The due right of presbyteries, or, A peaceable plea for the government of the…

Answ. How strong is Gods truth, Brethren, ye make your opinion weak which hangeth upon a grammatication of one borrowed word, None durst join marriage-way to the Church-visible; ^fErasmus, ^gBeza say it is a word translated from Trees glued together, and signifieth neither marriage, nor covenant, and signifieth either natural or artificial or moral conjunction, Acts 8. 29. Philip is bidden join himself to yonder Chariot, joining of Chariots is neither by marriage, nor covenant, so is the word, Luk. 15. 15. 2. It is not joined to a visible Parish Church, but to the whole Christian Church out of which Ananias and Sapphira were cast. v. 9. 10. Which ⟨p. 124⟩made great fear, and made those who were not baptized (saith ^cPomeranus) to fear to join to the Church of God, and so it behoved to be the unbaptized and unconverted, who were feared, v. 12. and they were all with one accord, in Solomons porch, that is, all the faithful added to the Church, now opposite to these, he saith of the unconverted and not added to the Church. v. 13. and of the •est, without the Church, durst no man join himself to the Church: now this cannot be in a visible society, for then Luke should intimate, that the unconverted might have added themselves to the Church if they durst, and had not been stricken with the terror of the miraculous killing of Ananias and Sapphira, now this they could not have done (as our Brethren say) hand over head, they behoved first to be converted, and testified their conversion by a Church Oath, nay Cajetan ^asaith well, they durst not haunt their company, they sled from them, and from the Apostle Peter, as from a man slayer, Nor doth the holy Ghost (I think) mean of any Church fellowship, he presupposing that they were unconverted, at least our Brethren must say this. 3. It is an unlearned reason that they give to prove, he meaneth not of conversion, for all voluntary acts supernatural even of joining to a visible Church and marrying of themselves to Christ, and his visible Church (as our Brethren say) are acts wrought by the irresistible, and omnipotent working of Gods grace, no less then our first conversion;