A92138:1522
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.
3. As the Church is to approve and commend the just sentence of the civill judge in punishing ill doers, but only conditionally in so far as it is just, so is the magistrate obliged to follow, ratify, and with his civil sanction to confirm the sound constitutions of the Church: But conditionally, not absolutely, and blindly, but in so far as they agree with the Word of God.
3. As the Church is to approve and commend the just sentence of the civill judge in punishing ill doers, but only conditionally in so far as it is just, so is the magistrate obliged to follow, ratifie, and with his civil sanction to confirme the sound constitutions of the Church: But conditionally, not absolutely, and blindely, but in so far as they agree with the Word of God.
4. Hence there is a wronging of the Church as the Church, and a civill wronging of the Magistrate as the Magistrate, or of the members of the Church as such, or of the members of the Common-wealth as such, the former and the latter both cannot belong to one judicature: No more then the failing of a Painter against the precepts of Art, because he hath drawn the colours, proportion, and the countenance beside the sampler, and the failing not against Art, but against the Laws of the King, in that he hath lavished out too much gold in the drawing of the image, doth belong to one judgement; for the Painter as a Painter, according to the Law of Art, must judge of the former, and the Magistrate as a Magistrate of the latter.
4. Hence there is a wronging of the Church as the Church, and a civill wronging of the Magistrate as the Magistrate, or of the members of the Church as such, or of the members of the Common-wealth as such, the former and the latter both cannot belong to one judicature: No more then the failing of a Painter against the precepts of Art, because he hath drawn the colours, proportion, and the countenance beside the samplar, and the failing not against Art, but against the Lawes of the King, in that he hath lavished out too much gold in the drawing of the image, doth belong to one judgement; for the Painter as a Painter, according to the Law of Art, must judge of the former, and the Magistrate as a Magistrate of the latter.