Ratio disciplinae fratrum Nov-Anglorum. A faithful account of the discipline professed and practised; in…

Name: Ratio disciplinae fratrum Nov-Anglorum. A faithful account of the discipline professed and practised; in…
Author: Cotton Mather

Ratio disciplinae fratrum Nov-Anglorum. A faithful account of the discipline professed and practised; in the churches of New-England. : With interspersed and instructive reflections on the discipline of the primitive churches. : [Seven lines from Ezekiel]

Cotton Mather 1663–1728Boston: printed for S. Gerrish, 1726

[2], iv, 10, 207, [5] p. ; 18 cm. (8vo) · 57k words · Evans 2775

Title page typeset from the transcription.

We Proceed unto the Methods and Customs, IN THE CHURCHES OF New-Eng… › Article 8: ARTICLE VIII. The DISCIPLINE with which the Churches are kept in their Faith and Order.

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.

[ Earlier:389–404 of 557

:389p. 148

If the Person by some late Removal reside at so considerable a Distance from the Church, that he cannot well attend, then, upon a full Proof of the Scandal against him, the Church agrees to send unto him an Admonition in a Letter, which the Pastor forms and signs accordingly.

:390p. 148

When a Person has thus received an Admonition for a Scandal, the Private Christians who dwell near him, reckon it their Duty, by Visiting of him, and by Discoursing with him, to prosecute the good Effects thereof upon him.

:391p. 148–149

Where a Scandalous Transgression is known only to One or Two, the Proceedings of the Persons that know it, are the same, that they are in the Case of a Personal Injury: The Steps directed in the XVIII. Ch. of Matthew. He that knows the Offence, first of all himself goes to the Offender, and seriously endeavours to bring him to Repentance. If the Offender be Obstinate, he then (having Proof to convict him) takes one or two Brethren with him, and renews his Endeavours that the Man may come to Repentance. If this be ineffectual, They carry the Complaint unto the Pastor, who pursues the Designs of Humiliation on the Soul of the Offender. If the Man does now Relent, and the Offence be still in a sure Way to be kept private, the Satisfaction thus privately given, is taken up withal. But if either the Man continue Impenitent, or the Matter have so taken Air, as to be a Matter of common Fame, and the ⟨p. 149⟩Talk of the People, then it falls into the Course, that such a Matter is to be treated withal.

Where a Scandalous Transgression is known only to One or Two, the Proceedings of the Persons that know it, are the same, that they are in the Case of a Personal Injury: The Steps directed in the XVIII. Ch. of Mathew. He that knows the Offence, first of all himself goes to the Offender, and seriously endeavours to bring him to Repentance. If the Offender be Obstinate, he then (having Proof to convict him) takes one or two Brethren with him, and renews his Endeavours that the Man may come to Repentance. If this be ineffectual, They carry the Complaint unto the Pastor, who pursues the Designs of Humiliation on the Soul of the Offender. If the Man does now Relent, and the Offence be still in a sure Way to be kept private, the Satisfaction thus privately given, is taken up withal. But if either the Man continue Impenitent, or the Matter have so taken Air, as to be a Matter of common Fame, and the

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