Gildas Salvianus: The Reformed Pastor

And therefore the Churches Judicial Decisive Power is but improperly such, reducible to the former, which seeing we are agreed in, we are as far in sense agreed in this. A Pastor is Judge as a Physician in an Hospital, or as Plato or Zeno was in his School, or any Tutor in a College of voluntary Students. For any more, it belongeth to Christ, and to the Magistrate. Why then do we stand quarrelling about the names? One saith, The people have a Power of Liberty, and the Ministers only the Power of Authority. And what's this more then we yield them; viz. That the guiding Authority being only in the Guides, and the people commanded to obey them in a due subordination to Christ, there is a Liberty belonging to all the Saints; from any other kind of Ministerial Rule, that is, from a sic volo, sic jubeo, a Rule without Divine authority: and therefore the people must first try and judge, whether the Direction be according to God, and so obey: And this in Church censures as well as other cases. So that, 1. As the people ought not to dissent, or disobey their Guides, unless they lead them to sin (and therefore must see a danger of sin before they suspend obedience.) So 2. the Guides cannot bring the people to execute their Censures or Directions, but by procuring their consent. And therefore though he must do his duty, and may pass his Directive censure though they dissent, and Ministerially require them in the name of the Lord, e. g. to avoid a notorious obstinate offender, and so to obey the command of God; that is, though we may charge them in the name of the Lord to consent, and obey, and do their duty, yet if their Judgements remain unconvinced in a case which is to them ⟨image 25⟩obscure, we have no more to do, but satisfy our selves that we have done our duty. So that when we have quarrelled never so long, what is it but the Peoples consent that the moderate men on one side do require? and consent the other side requireth also: Call it what else you will, whether a Government, or an Authority, or a Liberty; Consent is the thing which both require! And are we not then in the matter agreed? Peruse for this Mr. Lyford's words before cited. See also what the leading men for Presbyterian Government do not only acknowledge but maintain as effectually as others: as Dav. Blondellus de Jure plebis in Regim. Eccles. Calvin Institut. l. 4. c. 12. sect. 4.

And therefore the Churches Iudicial Decisive Power is but improperly such, reducible to the former, which seeing we are agreed in, we are as far in sense agreed in this. A Pastor is Iudge as a Physician in an Hospital, or as Plato or Zeno was in his School, or any Tutour in a Colledge of voluntary Students. For any more, it belongeth to Christ, and to the Magistrate. Why then do we stand quarreling about the names? One saith, The people have a Power of Liberty, and the Ministers only the Power of Authority. And what's this more then we yield them; viz. That the guiding Authority being only in the Guides, and the people commanded to obey them in a due subordination to Christ, there is a Liberty belonging to all the Saints; from any other kind of Ministerial Rule, that is, from a sic volo, sic jubeo, a Rule without Divine authority: and therefore the people must first try and judge, whether the Direction be according to God, and so obey: And this in Church censures as well as other cases. So that, 1. As the people ought not to dissent, or disobey their Guides, unless they lead them to sin (and therefore must see a danger of sin before they suspend obedience.) So 2. the Guides cannot bring the people to execute their Censures or Directions, but by procuring their consent. And therefore though he must do his duty, and may pass his Directive censure though they dissent, and Ministerially require them in the name of the Lord, e. g. to avoid a notorious obstinate offender, and so to obey the command of God; that is, though we may charge them in the name of the Lord to consent, and obey, and do their duty, yet if their Iudgements remain unconvinced in a case which is to them