A97353:115
The second part of The nonconformists plea for peace being an account of their…
The second part of The nonconformists plea for peace being an account of their principles about civil and ecclesiastical authority and obedience ... : mostly written many years past, and now published to save our lives and the kingdoms peace, from the false and bloody plotters ... / by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for John Hancock, 1680
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.
15. Man having Vitality, Intellection and Free-will, and being a Sociable creature, each one having need of others and disposed to converse, and placed among others, is a Creature made to be Governed according to his Reason, by Verities, and according to his Free-will by proposed Good; and not merely moved as a Stone, or Engine, nor merely moved as Brutes by sense: that is, he is to be ruled by Laws. This one of us hath so fully proved in a treatise called the Reasons of the Christian Religion, part 1. cap. 8. that it must not here be done over again.
15. Man having Vitality, Intellection and Free-will, and being a Sociable creature, each one having need of others and disposed to converse, and placed among others, is a Creature made to be Governed according to his Reason, by Verities, and according to his Free-will by proposed Good; and not meerly moved as a Stone, or Engine, nor meerly moved as Bruits by sense: that is, he is to be ruled by Laws. This one of us hath so fully proved in a treatise called the Reasons of the Christian Religion, part 1. cap. 8. that it must not here be done over again.
16. If the Nature of man were not to be morally governed by proposed Truth and Good, his Reason and Will were vain; he should not be ruled as a man but as a stone or beast: sense must do all: all humane government were impossible or evil, for want of capable subjects: no Villainy must be controlled: folly must bear equal sway with wisdom: children must not obey their Parents, any more than Parents their children. Yea by the Principles of this Maledictus Spinosa and his tribe, the ⟨p. 11⟩children that can but conquer natural instinct, and escape humane punishment, may as lawfully kill their Parents to get the inheritance, as Love and Honour them: and the Parents may as lawfully murder all their children, to avoid the trouble of keeping them, as to nourish them.
16. If the Nature of man were not to be morally governed by proposed Truth and Good, his Reason and Will were vain; he should not be ruled as a man but as a stone or beast: sense must do all: all humane government were impossible or evil, for want of capable subjects: no Villany must be controlled: folly must bear equal sway with wisdom: children must not obey their Parents, any more than Parents their children. Yea by the Principles of this Maledictus Spinosa and his tribe, the