nature and works of creation and providence, or by any Revelation from God, to which they have accets, always taking heed to make no laws, but fuch as they certainly know to be agreeable to the law of God.It is not to be expected, that civil laws can forbid every fault and require every thing good in externals; but they ought never to encourage fin, or difcourage duty.

OBJECT. XXIV. «To allow magiftrates a power of judging about the matters of religion will make them Church-rulers."

ANSW. 1. No more than it made Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, and the king of Nineveh Church-rulers.

2. No more than Church-rulers taking cognizance of murder, adultery, inceft, theft, robbery, or even of the conduct of Christian magistrates relative to adminiftration of juftice, wars, alliances, &c. will make them magiftrates.

3. How often muft you be told, that Churchrulers judge, how fuch profeffion or practice dught to ftand connected with ecclefiaftical encouragements, difcouragements or cenfure; but magiftrates judge, how fuch profeffion or practice ought to be connected with civil encouragements or difcouragements. Church-rulers warn against, and cenfure men's public faults, only as fcandals, disgraceful and hurtful to the Church. Magiftrates judge of, and punish them only as crimes, hurtful to the profperity of the State. In Church-courts, matters are confidered as the matters of the Lord, In civil courts, they are confidered as the matters of the king, 2 Chron. xix. 8-11. Ministers as the deputies of Chrift, require magiftrates to execute their office for the honour of Chrift, and welfare of his Church, and cenfure them, if Church-members, if they do not. Magistrates as vicegerents of God, the King

mong

of nations, require minifters faithfully to execute their office, particularly as ftated by the laws of the land, in order to promote virtue and happiness a the subjects, and draw the bleffing of God upon them; and they punish them as unduitful fubjects, if they notoriously transgress, 1 Kings ii. 26. Magiftrates have no ECCLESIASTICAL POWER at all. They have no power to reftrain or hinder the free and full exercife of Church power. But, by giving full opportunity, encouragement and excitement to Church officers, they have power to provide that Church power be freely and faithfully exercifed in their dominions. They have no power to tranfact any thing ecclefiaftical, as in admiflion of members into the Church, or to the feals of God's covenant;

-no power to choofe or ordain Church officers; -no power to preach the gofpel, difpenfe the facrament, inflict cenfures, or abfolve from them.

-They have no power to prefcribe or enact any ecclefiaftical laws; but they have power to adopt fuch lawful and expedient conftitutions, as have been made by the Church-courts, into their civil code, by a legal ratification,—and power to enact fuch political laws as are neceffary for the more advantageous execution of thefe ecclefiaftical conftitutions. They have no power to frame a religion for their fubjects, or ratify a falfe religion already received or framed, or to establish any thing in religion, which is not founded in the word of God; but they have a power to adopt the law of God, and the religion prescribed by it, as a part of their civil law, in order to promote the glory of God in the welfare of the nation.The more public Church-courts be, and the more extenfive his influence upon his fubjects, and the welfare of the nation,-the more right hath the civil magiftrate to exercise his political power about them. The Church having an in

trinfic right and power from Chrift to call Synods for government, whenever her circumftances require it, the magiftrate hath no power to deprive her of this right. But while the Church calls them as courts of Chrift, conftituted of Church-rulers appointed by him to act in his name, the magiftrate may call them as courts established by the civil law, and neceffary to promote the peace, order and piety, and fo the profperity of his fubjects,-as courts, which confift of his principal fubjects, and to which place and protection must be given in his dominions. The magistrate hath no power of deputing to Synods fuch members as he pleafeth, Acts xv. 2 Chron. viii. 18. or, to hinder or recal thofe whom the Church hath deputed, unless the safety of the State plainly require it. But he may compel members, and parties who have caufes before the court, to attend, if the cafe of the Church require it, as a mean of repreffing a malicious and turbulent faction, who have, or may hurt the State. It is not neceffary, that either the magiftrate, or his Commiffioner, attend ecclefiaftical Synods;-though to fecure their protection, curb unruly troublers of the court, and to witness the propriety of their procedure, he may attend.. If he attend, He hath a power to judge for himself, how matters are ecclefiaftically tranfacted,-a power politically to provide, That the members meddle with no political affairs, which do not belong to them as a court of Chrift;take care, that members, and others prefent, obferve that due decency, in reafoning, voting, fubmitting, or hearing, which the nature of the court requires. If any cause be partly civil and partly ecclefiaftical, he is to judge the civil part himself, and leave the ecclefiaftical to the Church court.Even in ecclefiaftical causes, he may give his advice, nay, he may propofe and require Synods to examine and de

