A27014:29
Sacrilegious desertion of the holy ministry rebuked, and tolerated preaching of the gospel vindicated,…Sacrilegious desertion of the holy ministery rebuked, and tolerated preaching of the gospel vindicated,…
Sacrilegious desertion of the holy ministry rebuked, and tolerated preaching of the gospel vindicated, against the reasonings of a confident questionist, in a book called Toleration not abused; with counsel to the nonconformists, and petition to the pious conformists / by one that is consecrated to the sacred ministry, and is resolved not to be a deserter of it ...Sacrilegious desertion of the holy ministery rebuked, and tolerated preaching of the gospel vindicated, against the reasonings of a confident questionist, in a book called Toleration not abused; with counsil to the nonconformists, and petition to the pious conformists / by one that is consecrated to the sacred ministry, and is resolved not to be a deserter of it ...
London : s.n., 1672
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.
26. The grand Difficulty to the Nonconformists in their present condition, lieth but in this one case, Whether in competent Parishes, which have able and godly Conformable Ministers, the obligation to hold Union and Communion with the Parish Church, or the obligation to exercise ⟨p. 18⟩a more regular way of Church-Discipline and Worship than the Parish Churches do or will do, should be judged the more prevalent; And consequently whether they should gather Churches out of Churches in this case. For in the other forementioned cases the answer is more easy. I shall give my own opinion as followeth: 1. It is lawful and a duty to be a member of such a Parish-Church, when we can have and do no better. 2. We cannot have or do better, when it cannot be without a greater hurt to the Public Interest of the Gospel, the Church, and the Souls of other men, than the benefit to us and others is like to countervail. That cannot be done lawfully which cannot be done without doing more hurt than good, and destroying the end.
26. The grand Difficulty to the Nonconformists in their present condition, lieth but in this one case, Whether in competent Parishes, which have able and godly Conformable Ministers, the obligation to hold Union and Communion with the Parish Church, or the obligation to exercise ⟨p. 18⟩a more regular way of Church-Discipline and Worship than the Parish Churches do or will do, should be judged the more prevalent; And consequently whether they should gather Churches out of Churches in this case. For in the other forementioned cases the answer is more easie. I shall give my own opinion as followeth: 1. It is lawful and a duty to be a member of such a Parish-Church, when we can have and do no better. 2. We cannot have or do better, when it cannot be without a greater hurt to the Publick Interest of the Gospel, the Church, and the Souls of other men, than the benefit to us and others is like to countervail. That cannot be done lawfully which cannot be done without doing more hurt than good, and destroying the end.