N00779:119
The order of the Gospel, professed and practised by the churches of Christ in…
The order of the Gospel, professed and practised by the churches of Christ in New England, justified, by the Scripture, and by the writings of many learned men, both ancient and modern divines; in answer to several questions, relating to church discipline / by Increase Mather, president of Harvard College in Cambridge, and teacher of a church at Boston in New England. ; [Five lines of Scripture texts]The order of the Gospel, professed and practised by the churches of Christ in New England, justified, by the Scripture, and by the writings of many learned men, both ancient and modern divines; in answer to several questions, relating to church discipline / by Increase Mather, president of Harvard Colledge in Cambridge, and teacher of a church at Boston in New England. ; [Five lines of Scripture texts]
Boston: printed by B. Green for Benjamin Eliot, 1700
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.
Answ. This is both Expedient and Necessary. The Synod which Convened at Boston Anno 1662. ha's sufficiently cleared this Point. And although there was in that Synod some dissent as to the Question about the Subject of Baptism then discussed; in the Answer to the other Question relating to the Cons•ciation of Churches, there was an Unanimous Concurrence. The design of which is not (as has been well observed by Dr (a)Ames and Mr. (b)Parker) to infringe the Liberty of particular Churches, but from the word of God to direct and strengthen them in the Regular Exercise thereof. The Reasons for it are such as these.
- (a)Medul. Theol. L. 1 c. 39 Thes 27.
- (b)De pol. rules. L. 3. c. 22.
1. The Churches of Christ stand in a Sisterly relation each to other under Christ their head, having the same Faith, and ought to have the same Order. Eph. 4 5. Col. 2.5. Phil. 3.16. This Union implies a suitable ⟨p. 73⟩Communion, and that they ought to have a Mutual care each of other. Cant. 8.8.
1. The Churches of Christ stand in a Sisterly relation each to other under Christ their head, having the same Faith, and ought to have the same Order.