Against Pretended Liberty of Conscience, Chapter 12
CHAP. XII. Arguments againſt pretended toleration.
HEnce I proceed to argue thus againſt this pretended liberty.
1. Every duty of the Chriſtian Magiſtrate, hath warrant in the Old or New Teſtament, which exactly teacheth the duty of Ruler and ſubject, Father and children, Maſter and ſervant, &c.
Argument 1.
BUt toleration of many falſe wayes,Toleration hath no warrant in the word. and the permitting of men to ſpeake lyes in the name of the Lord, and to ſeduce ſoules, hath no warrant in the Old or New Teſtament▪ ergo, ſuch a toleration is no duty of the Magiſtrate; the major is cleare from the perfection of the word of God; the aſſumption is proved by a negative argument from the Scripture, it is no where written expreſly, or by conſequence, to be the duty of the Ruler, therefore it is not his duty to tolerate or permit.
If it be replyed, becauſe it is not holden forth in Scripture to be the Rulers duty to puniſh men for their conſcience, therefore it muſt be the Rulers duty to tolerate and permit them.
It is anſwered, the word of God is as perfect in teaching for what ſinnes the Ruler ſhould not puniſh, as for what he ſhould puniſh, the ſon for the fathers tranſgreſſi…, ſhould not be puniſhed by the Magiſtrate, for that i… injuſtice in men, and he ſhould not puniſh, except the … be confeſſed or proved by the mouth of two witneſſes. The … that was forc…d in the field, and had none to helpe her, … free of puniſhment alſo; and ſo is the man that … hi… brother and hated him …ot before.
duplicate page duplicate page Againe, if thoſe that ſeduce ſoules be moſt hurtfull and pernicious to Chriſtian ſocieties, and thoſe that teach the way of God truely to be uſefull, the Ruler muſt not be newtrall and indifferent, as touching the uſe of his power toward either; but as he is for the praiſe of well-doing by vertue of his office, ſo muſt he be an executer of wrath on evill-doers, eſpecially ſuch as hurt Chriſtian ſocieties, whoſe peace and quiet living in all godlineſſe and honeſty he is to procure.
Argument II.
THat which inferreth neceſſarily many Religions,Toleration infer…eth Scepticiſme. many faiths, many ſundry Goſpels in one Chriſtian ſociety, is not of God. But the toleration of all wayes, and many Religions is ſuch; ergo, this toleration is not of God: The propoſition is evident, becauſe there is but one old way, Jer. 6. 16. One Lord, one faith, one baptiſme, Eph. 4. 4. One faith once delivered to the Saints, Jud. 3. one truth to be bought, Prov. 23. 23. one Chriſt, which the Apoſtles, heard, ſaw, and handled with their hands, from the beginning, 1 Joh. 1, 1. One name of Jeſus, not any other under heaven by which we may be ſaved, Act. 4. 12. not Jehovah and Malcom, Zeph. 1. 5. not Jehovah and Baal, 1 King. 18. 21. not the true God, and the Gods of the heathen, the Samaritan mixture, 2 King. 17. 33. (2) And this one way we are to keepe with one heart, Ezek. 11. 19. with one judgement, one minde, one tongue, one ſhoulder, Act. 4. 32. 2 Cor. 13. 11. Phil. 42. 1 Cor. 1. 10. Zeph. 3. 9. Zach. 4. 9. Being rooted and establiſhed in the faith, Col. 2. 7. Not toſſed to and fro, nor carried about with every wind of doctrine, Eph. 4. 14. Without wavering, Heb. 13. 9.
