A42757:585
Aaron's rod blossoming, or, The divine ordinance of church-government vindicated so as the present…Aarons rod blossoming, or, The divine ordinance of church-government vindicated so as the present…
Aaron's rod blossoming, or, The divine ordinance of church-government vindicated so as the present Erastian controversy concerning the distinction of civill and ecclesiastical government, excommunication, and suspension, is fully debated and discussed, from the holy scripture, from the Jewish and Christian antiquities, from the consent of latter writers, from the true nature and rights of magistracy, and from the groundlessness of the chief objections made against the Presbyterial government in point of a domineering arbitrary unlimited power / by George Gillespie ...Aarons rod blossoming, or, The divine ordinance of church-government vindicated so as the present Erastian controversie concerning the distinction of civill and ecclesiasticall government, excommunication, and suspension, is fully debated and discussed, from the holy scripture, from the Jewish and Christian antiquities, from the consent of latter writers, from the true nature and rights of magistracy, and from the groundlesnesse of the chief objections made against the Presbyteriall government in point of a domineering arbitrary unlimited power / by George Gillespie ...
London: printed by E.G. for Richard Whitaker, 1646
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.
There are two examples alleged from Scripture for appeals from Ecclesiastical to Civil Courts: One is the example of Jeremiah; I•r. 26. The other is the example of Paul, Act. 25. But neither of the two prove the point. For 1. Jeremiah was not censured by the Priests with any Spiritual or Ecclesiastical censure (of which alone our controversy is) but the Priests took him and said to him, Thou shalt surely die. Jer. 26. 8. 2. Would God that every Christian Magistrate may protect the servants of God from such unjust sentences and persecuting decrees. When Ecclesiastical Courts are made up of bloody ⟨p. 255⟩persecutors▪ that is an extraordinary evil which must have an extraordinary remedy. 3. Neither yet is there any syllable of Jeremiahs appealing from the Priests to the Princes, but the Text saith, When the Princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up, &c. verse 10. that is, The Princes so soon as they understood that the Priests had taken Jeremiah, and had said to him Thou shalt surely die. verse 8. And being also informed that all the people were gathered together tumultuously and disorderly against the Prophet, verse 9. They thought it their duty to rescue the Prophet from the Priests and people, that he might be examined and judged by the civil Court, he being challenged and accused as one worthy to die.
There are two examples alledged from Scripture for appeals from Ecclesiastical to Civil Courts: One is the example of Ieremiah; I•r. 26. The other is the example of Paul, Act. 25. But neither of the two prove the point. For 1. Ieremiah was not censured by the Priests with any Spirituall or Ecclesiastical censure (of which alone our controversie is) but the Priests took him and said to him, Thou shalt surely die. Jer. 26. 8. 2. Would God that every Christian Magistrate may protect the servants of God from such unjust sentences and persecuting decrees. When Ecclesiasticall Courts are made up of bloody