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Show 82 Majler John Cottons .A11[wer iniquitie, who had the keeping of the Church-Courts} th') did tre.d d"""'uhe H,ly City, Rev. u. 2. Tread downe(l fay) but not ddtr<•Y the Holy City. Yea though the 'franil1tion reade it, 'Ihey did tr<ad it do,.,m, or,'Iread it "nder-foote : yer the Originall word m•y be rendred fomewhat more mildly: ~~~; may expreffi: their walking upon it, or elfe the Peripateticks were a more vialent fel:t, then either their Principles, or their Prafl:ife did declare them. l'come now to fpeake of. the fecond F alfhood 1 which the Examiner chargeth upon the Englifh Churches, which was the falfeneffe of their Miniftery ; which wherein it lyeth, he lbould have done. well to have told us: for bimfolfo dijlik.!;,th it in me, to JRander in CieneraljtitJ •. But fOr our fetVts,we are farre from that fupercilious, and PhasMaicaU arrogancy, as to condemne fuch for falfe Minill:ers·; in wbom_ we Iinde Truth of Godlineffe, Truth ofMinill:eriall Gifu, Truth .of·EielHon and acceptance unto Office by true Churches of Cb<"ift, Truth offound,& wholefome,and foule-faving Dofl:rine,. and T""ruth of holy and exemplary Converfation. And fuch are all the Minill:ers whom either the members of our Churehes affea w th:are , or our Churches doe alJow them ordinarily for to Heare. And when I fay T1uth, lfpeake it not inoppofition to Eminency, (for fundry. of them excell in Eminency of fundry of thefe things:) but in oppofition to the faJfhood which the Examin.er objetuth. l know not what exception lyeth againll: their Miniftery,to argue it of falfhood, ( fave what hath been excepted and anfwered already touching the conftituiion of their P arilhionall Churches) but onely the falfene!Te of the Power from whence their Miniftery is derived, to wit, from Epifcopall Ordination. But the Examiner is much miftaken, if he take us to conceive, or if he himfel leconceive,that the Power of the Minifteriall calling i& derived from Ordination; whether Epifcopall or Presbyterial!, ':r Conwegationall. The Power of the Minifteriall Calling is demed ch~efly from Chrifl, furnifhing his fervams with Gifts fit for tbe Calhng_; and nextly, from the ,Church, (or Congregation) who obfervmg li1ch whom the Lora hath gifted doe eletl: and call them forth to come and helpe them. For from ;hat ground, P JNI andSilar (to ufe the words of the Text) a!furedly gathered that the _ , .. to .M~ft~r Roger Williams. ~~l--ord h•d,cilled them to preach the Gofpel to the Macedoniw, Atl:s 16. 9, 10. to wit, becaufe a man of Macedonia (in the Qame of tlw cell:) had called unto them to come into Mac•donis ~ belpe .~b~m. Pallor and flliJ:ka.re Relatives: and Relatives doc cqnfift m fiii#'IJ ,Diltrilll ajfef1ione, Their mutuall acceptance of one another is the eli(,nciaJI cau le of their f\elarior. Ordination i1 but atijunf1Hm oonfomma~ts (as D'.Am<J rightly obferve1 h) of the Minilim Calling: the Relation between him and the people was truly wrought before. As the Coronation of the Prince is not that which gi.te.llh thl' Effi:ncy of his Princely Calling.,but Elctl:ion by the People,( where rbe Government iaEiefl:ivc:) fo neither is Ordination that which giveth ElfCnce to the Minifters Calling, but the peopl• -choice. O;xiination by Jmpofition ofEpiti:opall hands, doth po(.. late an Adjuntl: of the Miniflers calling, (co wit, the folcmnitie of it:) but doth not dell:roy the effence, or nature of it, much leffe derive a falfe power to ie, to evacuate the true. The third F al!hood, which the Examiner chargeth upon the Englifh- Pari!h-Churche~, is the F alfe worlhip. And truly whatfo· ever bath been corrupt in their wotlbip, whether Pr_efcript, Liturgies., or undlH' Honour put upon Saints or Angels, in denomina• ting Dayea or Temples ali:er them, and fuch timea and places dedicated to God, which be never require~ and what ever other DcYjces of like nature, I had rather bewaile before the Lord, then excule or juftifie before men. And I lhould thinkc it had been a better fervice to God,and his Churches, and a greater comfort co the foule of the Examiner , to have expreffed particularly what the falfe worlhip had been which he beareth witneffe againft, and to hue cleared wherein ·their fallbood lyech, rather then to have rc• fu:d in condemning all falfe worfhips in overly Generalities : and efpecially at fuch a time when ( through mercy) the State is fc:t upon Reformation, and calleth for light. He that fhall cry out againll: all falfe wa.yes in Travels by Land, and exclaime againll: all Rocks and Q;J_ick· fands by Sea, and give no particular notice where they lye, what helpe doth he afford to the carefull Palfengcr. or Marrioer,either by Land or Sea? When Trumpets j~ive fuch ao uncertain and obfcure found, who !hall prepare themlclves to IYt>yd ~~ danger on the one hand, o~ on the other ~ But for the prefcnc,two things would I fay, touching che point i11band. L I 2 I.lt |
