A92138:1257
The divine right of church-government and excommunication
The divine right of church-government and excommunication: or a peaceable dispute for the perfection of the holy scripture in point of ceremonies and church government; in which the removal of the Service-book is justified, the six books of Tho: Erastus against excommunication are briefly examined; with a vindication of that eminent divine Theod: Beza against the aspersions of Erastus, the arguments of Mr. William Pryn, Rich: Hooker, Dr. Morton, Dr. Jackson, Dr. John Forbes, and the doctors of Aberdeen; touching will-worship, ceremonies, imagery, idolatry, things indifferent, an ambulatory government; the due and just powers of the magistrate in matters of religion, and the arguments of Mr. Pryn, in so far as they side with Erastus, are modestly discussed. To which is added, a brief tractate of scandal ... / By Samuel Rutherfurd, Professor of Divinity in the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Published by authority.The divine right of church-government and excommunication: or a peacable dispute for the perfection of the holy scripture in point of ceremonies and church government; in which the removal of the Service-book is justifi'd, the six books of Tho: Erastus against excommunication are briefly examin'd; with a vindication of that eminent divine Theod: Beza against the aspersions of Erastus, the arguments of Mr. William Pryn, Rich: Hooker, Dr. Morton, Dr. Jackson, Dr. John Forbes, and the doctors of Aberdeen; touching will-worship, ceremonies, imagery, idolatry, things indifferent, an ambulatory government; the due and just powers of the magistrate in matters of religion, and the arguments of Mr. Pryn, in so far as they side with Erastus, are modestly discussed. To which is added, a brief tractate of scandal ... / By Samuel Rutherfurd, Professor of Divinity in the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Published by authority.
London: printed by John Field for Christopher Meredith, 1646
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
Ans. If the hire received for a whores selling of her body to1 uncleanness, must not be applied to the service of God, far more cannot a whore as a whore be admitted to partake of the holy things of God, for the price or money is called abomination to God, Deut. 23. for the whore, not the whore for the money; and so we may well argue from the things to the persons. 2. It is false that God forbiddeth the price of a whore only in vows, and ⟨p. 455⟩not in sacrifices; he forbiddeth it because as Moses saith, Deut. 23. 18. it is an abomination to the Lord, and as Erastus saith, it is money unjustly purchased; Yea, Davids practise teacheth, that what we bestow on sacrifices, as well as in vows, it must be our own proper goods, and not so much as gifted to us, 2 Sam. 24. 24. Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which cost me nothing; far less would he offer the price of a whore in sacrifices; and the Divines of England say on the place, hereby is forbidden that any gain of evil things should be applied to the service 2of God, Mich. 7. 1. Vatablus saith the like. 2. For the Lords forbidding to offer in a vow, Bullock or Lamb, or any thing that is superfluous, or lacking in his parts, and permitting it in a freewill offering, by a free will offering, is meant that which is given to the Priest for food, of a free gift; but otherwise, what is offered to the Lord in a vow, or a free will offering must be perfect: for the blind, broken, maimed, having a wen, scurvy, or scab, can in no sort be offered to the Lord, Lev. 22. 20, 21, 22, 23. There is no word of the Lord in the free will gift that Erastus speaketh of, but only the word [Greek or Hebrew] is liberal, free, from [Greek or Hebrew] to give freely to God or man. 3. A whore repenting or professing repentance, was not debarred from sacrifices; but that is without the bounds of the question, an heathen could say, Quem penitet facti is pene innocens est. Senec. in Traged, We debar none that profess repentance from the seals of the Covenant. 4. When a whore as a whore did offer her first borne being a bastard in the Temple, I conceive neither she nor her child were accepted,