The dying man's testament to the Church of Scotland, or, A treatise concerning scandal…

To come then to the first sort of determinations,¹ which are doctrinal; it may appear from what is said, that there can be no just ground of division upon that account; for, in such things a Church may forbear particular persons: and again, particular persons may forbear a Church. It is not to be thought, that all orthodox Divines are of the same mind in all things that are decreed in the Synod of Dort, particularly in reference to the object of predestination; yet the Synod hath not made any division by Censuring of such, neither these who differ from that determination have broken off communion with the Church, but have kept communion: and union in the Church hath not been thereby interrupted; yet these who apprehend themselves to be right, cannot but think the other is in an error: and if this forbearance be not allowed, there can never be union in the Church, except we should think that they behoved all to be in the same mind about such things, and that there should never be a decision in a Church, but when there is absolute harmony; for supposing the plurality to decide right, yet these, whose judgement were condemned, were obliged according to their light to divide, seeing they are in their own judgments right, It is true, I suppose that it is not simply unlawful, or hurtful to truth for a Church-judicatory, out of respect to peace in the Church, to condescend abstractly to wave a ministerial ⟨p. 386⟩decision without wronging of the matter; As suppose these in Afric, for peace had waved their judicial decision of the necessity of rebaptizing in such a case; or these who determined the contrary, might have waved theirs, yet neither of them had hurt their own opinion. Or suppose, that in the decisions that were concerning Easter, upon both sides of the controversy, either had past from their decisions, and left the matter in practice to mens arbitrement without any decision, I suppose this had not been a wrong to truth (supposing it to have been on either side) And indeed considering what is written in the History, something like this may be gathered. For, first, It is clear, that there were determinations on both sides, and particularly, That the West Church, and these that joined with them, did determine the Lords Day necessarily to be kept for distinguishing them from the Jews. 2.

To come then to the first sort of determinations,