Quest.

all, in all, in this, as God is to be all in all, in that.

And fo to deny the Magiftrate that power which Chrift never granted him, is no wrong to him at all; but to grant him, and gratifie him with fuch power, would be a great and intolerable wrong, to the truth and Church of Chrift, as in many other things, fo in this present matter, we are speaking of, as you may fee in the following Particulars.

For the puting the power of the Sword into the Magiftrates hand, to fupprefs Error, is atLended with these evils.

1. Hereby the Magiftrate is made a Judge of Doctrines, and hath power given him, to pronounce which is truth, and which is error; being yet no more infallible, yea every whit as liable to err, as the meaneft of the People. And what Magiftrate is there, that hath the Power of the Sword, but will uphold his own Religion and Judgment to be the truth, though never fo false, and will fentence what ever is contrary thereunto, to be errour, though never fo true? and fo the truth and word of God, which only is to judge all, and it felf to be judged of none, by this means is made fubject to the judgment of vain man, and fhall either be truth or errour, as he pleaseth to call it, and errour, when it pleaseth the Magiftrate, fhall be adorned with the glorious title of truth; and shall have his Authority to countenance and uphold it. And how great a prejudice this hath been, and is to the truth, and how great an advantage to error, it is very easie to judge.

Now if any fhall fay, that the Magiftrate may not judge of Doctrine by himself, and use his Sword accordingly, but he may take to him the councel and advice of godly and able Ministers,

as

as now of the Affembly, and fo may judge and
punish, according to their judgment.

I Anfwer; Is it fit, that the Magiftrate in fo Anfm. great matters should be blindfolded himself, and fee only by other mens eyes?

Again, if the Magiftrate judge, according to the judgment of the Minifters, and depending more on their knowledge than his own, fhall draw his Sword against whom foever they fhail perfwade him; What higher Honour doth he attain to in all this, than to become their Execu Etioner? Yea, if punish amifs, he may prove a very murtherer. Pilate, in this Cafe, may be a Sea-mark to all the Magiftrates in the world, who following the Councel and Judgment of the High Priefts, put the Son of God himself to death, as if he had been the Son of Perdition; Which, I fay, may serve for a fufficient warning, to the end of the world, to all Magiftrates, that they confide not on the Judgment of the Clergy, but that they be fure themfelves, in what they do.

2. The putting Power into the Magistrates hands, to fupprefs Error by the Sword, gives him full opportunity to deftroy and flay the true Children of God, if at any time he fhall mistake and judge them Hereticks. For what power men ignorantly allow a godly Magistrate, against true : Hereticks, the fame power will all Magiftrates arrogate to themselves, as their juft due, against all thofe that differ from themselves in matters of Religion, though their judgment who fo differ from them, be never fo true. And thus the Magiftrate, who is a most fallible Judge in these things, instead of tares, may pluck up the wheat; and kill the faithful, inftead of Hereticks, at his own =pleasure, till he have deftroyed all the faithful in the Land. Wherefore,

T

Wherefore, let all Christians take heed, how they favour the Magiftrates with this power, to punish thofe, whom he judges Hereticks; for if he full change his mind, as he easily may, feeing he is but a man, or if another fhall fucceed him, of another mind, that very Sword may be sheathed in their own bowels, which now they draw forth against other mens.

3. When the Magistrate affumes power to himfelt, to fupprefs Error, this makes Minifters negligent in studying the Scriptures, the Magistrate doing that by force, which they ought to do by the word, and fo faves them their labour: For when once the Ministers, shall have fo far interessed themselves in the Magistrate, as to procure him, to call for the Goaler and Executioner, against whomsoever fhall oppose their Doctrine, they will then need no great pains to study the word, that they may be able to convince the gainfayers, and perfwade the rebellious, feeing the Magiftrates Sword, at all adventure, is to defend their Doctrine; and all the objections against it, either from Reafon or Scripture, the Hangman is to answer. And fo the Paftors having their work, as they conceive, thus done for them, to their hands, do commonly betake themselves to eafe and idleness, and to the profecution and enjoyment of worldly things, and grow careless and negligent of the Scripture, and word of God, whereupon Error fteals in apace upon the Teachers themselves, whereby, by degrees they cor rupt and feduce very many. And thus whilft the Magiftrate thinks to chafe out error before him, one way, he lets it in behind him seven ways.

4. This takes men off from the certain means to destroy Errors, which is the word, and leads them to that, which can never deftroy it, which

is the Sword of the Magiftrate; and fo the Devil herein hath a notable Stratagem: For he fears not all the Swords, and Halters, and Weapons, and Prisons in the world, to destroy error withal, but as fecurely contemns all these things, as Leviathan a Bulrufa; and yet doth earnestly ftir up the world, to use these things against him, and his errors as the only means to fubdue him. Whereas the only thing he fears, is the word of God, which is that mighty power, that can bind the Devil, and destroy his Kingdom, and break down all his strong holds of Errors and Herefie, and he is in no fort able to ftand out against the power thereof. Wherefore in his great cunning, he caufes men to lay afide this, that is able to prevail against him, and to go to the Sword of the Magiftrate, which will do him no harm. And thus the Sword of the Magiftrate, prefuming to lift it felf up against Error, inftead of the word of God, is fo far from destroying Error, that it upholds it; and ftrengthens Satans Kingdom, whilst it feems to deftroy it.

By these things it appears, how great an error and evil it is, for any to attribute to the Magiftrate, or for the Magiftrate to affume to himself, power to fupprefs error by the Sword.

If any hall yet demand, Whether the Magiftrate Quest. can do nothing at all, towards the fuppreffing of

Errors?

I Answer, This he may do; he may and ought, Anf. and if he be a Godly man, he will countenance and encourage faithful Ministers (that are called of God, and anointed by the Spirit) to this work of the Gofpel; and having done this, he need nor trouble himself any farther; for the word preached will do all the reft. And let it not be doubted, but if the truth of God do enter the lifts against error, it will be infinitely able to prevail of it

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felf

The true

Church doth

felf alone, without calling in any power, or borrowing any weapons from the world.

The Ninth Rule, is.

By no means, to inforce Uniformity, in the not inforce outward Orders and Difcipline of the Church. Uniformity For fuch Uniformity, hath been in all Ages, not Orders and only the hindrance, but the very break-neck of Dilcipline. the Churches Peace and Unity.

in outward

page 72.

Now because this is fo vehemently and strongly urged by the unskilful Builders of this Age, I fhall the more fully acquaint the Reader with the State of this Bufinefs, from the very beginning of the Gospel; and fhow when this part of the Mystery of Iniquity, firft invaded the Church of God.

Most manifeft it is, that the Apostles and Difciples of Chrift, were only intent about the Doctrine of Salvation, and fo accordingly preached and pref fed nothing but faith in Chrift, and love to all the Saints, as being the only neceflary things, which Chriftians were to regard; And for all outward Rites and Ceremonies, and forms, wherein Chrift had made them free, they commanded them Fex vol. 1. to ftand faft in that liberty. And fo they gave no heed, nor regard, to the obfervation of days and times, neither bound the Church, to any Ceremonies or Rites, except thofe neceffary things mentioned, Acts. 15. to wit, things strangled, and blood, which was then ordained by the holy fpirit, not without urgent and neceflary caufe. For when the murdering and blood of Infants, was commonly laid to the charge of Chriftians by the Heathens, they had no other Argument to help themselves, but their own Law, by which they were commanded to abftain from the blood of Common Beasts, much more from the blood of innocent men. And therefore that Law feemeth to be given by the holy Spirit, and alfo for the

fame