For the aſſumption: That God hath appointed in his revealed will, that every man ſhould ſerve God as beſt pleaſeth him, and as it ſeemes good in his owne erronious conſcience, and that every man ſhould pervert the ſoule of his brother, and the Magiſtrate ſhould put no man to ſhame for it, is as good as if there were no Magiſtrate, and that it is againſt his calling as a Magiſtrate, is clear, for the Holy Ghoſt ſaith, that, Jud. 16. 5. Micah had a houſe of Gods, and made an Ephod, and a Teraphim, and conſecrated one of his ſonnes, who became his Prieſt, was from this, v. 6. In thoſe dayes there was no King in Iſrael, but every man did that which was right in his owne eyes; ergo, the Magiſtrate by his office is to take care that Micah and others ſerve not God as it ſeemes good to their owne erroneous conſcience, and ſo, that another follow not another Religion, and a third, another third Religion, as ſeems good in every mans owne eyes.
2. If the Magiſtrate reſtraine not the high places, for which he is rebuked, as ſome ſacrifice at Jeruſalem at Gods command; ſo the people for the moſt part ſacrifice in the high place through the Princes fault, and then there bee two Religions, and upon the ſame ſinfull indulgence they may multiply groves, and alters according to the number of their Cities: And as there were falſe Prophets among the people then, ſo now, who with faire words make merchandiſe of mens ſoules, who by the revealed will of God muſt bee tolerated to doe the like, and others the like, till Religions bee multiplyed: and this wee muſt ſay, except it be affirmed that under the New Teſtament: The corruption of our nature is not ſo great, through neglect of Magiſtracy to doe what ſeemes good in our owne eyes under the New Teſtament, and to runne a whoring from God to other high places as they did, and if ſo, neither ſhould there be a Magiſtracy under the New Teſtament to reſtraine us in wayes of converſation touching the ſecond Table, to wit, to hedge men in from robbing and ſtealing, from inceſtuous Marriages and Polygamie, upon meere conſcience; for if the Saints be the onelyonly …uſt owners of the earth, as many now hold, it is no more puniſhable by the Ruler, as robbery, that a Saint take the Oxe, Aſſe, Monies. Poſſeſſions of his neighbour, who is a carnall and wicked man, then that he take of his owne goods for his uſe, when he is naked and ſtarving, which by the Law of nature hee ought to uſe before hee famiſh…, and inceſtuous. Ma…riages are to ſome conſciences as unpuniſhable now, as when Cain and Abel married their owne ſiſters; and if conſcience ought not to bee forced in one thing, neither can violence bee offered to it in any thing that unfainedly pretends to conſcience.
Argument III.
THAT indulgence and forbearance of all from the Ruler, which layes an undeniable ground for Scepticiſme, Fluctuation, and doubting in matters of Religion, is not of God. But ſuch is toleration of ſundry Religions; ergo,
The major is thus proved: True Religion ſuggeſteth an foreign and a perfect underſtanding, Luke 1. 3. knowledge and perſwaſion of faith, Rom. 14. 14. 23. faith by many infallible tokens, Act. 1. 3. Full perſwaſion, Rom. 8. 39. 2 Tim. 1. 12. 2 Tim. 3. 16, 17. All riches of the full aſſurance of underſtanding, Col. 2. 2.
The aſſumption I thus prove;Want of infallibility in the New Teſtament, no reaſon for the toleration in the Teſtament. Becauſe the Libertines ſay, that ſpeciall and principall ground of no indulgence to falſe Prophets under the Old Teſtament, was becauſe the Prophets were infallible, God himſelf who onelyonly knows the heart, deſigned the falſe teacher, and the blaſphemer by immediate reſolution from his owne oracle, and made it out of queſtion whether that was hereſie or no, and whether preſumptuouſly againſt the light of conſcience the man held, profeſſed and taught others ſo to doe, and beleeve as he did: So Arminian Libertines: So Minus Celſus: So Vaticanus: So Jo. Goodwin, and the Engliſh Libertines.
