Three treatises of the vanity of the creature. The sinfulness of sin. The life…Three treatises of the vanity of the creature. The sinfulnesse of sinne. The life…

Secondly, when thou art upon any civill controversy or debate for matter of right, look unto thy heart, take heed of that seed of madness which lies lurking in it, lest upon occasion of lawful controversy, there break out rage and revenge upon the persons of one another. It is not for nothing that the Apostle saith, There is utterly a fault amongst you because you go to Law with one another. 1. Cor. 6. 7. Why? The Apostle doth plainly allow Judicature, vers. 1. A man may go to law before the Saints, they may judge small matters and things that pertain to this life. vers. 2. 3. 4. And for any man from such a place to infer the unlawfulness of suing to public justice for his right, is a piece of Anabaptism and folly justly punished with the loss of his right. What then is that [Greek or Hebrew], that Impotency and defect which the Apostle blameth in them? It consisteth in two things, first their going to law before Heathen Judges, thereby exposing the profession of Christianity to imputations of schism, divisions, and worldliness amongst the enemies of it: In which case rather then put a rub unto the progress of the Gospel, by giving unreasonable men occasion to censure the truth thereof by their altercations, and making the ministry evil spoken o• by their scandals, they were to suffer and to bear wrong. For those words, Why do you not rather take wrong, and suffer your selves to be defrauded, are not a Positive precept as Julian the Apostate objected scornfully to the Christians, unless it be in smaller injuries, which may with more wisdom be borne by patience, then by contention repaid or overcome; but only a Comparative precept, that a man should rather choose to leave his name, life, estate, goods, interests, utterly unvindicated, then by defending them unavoidably to bring a scandal upon the Cross of Christ. Secondly, ⟨p. 174⟩which is to my present purpose, Their going to law, though in itself Just when before competent and fit judges, had yet an accidental viciousness that by their inadvertency did break out of their evil hearts, and cleave unto it, and that was, their litigations ran from the businesses unto the persons, It brake forth into violence and wrong against one another, much perturbation of mind, revengeful and circumventing projects show themselves under the colour of legal debatements;

Secondly, when thou art upon any civill controversie or debate for matter of right, looke unto thy heart, take heed of that seed of madnesse which lies lurking in it, lest upon occasion of lawfull controversie, there breake out rage and revenge upon the persons of one another. It is not for nothing that the Apostle saith, There is utterly a fault amongst you because you goe to Law with one another.