A26865:421
An apology for the nonconformists ministry containing I. the reasons of their preaching, II.…
An apology for the nonconformists ministry containing I. the reasons of their preaching, II. an answer to the accusations urged as reasons for the silencing of about 2000 by Bishop Morley ..., III. reasons proving it the duty and interest of the bishops and conformists to endeavour earnestly their restoration : with a postscript upon oral debates with Mr. H. Dodwell, against his reasons for their silence ... : written in 1668 and 1669, for the most of it, and now published as an addition to the defence against Dr. Stillingfleet, and as an account to the silencers of the reasons of our practice / by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for T. Parkhurst and D. Newman, 1681
AN APOLOGY FOR THE SILENCED MINISTERS, Especially for their not cea… › Part › Objection 15
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
15 Obj. If the King must change or relax his Laws as oft as men will be scrupulous or discontented, there will be no settledness, consistency or order. Your tender Consciences are but tender heads: And soft-headed people must be Rulers of us all, if we must change as oft as their weakness will desire it.
15 Obj. If the King must change or relax his Laws as oft as men will be scrupulous or discontented, there will be no setledness, consistency or order. Your tender Consciences are but tender heads: And soft-headed people must be Rulers of us all, if we must change as oft as their weakness will desire it.
Ans. You cannot think that when you talk at this rate, the readers and hearers can be all so simple, as not to understand, that your words only signify that you stand on the higher ground, and not that you have the better cause: For, 1. you were not only importuned before these Laws were made, to have done your part, for a more universal Concord, but you were also Commissioned by the King under his Broad Seal, to consult for the making such alterations in the Liturgy, as were necessary to satisfy tender Consciences: When instead of so doing, you have made the burden heavier than before. And is this a fit plea for men, that before the new Laws and Impositions, had so much power and opportunity to have prevented the matter of our grievance, and were so long importuned to it in vain, to talk afterward of the inconvenience of changing or relaxing Laws.
Ans. You cannot think that when you talk at this rate, the readers and hearers can be all so simple, as not to understand, that your words only signifie that you stand on the higher ground, and not that you have the better cause: For, 1. you were not only importuned before these Laws were made, to have done your part, for a more universal Concord, but you were also Commissioned by the King under his Broad Seal, to consult for the making such alterations in the Liturgy, as were necessary to satisfie tender Consciences: When instead of so doing, you have made the burden heavier than before. And is this a fit plea for men, that before the new Laws and Impositions, had so much power and opportunity to have prevented the matter of our grievance, and were so long importuned to it in vain, to talk afterward of the inconvenience of changing or relaxing Laws.