But now ſince the Prophets and Apoſtles fell aſleepe, no Magiſtrate, no Synod is infallible, all men are apt to deceive, and be deceived, for whether in fundamentals or non-fundamentalls: none now can challenge Propheticall or Apoſtolicke infallibility, the Synod condemning Socinians, Familiſts, as heretickes are not infallible, but may as rather be the heretickes, as thoſe whom they condemne, for they have not monopolized the Holy Spirit to themthemſelves, ſo ſay they, wee have no immediate Oracle to determine hereſie: and what we beleeve in all, except ſome few fundamentalls, wee are to beleeve with a reſerve, leaving roome to a new contrary light ſay the Independents; yea but it holdeth in beleeving fundamentalls,Apolo. N…trar. p. 19. as well as non-fundamentalls, for in neither have wee Propheticall infallibility and immediate Oracles, and Scripture ſhewes wee have as great darkneſſe, blindneſſe of minde, naturall fluctuation to beleeve nothing in ſupernaturall fundamentalls in the Goſpell, as in non-fundamentalls, but with trepidation and doubting of minde, wee no more having monopolized the Spirit to us then Sectaries, nor Sectaries more then we, in the one then in the other, in fundamentalls, then in non-fundamentalls: what ever wee beleeve, upon this principle of Reciprocall Toleration, both wee and Sectaries are to beleeve with a ſpeciall reſerve to change that faith with the next new Moone, when contrary new light ſhall appeare, ſo are wee taught to have faith of nothing, but to bee toſſed to and fro, and to bee carried about with every wind of doctrine, with wavering, not rooted, nor eſtabliſhed, nor fully perſwaded of any thing, contrary to Epheſ. 4. 14. Hebrewes 3. 19. Coloſſ. 2. 2. 7. Roman. 14. 2…. 2 Timoth. 1. 12. And this deſtroyes faith, and makes it a meere conjecture, and an unſettled opinion, with a fluctuation of minde, to waite the tyde of a new contrary light, and ſend this old faith away, and admit of another; yet ſo as to lodge that new one with a moveable reſerve, and ſo muſt we live and dye doubting, and meere nullifidians.
Argument IV.
THat which deſtroyeth all our hope,Toleration is againſt faith, … in the Scriptures. comfort of the Scriptures, zeale, conſtancy, and rejoycing in ſuffering for the truth, for Chriſt and the Goſpel is not to be held, nor is it from God.
But toleration of ſundry Religions is ſuch, ergo, The Propoſition is cleare for the places of Scriptures placing theſe Chriſtian graces in beleevers, as Heb. 5. 19, 20. 1 Pet. 1. 3. 1 Theſſ. 5. 8. Rom. 15. 4. 5. Rom. 12. 11. Rom. 5. 1, 2, 3. Eph. 3. 1. Phil. 1. 12, 13. Heb. 10. 33, 34. Matth. 19. 29, 30.
Now Toleration layes this ground as a principle, Men are not to be troubled for their conſcience, becauſe they beleeve, hold, publiſh, and reach what they do, right or wrong, according to their conſcience, be it erroneous, or not erroneous; and their zeale, hope, perſwaſion, comfort, carrieth them to undergoe the reproaches of Heretickes, Seducers, falſe Prophets, impriſonment, torture, death, burning quicke, rather then they would ſinne againſt knowne truth, and offend againſt a conſcience though erroneous, yet becauſe the ſufferers are not infallible, and it may be a lye, they beleeve, publiſh, and ſuffer for, their hope may be grounded on a lye, their comfort not bottomed on the Scripture, and ſo falſe hope and comfort, their rejoycing in ſufferings, and undergoing torture, and violent death, but fleeting and counterfeit joy, their zeale without knowledge, a baſtard zeale, having nothing to doe with the word, and Goſpel-promiſes; but in the bottome, as contrary to them as light is to darkneſſe: for what any Saint or Profeſſour beleeves and publiſhes, hee is to beleeve and publiſh, and dye in it, and for it, with a faith that the contrary may bee a truth of God, and ſo to bee tolerated and borne with: now the hope of the hypocri…e is therefore compared to the ſpiders web, to a broken tree, to a blaſted olive tree, his joy to a night viſion, a dreame, the cracking of thornes under a pot, becauſe both hope and joy, and all his comfort is grounded on an erroneous conſcience, a lye, an imagination, not on the word of God.
