſt that could be choſen. If the People will not join with that Tranſlation, Metre, Tune, Subject, Place, Time, which the Miniſter uſeth, or chuſeth, they cannot join with him in the Worſhip. Were there no Interpoſition of Authority, but mens conſent, if a thouſand of the People are for a leſs convenient means, (Time, Place, &c.) and a ſmall part for a more convenient, they cannot concur but in ſome agreement: And if the miſtaken part will not yield to the other, when Unity is neceſſary, for that Unity ſake the reſt muſt yield to them.
2. The leſs convenient way may accidentally become a means to avoid Perſecution, and the loſs of all their Liberty and Publick Advantages; and they that refuſe that may be deprived of all the reſt. And it's better worſhip God, e. g. at an inconvenient Time, Place, &c. than not at all.
3. The General Obligation to obey our Governours, is not nullified by every miſtake in the Law or Determination: For all Mankind being imperfect, it is ſuppoſed that all Government by Man is imperfect: If we ſhould forbear praying till we can pray without all ſin, we ſhould never pray; and if we ſhould forbear obeying till Rulers Commands be perfect, or blameleſs, we ſhould never obey: There is ſome fault in every Tranſlation of the Bible, every Verſion of the Pſalms, every Sermon and Prayer, that we hear, or make; and in every Book that we Write, and Read. If no Parent, Teacher, Maſter, Prince, oblige us, but only by ſuch Laws and Mandates as have no …ault, all Government and Obedience is null, or at an End.
Obj. No Man is bound to that which is evil.
Anſw. 1. It may be evil in the Commander, and good in the Obeyer: Not that the ſame thing is good to one, and ill to the other (though in other Inſtances that often fall out;) for it is not the ſame thing: To Command an Inconnveient Time, Place, Tranſlation, Tune, &c. is one Action, and to obey that Command is another.
2. We obey it not as evil, but as good: The inconvenient Time, Place, &c. is not good as inconvenient, but as a means of Order and Concord, and ſo we uſe it. And the General Nature of Obedience is good; and if we muſt do no good, which we cannot do without ſome adherent evil, we muſt never Pray, Preach, Eat, Drink, or Trade more.
Pr. 5. if a Ruler go beyond (and ſo without) his Authority, yet in ſeveral Caſes we may be bound to do what he Commandeth, as ſuch.
For Inſtance, In caſe the thing be in it ſelf good, or at leaſt indifferent and Lawful; and the Honour of the Ruler, or the Peace of the Society dependeth on our material obeying him: It is our Duty to honour the King, and our Parents and Paſtors, and to avoid all things that will diſhonour them; or that will encourage others in diſobedience, or diſorder the Society. If therefore it were granted to be the Paſtors Duty, and not the Kings, toword our Prayers and Sermons, and chuſe Tranſlations, Chapters, Metres, Tunes, &c. yet if the King do it, though beyond his Calling; that is, If he appoint us what Chapter to read every day in Publick, and Command ſome Prayers to be read, and ſome Homilies, or Printed Sermons to be ſometime read, which are all good and lawful in themſelves, not deſtroying the Office of the Miniſtry; and if by him, or the People, it be taken for Contempt, and a diſhonouring him, to diſobey him, the General Command of honouring the King, will here oblige us to the Commanded Action.
And if the Queſtion be, Whether this be formal Obedience, or only material? We Anſwer, 1. It is but material and not formal Obedience, de ſpecie, properly as it is to a Command that is without Authority to that thing. But, 2. It partaketh of formal Obedience as to the Genu, in as much as we do it for the honour of a Ruler, and becauſe it is his Command who hath Authority to Govern us, though not to do it by this miſtaken Action.
Pr. 6. If a Rightful Ruler ſhould go quite beyond the bounds of his Authority, ſo far as that his Command did not at all bind us, yet would it not make an indifferent thing become unlawful, meerly becauſe he doth Command it; what ever any other Accident may do.
Proved, 1. Becauſe there is no force in the Inference, [It is Commanded, ergo, it is unlawful.]
2. Though his Act be culpable and without true power, yet he is no Uſurper whom we are obliged to diſown; and all true Governours have their faults.
3. The thing may be good, and ſo a Duty on other accidental reaſons, viz. 1. As a means of Concord: 2. Of pleaſing others to their edification: 3. Of honouring Superiours: 4. Of obtaining liberty, and avoiding miſchief; and as ſuch, though not as an Act of Obedience, may be a Duty.
4. Elſe it would be in the power of ill-minded Rulers, to make all indifferent lawful things to be ſin or unlawful to us, by Commanding them; and ſo to deprive us craftily of all our liberty, and make us Slaves. If Rulers forbidding them, make not all things indifferent ſinful (which many ſay) much leſs their commanding them; elſe they might command inſtead of forbidding, and do the ſame thing.
We do believe that there may be found ſome Perſons in the world of ſuch weak Underſtandings, and unruly Spirits, as to think that it is a ſinful betraying of their Liberty, to do a thing antecedently indifferent, when it is commanded them. Were we acquainted with ſuch a one, we might ask him, 1. At what Age he would have Mankind begin the practice of this Principle? Infants cannot learn it. If before they can feed themſelves, they ſhould refuſe Meat at the Hour when it is offered them by the Mother, becauſe that Hour was antecedently indifferent; yea, if Children or Servants refuſe their ſet Meals on that account, it were juſt if hunger teach them more wit and obedience. If Children will think they betray their Liberties, if they learn that Catechiſm, or words of Prayer which the Parents teach them, (even ſet Forms,) or if they will not read, hear, or learn, or pray at the Hour appointed by their Parents, becauſe it was antecedently indifferent; or if they will not go to the Church at the Hour ſet them by the Miniſter, becauſe it was before a time indifferent, how ſhould they be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?
