A26965:349
The nonconformists plea for peace, or, An account of their judgment in certain things…
The nonconformists plea for peace, or, An account of their judgment in certain things in which they are misunderstood written to reconcile and pacify such as by mistaking them hinder love and concord / by Richard Baxter.The nonconformists plea for peace, or, An account of their judgment in certain things in which they are misunderstood written to reconcile and pacifie such as by mistaking them hinder love and concord / by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for Benj. Alsop, 1679
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.
13. Especially if men have no obligation to that insufficient, heretical, or ungodly Priest, but humane, because a Patron presented him, or a Magistrate imposed him, or because Parish-order (which is a humane thing of mere convenience) will else seem violated: When as the avoiding of the danger of a false Pastor, and the guilt of his sin, which by owning him may be incurred, and escaping the great loss of a faithful Pastor's guidance, when we are conscious that we greatly need it, are things of greater importance, and of Moral and Evangelical Divine obligation: In this case we cannot prove it Schism to avoid a wicked Priest: The Bishops hold it a duty to avoid a Nonconformist that hath not their License: But such a one as is foredescribed, hath not Christ's License, and is a Nonconformist to his Laws.
13. Especially if men have no obligation to that insufficient, heretical, or ungodly Priest, but humane, because a Patron presented him, or a Magistrate imposed him, or because Parish-order (which is a humane thing of meer convenience) will else seem violated: When as the avoiding of the danger of a false Pastor, and the guilt of his sin, which by owning him may be incurred, and escaping the great loss of a faithful Pastor's guidance, when we are conscious that we greatly need it, are things of greater importance, and of Moral and Evangelical Divine obligation: In this case we cannot prove it Schism to avoid a wicked Priest: The Bishops hold it a duty to avoid a Nonconformist that hath not their License: But such a one as is foredescribed, hath not Christ's License, and is a Nonconformist to his Laws.
Again, let it be noted 1. That even under the Jewish Law, Magistrates were not the choosers of the Priests, but God chose them by settling the Priesthood on one line. 2. That Christ hath by his Spirit in the Apostles altered the Priesthood, and the way of their calling and entrance under the Gospel. 3. That the Church near a thousand years was in possession of that way, and many hundred of those years the possession was universal in all the Churches. 4. That the choosing of Bishops or Priests by Magistrates or Lay-Patrons ⟨p. 112⟩