Now ſo is the joy, comfort, and hope of all Religions which Libertines contend muſt be tolerated, they confeſſe they may bee truths, they may bee lyes, yet if they bee puniſhed for them, they ſuffer perſecution for righteouſneſſe, for Chriſt, for truth.
Argument V.
THAT which taketh away all wayes of removing Hereſies under the New Teſtament,Toleration is againſt the miniſtery of the word. both by the Sword, and refuting of gaine-ſayers by the word, all rebuking, all avoyding of them, is not of God. But ſuch is this pretended Toleration, ergo, It is not of God, the major is evident of it ſelfe.
The aſſumption I thus prove: Therefore the Magiſtrate ſhould not puniſh Heretickes, becauſe hee cannot doe it in faith, for he not being infallible, hee cannot certainely and undeniably know that hee puniſheth the man for that which is a Hereſie, or for that which is a truth, and ſo while he is plucking up Tares, hee may bee plucking up Wheat, and ſo he cannot in faith puniſh him, ſay they.
But this reaſon ſtrongly evinceth, according to the way of Libertines, the gaine-ſaying hereticke is not to bee refuted, nor to bee ſharpely rebuked, that he may bee ſound in the faith: nor to bee avoided as ſelfe-condemned, contrary to Titus 1. 11, 12, 13. Titus 3. 10. Romans 16. 17. 2 Timoth. 2. 14, 15. 1 Timoth. 6. 3, 4. Matth. 22. 29, 30, 31, 32. 1 Cor. 15. 1, 2, 3, 4, &c. becauſe what ever my Chriſtian Profeſſour doth, as well as the Chriſtian Magiſtrate, he muſt doe it in faith, Rom. 14. 23. otherwiſe … ſinneth.
And it is no leſſe ſinne (I ſpeake not of …-degree…) to refute, judge, and condemne, rebuke and avoid a brother as a ſelfe-condemned Hereticke, when it is not evident to the conſcience of Paſtours, Synods, or any private Chriſtians, who may refute, admoniſh, and rebuke Heretickes by the word of God, Titus 1. 11, 12, 13, Titus 3. 10. Rom. 16. 17. that hee is an Hereticke, for they may bee reproaching and ſpeaking againſt ſuch as are ſound in the Faith, and Wheat; not Heretickes and Tares, for ought they know, who have not monopoli…ed the Holy Spirit to themſelves onelyonly, more then, theſe whom they refute, admoniſh, rebuke and avoid as Heretickes, and ſo they cannot in Faith more … the Holy Ghoſts charge, and rebuke Heretickes, then the Magiſtrate can in Faith draw the Sword againſt them.
Argument VI.
THe father commands the children now in the ſtate of ſinne, to learn and heare the judgements and teſtimonies of God, Gen. 18. 19. Exod. 12. 27. Pſal: 78. 3, 5, 6. Joel. 1. 2, 3. and that in order to the rod and bodily puniſhment, Prov. 13. 24. Prov. 23. 13. With-hold not correction from the child, for if thou beateſt him with the rod, he ſhall not die. 24. Thou ſhalt beat him with the rod, and ſhalt deliver his ſoule from hell. Damnable hereſies bring ſwift deſtruction, 2 Pet. 2. 1. The fourth command is given to the father of the houſe, Exod. 20. in order to ſon, ſervant, and ſtranger, to cauſe them to keep the Sabbath; which Nehemiah as a father and a ruler practiſed by the ſword, Nehem. 13. 19, 20, 21, 22. And the like Morrally, layeth bands on all Magiſtrates and Miniſters, according to the power of the rod, civill or eccleſiaſticall committed to them, Eli a father and a judge diſpiſed God, 1 Sam. 2. 30. in not correcting his ſons, for abuſing of their prieſtly power: his ſonnes might have pretented conſcience that they could not live upon the ordinary allowance for the prieſt, and that the law of nature might beare them out in their practiſes; yea, every man is to take care that he and his houſe ſerve the Lord, nor did Joſhua as a Magiſtrate only, chap. 24. 15. but as a maſter of a houſe ſo ſpeake, then muſt the Prince, the Parliament, the Magiſtrates ſay the like, and take care according to their places as fathers of the Common-wealth to doe the ſame.