2. We would ask ſuch a one, Whether this be an obeying of that Command, Col. 3. 20. 22. [Children obey your Parents in all things, for this is well-pleaſing to the Lord: Servants obey in all things your Maſters according to the Fleſh? Are things lawful none of the [All things?]
3. If Obedience muſt be only to things antecedently neceſſary, may not the Child in ſuch expect Obedience from the Father, in ſome ſort, as well as the Father from the Child? We mean material Obedience, that the thing be done.
4. We hope they will not ſay the ſame to God, that they will obey him in nothing antecedently indifferent: And that is, becauſe the very nature of obedience is contrary. And if ſo, is it no ſubordinate obedience that is due to Parents and other Superiors? Government, as ſuch, can make that a Duty which antecedently was none, (or elſe all Children and Servants live in conſtant ſin:) Therefore Obedience, as ſuch, conſiſteth in obeying ſuch Government. For though the chief work of all Rulers, is to urge the obſervation of Gods own Laws, yet their ſecondary work is (as Corporations have By-Laws about Particulars, under the Univerſal Laws of the Kingdom, ſo) to determine of ſubſervient Particulars. And if their Principle practiſed in Families and Schools, would overthrow all Family and School Order and Obedience, and utterly ſubvert the Education of Mankind; let them conſider why it ſhould be brought into Kingdoms, Cities, or Churches.
5. And we would ask them, Whether they live not themſelves in the practice of the contrary? Do not all Sects, even Quakers, meet at the Place and Time which their Leaders do appoint them? Do they not hear the words which the Leader chuſeth for their Ears? Do they not command their own Servants and Children things or circumſtances antecedently indifferent?
Did we hold ſuch Principles, we ſhould have leſs reaſon to lament the ſin of thoſe who have of late written Accuſations againſt us, as Subverters of Government, Order, and Obedience: And if any one can find any word of ſuch importance, in any one called a meer Non-conformiſt (which we know not of,) we have no more to do with it, than the Church of England hath with words of Untruth, Cal…mny, Errour, or Non-ſenſe, which we read in the Books, or hear in the words of any Conformiſts: (of which we are not willing to imitate ſuch as gather Catalogues or Dunghills of them:) And the rather becauſe, 1. We Licenſed not ſuch Books: 2. Nor Ordained ſuch to the ſacred Miniſtry: 3. Nor have the Government of them; and therefore are not reſponſible for them.
As for thoſe men that have perſwaded the ignorant in Print, that we hold the things, to which we deny Conformity, to be Indifferent or Lawful, and avoid them only as Inconvenient or Offenſive to the Weak; and that ſome of us were forced at the Savoy to aſſert, that, Nothing may be commanded by Authority which may by accident become Unlawful to the Subject, (or become his ſin by abuſe▪) it is a ſubject of which we ſhall here ſay no more, but that, we will not here do ſo great a diſhonour to the Authors, as ſome of them have done to themſelves, that is, to tell the world their Names; the reſt that concealed them, had more tenderneſs it ſeems of their Reputation than of their Conſciences: What ſort of Men believe them, it is eaſie to conjecture: It is no fault of the Earth to bear them, nor of the Sun to ſhine upon the Writers or the Believers; and we hope it is none in us to hear and bear the Calumny, nor (in our circumſtances) that we have not farther provoked them, by anſwering for our ſelves. We muſt lament the temptations and dangers of the Age, and the ſinful alienation of Minds, Diviſions and Diſtractions, which Incendiaries have cauſed, and ſtill cauſe. But for our ſelves, we do with peace read and remember, Luke 8. 17. Nothing is ſecret that ſhall not be made manifeſt, neither any thing hid, that ſhall not be known and come abroad. Jam. 5. 7, 8. Be patient, Brethren, to the coming of the Lord—ſtabliſh your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Matth. 5. 11, 12. Bleſſed are ye when men ſhall revile you and perſecute you, and ſhall ſay all manner of evil againſt you falſly, or my ſa…e: Rejoice and be exceeding glad, &c. Pſal. 37. 13. The Lord ſhall laugh at him; for he ſeeth that his day is coming. Pſal. 146. 4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his Earth: in that very day his thoughts periſh. Luke 23. 34. Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
FINIS.
THE JUDGMENT OF NON-CONFORMISTS OF THINGS SINFUL by ACCIDENT, AND OF SCANDAL.
PUBLISHED To ſave Mens Souls from the Guilt of Believing thoſe Men who tell them, that the Non-Conformiſts Aſſerted, that, [Whatever may be the occaſion of Sin to any muſt be taken away; or that, Nothing may be impoſed which Men may take Scandal at, or by Accident turn to Sin.]
And to help thoſe to Repentance, who have polluted their Souls with Falſhood and Uncharitableneſs by Believing them, and ſeconding their Reports.
Printed in the Year, 1676.