CHAP. CI.
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Williams, Roger and Underhill, Edward Bean
Peace. Oh! that my head were a fountain, and mine eyes rivers of tears, to lament my children, the children of peace and light, thus darkening that and other lightsome scriptures with such dark and direful clouds of blood.
The bloody interpretation of Ps. ci.
Truth. Sweet Peace, thy tears are seasonable and precious, and bottled up in the heavens; but let me add a second consideration from that scripture. If that scripture may now literally be applied to nations and cities, in a parallel to Canaan and Jerusalem, since the gospel, and this Ps. ci. be literally to be applied to cities, towns, and countries in Europe and America, not only such as essay to join themselves (as they here speak) in a corrupt church estate, but such as know no church estate, nor God, nor Christ, yea, every wicked person and evil doer, must be hanged or stoned, &c., as it was in Israel; and if so, how many thousands and millions of men and women in the several kingdoms and governments of the world, must be cut off from their lands, and destroyed from their cities, as this scripture speaks!
Thirdly, since those persons in the New English plantations accounted unfit for church estate, yet remain all members of the church of England, from which New England dares not separate, no not in their sacraments (as some of the independents have published), what riddle or mystery, or rather fallacy of Satan is this![211]
The New English separate in America, but not in Europe.
Peace. It will not be offence to charity to make conjecture: first, herein New England churches secretly call their mother whore, not daring in America to join with their own mother’s children, though unexcommunicate: no, nor permit them to worship God after their consciences, and as their mother hath taught them this secretly and silently, they have a mind to do, which publicly they would seem to disclaim, and profess against.
The New English permit not their brethren of Old England to enjoy their consciences, lest their own numbers might exceed their own, or at least the greatness of their own assemblies and maintenances decrease.
Secondly, if such members of Old England should be suffered to enjoy their consciences in New England—however it is pretended they would profane ordinances for which they are unfit (as true it is in that natural persons are not fit for spiritual worship), yet this appears not to be the bottom, for in Old England the New English join with Old in the ministration of the word, prayer, singing, contribution, maintenance of the ministry, &c.—if, I say, they should set up churches after their conscience, the greatness and multitudes of their own assemblies would decay, and with all the contributions and maintenance of their ministers, unto which all or most have been forced.
Truth. Dear Peace, these are more than conjectures, thousands now espy; and all that love the purity of the worship of the living God should lament such halting. I shall add this, not only do they partially neglect to cut off the wicked of the land, but such as themselves esteemed beloved and godly have they driven forth, and keep out others which would come unto them, eminently godly by their own confession; because differing in conscience and worship from them, and consequently not to be suffered in their holy land of Canaan.[212]
But having examined that scripture alleged, let us now weigh their reasons.
First, say they, the not cutting off by the sword, but tolerating many religions in a state would provoke God: unto which—
Christ Jesus never appointed all religions but his own to be cut off by the civil sword.
I answer, first (and here being no scripture produced to these reasons, shall the sooner answer), that no proof can be made from the institutions of the Lord Jesus that all religions but one are to be cut off by the civil sword; that national church in that typical land of Canaan being abolished and the Christian commonweal or church instituted.
A bloody mother.
Secondly. I affirm that the cutting off by the sword other consciences and religions, is (contrarily) most provoking unto God, expressly against his will concerning the tares, Matt. xiii., as I have before proved; as also the bloody mother of all those monstrous mischiefs, where such cutting off is used, both to the souls and bodies of men.
Thirdly. Let conscience and experience speak how in the not cutting off of their many religions, it hath pleased God not only not to be provoked, but to prosper the state of the United Provinces, our next neighbours, and that to admiration.
Peace. The second reason is, such tolerating would leaven, divide, and destroy the peace of the churches.
Christ’s spiritual power most powerful.
Truth. This must also be denied upon so many former scriptures and reasons produced, proving the power of the Lord Jesus, and the sufficiency of his spiritual power in his church, for the purging forth and conquering of the least evil: yea, and for the bringing every thought in subjection unto Christ Jesus, 2 Cor. x.
Christ forbidding his followers to permit leaven in the church, doth not forbid to permit leaven in the world.
I add, they have not produced one scripture, nor can, to prove that the permitting of leaven of false doctrine in the world or civil state, will leaven the churches: only we find that the permission of leaven in persons, doctrines, or practices in the church, that indeed will corrupt and spread, 1 Cor. v., and Gal. v.; but this reason should never have been alleged, were not the particular churches in New England but as so many implicit parish churches in one implicit national church.
Peace. Their third reason is, it will dissolve the continuity of the state, especially theirs, where the walls are made of the stones of the churches.
The wall, Cant. viii. 9, discussed.
Truth. I answer briefly to this bare affirmation thus: that the true church is a wall spiritual and mystical, Cant. viii. 9.
That consequently a false church or company is a false or pretended wall, and none of Christ’s.
The civil state, power, and government is a civil wall, &c., and—
Lastly. The walls of earth or stone about a city, are the natural or artificial wall or defence of it.
Now, in consideration of these four walls, I desire it may be proved from the scriptures of truth, how the false spiritual wall, or company of false worshippers suffered in a city, can be able to destroy the true Christian wall, or company of believers.
A spiritual wall cannot properly impair the civil.
Again, how this false spiritual wall, or false church permitted, can destroy the civil wall, the state and government of the city and citizens, any more than it can destroy the natural or artificial wall of earth or stone.
Spiritual may destroy spiritual, if a stronger and victorious; but spiritual cannot reach to artificial or civil.
Peace. Yea; but they fear the false spiritual wall may destroy their civil, because it is made of the stones of churches.
Truth. If this have reference to that practice amongst them, viz., that none but members of churches enjoy civil freedom amongst them, ordinarily,[213] in imitation of that national church or state of the Jews, then I answer, they that follow Moses’s church constitution, which the New English by such a practice implicitly do, must cease to pretend to the Lord Jesus Christ and his institutions.
Many flourishing civil states where true churches are not found.
Secondly. We shall find lawful civil states, both before and since Christ Jesus, in which we find not any tidings of the true God or Christ.
Lastly. Their civil New English state, framed out of their churches, may yet stand, subsist, and flourish, although they did—as by the word of the Lord they ought—permit either Jews, or Turks, or anti-christians to live amongst them subject unto their civil government.