A92140:472
A free disputation against pretended liberty of conscience tending to resolve doubts moved
A free disputation against pretended liberty of conscience tending to resolve doubts moved by Mr. John Goodwin, John Baptist, Dr. Jer. Taylor, the Belgic Arminians, Socinians, and other authors contending for lawless liberty, or licentious toleration of sects and heresies. / By Samuel Rutherfurd professor of divinity in the University of St. Andrews.A free disputation against pretended liberty of conscience tending to resolve doubts moved by Mr. John Goodwin, John Baptist, Dr. Jer. Taylor, the Belgick Arminians, Socinians, and other authors contending for lawlesse liberty, or licentious toleration of sects and heresies. / By Samuel Rutherfurd professor of divinity in the University of St. Andrews.
London: printed by R.I. for Andrew Crook, 1649
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.
2. It is no argument at all from 1. A negative fact. 2. In such a particular Scripture, to prove the lawfulness of toleration. Let then answer this, Christ that was a faithful Preacher to State and Church, no where reproveth in the Gospel, the toleration of the extortion of Publicans, Sodomy, murder, the absolving of a murderer at the feast, a bloody toleration, denying of God, blasphemy; ergo, it was lawful for the Church and State to suffer all these.
2. It is no argument at all from 1. A negative fact. 2. In such a particular Scripture, to prove the lawfulnesse of tolleration. Let then answer this, Christ that was a faithfull Preacher to State and Church, no where reproveth in the Gospell, the tolleration of the extortion of Publicans, Sodomie, murther, the absolving of a murtherer at the feast, a bloody tolleration, denying of God, blasphemy; ergo, it was lawfull for the Church and State to suffer all these.
3. This answer inferreth that the Church should tolerate all false doctrines, and the denying of the resurrection, and that there should be no Church censure, contrary to Mat. 18 yea Christ does no where rebuke the Pharisees, Scribes and Priests, because they did not, by preaching, admonish and ⟨p. 205⟩convince their fellows the Sadducees of that heretical doctrine that the dead shall not rise, and by this there should be not only a Physical toleration, and a non punishing by the Magistrate of all heresies, but a moral forbearing, and a no-rebuking, no preaching against false ways, and so not only Church-censures are taken away contrary to Matth. 18. 15, 16, 17. Revel. 2. 1, 2, 14, 15, 16, 20. But it is not lawful for Ministers or teachers to write or teach against Jezebel, and these that hold the doctrine of Balaam, by this reason of the Libertines. Nor does Christ command the Rulers of the people to punish the false witnesses that rose against him. Nor does he rebuke Church or State for tolerating the Publicans to extort the people, nor Caesar and Pilate, for oppressing the people, nor the Scribes and Pharisees for not preaching against Herod's beheading of John Baptist, or Pilates mixing the Gallileans blood with the sacrifice,