A92138:252
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.
Because sumptuous Temples serve to the world for a witness of his almightiness, whom we outwardly serve, and honour with the chiefest of outward things, as being of all things himself incomparably the greatest: 3. It were 1strange, that God should have made such store of glorious creatures on earth, & leave them all to be consumed on secular vanity, allowing none but the baser sort to be employed in his own service: 4. Rarest and most gorgeous treasures are too little for earthly Kings. 5. If the corruptible Temples of the holy spirit are to be served with rich alms, what should be done for houses to edify the living Temples redeemed by Jesus Christ: To all which I say: 1. The Temple of Jerusalem in its glory, proportion and beauty, was a Positive worship, and so must be warranted by the positive Warrant of the Word, and the like Warrant must all our Churches in the New-Testament have: 2. If we must extend our liberality and bounty towards God to the highest, and to testify the greatness and Almightiness of him whom we serve: then did David and Solomon in both fail, there were more glorious and rich houses on earth, and divers times have been builded to the honour of false gods, and to declare the Royal magnificence of mortal Kings: God never for his own honour appointed such a banquet as Ahasureosh did, to continue for an hundred and fourscore days, Esther 1. 4. More might, and ought to have been done by David and Solomon, if it had been a moral ground to build a house, to be a witness of Almightiness: 3. And God appointed sacrifices, and Sacraments in both Testaments, as Testimonies of the great Lord Jesus; yet in base and obvious creatures; we may not devise Symbols or witnessing Images of the Almightiness of that God whom we serve, at our pleasure: 4. If our Lord love mercy better then Sacrifice, especially under the New Testament, when his worship must be more spiritual: Then the Argument may be strongly retorted, we are to bestow more on feeding ⟨p. 93⟩the living Members of Christs body (which yet is not secular vanity) then on dead stones; except Master Hooker can warrant us to serve God under the New Testament in precious stones and gold, for which we can see no Warrant: 5. All these Arguments are broadly used by Papists, for Images and rich Churches: Nor doth Hooker give us any Argument for this, but what Papists gave before