-and to

cide concerning points of doctrine or practice, if neceffary for the fatisfaction of his own confcience, or the inftruction and edification of his fubjects, in order to promote the welfare of the State, in fubordination to the glory of God. But he hath no power to hinder others to propofe their difficulties or grievances before the Synod for fatisfaction or redrefs, unless the caufe be partly of a political nature, a Synodical decifion of which, at that time, endangers the State.- -He hath no power to prefide in the Synod, or to give his decifive vote in any of their tranfactions. But, as a man and Chriftian, he hath right to a judgment of difcretion, Whether their decisions be according to the law of God or not, and as a magiftrate, he hath a power of political judgment, by which he doth not properly judge, Whether thefe decifions be true or falfe, good or bad in themselves, but Whether, and How far, they ought to be ratified, and as it were adopted into the laws of the State, and connected with civil rewards, forbearance, or punishments. Thus, the power of the magistrate, in nothing interferes with the power of the Synod. Nothing is done by the one, as a magiftrate, that the other can do, as a court of Christ. And as the decifions of Synods are fupreme in the ecclefiaflic order, from which there is no appeal but to Jefus Chrift; By remonftrating as a Church-member, and commanding them as their King, the magiftrate may cause the Synod re-confider its own deeds, but he cannot reverfe them himself;

so the magistrate's deed concerning the civil ratification of Church-deeds is fupreme in its kind, from which there is no appeal but to God himself, The Synod may require him as a Church-member; and, as fubjects, they may remonftrate, and fupplicate his re-confideration of his own deed, but they cannot reverfe it themfelves,

OBJECT. XXV. "To allow magiftrates to judge in matters of religion for others, and to restrain and punish corruptions in it, is to render them lords of men's faith and confcience,--a power which even the infpired apoftles difclaimed. For if magiftrates impofe any religion at all upon their fubjects, it Imust be what their own confcience dictates; and then what shall become of the private rights of confcience, among their subjects?"

ANSW. 1. Did then God, who of old commanded magiftrates to judge about matters of religion, and to restrain and punish blafphemers, idolaters, feducers, profaners of the Sabbath, Deut. xiii. 9, 10. & xvii. 5-7. Lev. xxiv. 11-14. Song ii. 15. Num. xv. 32-36. command them to lord it over men's confcience? If it was not fo then, it cannot be fo now, as conscience, tyranny and murder, are the fame in every age.

2. The objection ftrikes with equal force, against all ecclefiaftical establishment of the true religion, and against all creeds and Confeffions of Faith, and against all ecclefiaftical judging and cenfuring of men for herefy, blafphemy, or idolatry, contrary to Rev. ii. 20. Tit. iii. 10. Gal. v. 10, 11. as against magiftrates' judging about establishing religion or punifhing the public infulters of it.

3. Magiftrates act in this matter as his minifters and vicegerents, by virtue of his commandment, who is the alone Lord of conscience, and restrain or punish nothing, but what men, under any proper influence of faith and confcience, would abftain from, as forbidden by the Lord of conscience, who is to be their future judge, and hath appointed ma giftrates, as his fubftitutes to avenge the open inju, ries done to him in this world, Rom. xiii. 4. And, if men perfift in fins plainly forbidden in his law, he