Hence we thus argue,Rulers by the fourth command are to ſee all under them worſhip God. what ever coercive power to command, threaten, promiſe, puniſh, reſtraine, reward, God hath given to parents, maſters of families, teachers, tutors, officers in war, Kings and Princes, is the good gift of God and a tallent to be imployed for the good of ſoules, and in order to obſerve the duty of the firſt Table, every one in order to their ſtation. Becauſe Kings are to bring their glory and honour to the new Jeruſalem: its either Kingly honour and power, which is eſſentially coactive, or then, it is nothing but that holy rich men that bring their glory to it, Rev. 21. 24. And Kings ſhall miniſter to the Church. It is either royall ſervice as Kings, or then no more favour is beſtowed on the Church, then if private men miniſtered to the Church, Eſa. 60. ver. 10. And if it be not for the beautifying of the Houſe of God at Jeruſalem, in obeying the Law of God, and inſticting death, or baniſhment on the refuſers of obedience, as the Perſian Monarch did, Ezr. 7. 28. 26, 27, 28. it is not glory brought to Jeruſalem. But ſuch a coercive power hath the Lord given, as a talent and gift to parents, maſters, teachers, tutors, officers, Kings and Princes: as theſe places evince.
And thus, that which the maſter of a chriſtian family may doe, that the father of the Common-wealth the King in his place may doe. But the maſter of a family may and ought to deny, an act of humanity, or hoſpitality to ſtrangers that are falſe teachers, who bring another Goſpell, 2 John 10. whom he muſt neither lodge, nor bid God ſpeed: becauſe he brings another Goſpel; which he otherwiſe owes by the law of nature to a Pagan, and a man not knowne to him, Heb. 13. 1, 2. Job 31. 32. Gen. 18. 1, 2, 3, 4. chap, 19, 1, 2, 3. The propoſition is cleare upon the ground that David as an head of an houſe, will cut off all lyers, and wicked perſons out of his houſe, as a godly King he will alſo cut off early from the Church (called the city of God) … wicked doers, Pſal. 101. For if every Chriſtian family of New England muſt refuſe lodging to a falſe teacher, muſt not the Governour and Judges, who have power to command and regulate acts of hoſpitality, joyn their civil authority to forbid any maſter of an houſe, to lodg ſuch a … hereticke? And what is this but the higheſt degree of baniſhment? And if the Chriſtian Magiſtrate who may in law diſpoſe of Innes and lodging of ſtrangers, for the publique good, ſhould command any to receive ſuch a man … houſe, ſhould he not offer violence to the conſcience of the maſter of the houſe? And yet if the man were ſound in the faith, and ſhould onelyonly ſeeme a falſe teacher to the maſter of the houſe, the adverſaries would ſay, the godly ruler may command an act of the law of nature, to lodge a …, who onelyonly upon miſtake, and an erronious … is ſuſpected to be an hereticke, for they ſay the Ruler may … his power in duties of the ſecond Table.
3 It appeares that the laws of both Kingdoms ordained Engliſh or Scotiſh ſeminary prieſts, or Jeſuits that come to either Kingdome to ſeduce men to the Romiſh faith, to be hanged, to have better ground in the word of God, 2 Jo. 10. and which forbids any under paine of death to lodge ſuch then the twelfth propoſall for peace,Propoſals of the Army under Sir Tho. Fairfax 12. p 10 that licenceth Jeſuits and Preiſts and ſo commandeth Proteſtants to lodge ſuch, if they diſturbe not the peace of the Kingdome, though they leade millions of ſoules to hell. For upon this propoſal, ſuppoſe al England were truly godly, the King might command the juſt contrary to what the Apoſtle John exhorts, if he follow the conſciences of the new Army.