general welfare of the fociety, in fubordination to the glory of God, can admit, Pfal. xv. 4.

3. Do you pretend to be wifer than God himself? Without any apprehended inconfiftency, he commanded the Jews, not authoritatively to tolerate, protect, and encourage, but to punish blafphemers, profaners of the Sabbath, idolaters, and falfe prophets, Lev. xxiv. 15, 16. Num. xv. 35, 36. Deut. xiv. xvii. Zech. xiii. 2-6. and yet commanded them when they were the small minority in the Chaldean empire, to ferve the Heathen king of Babylon, Jer. xxvii. 17. & xxix. 7.

XIII.

OBJECT. XXXIII. "Unlimited tolerations in the ftate ought not to be granted. In Proteftant countries, Papifts ought not to be tolerated, as they are fubject to the foreign power of the Pope, as their Head, and cannot be fuppofed faithful fubjects to, or to keep faith with fuch as they pretend to be heretics. Atheifts ought not to be tolerated, as they cannot be bound by any oath. Such as are against tolerating others ought not to be tolerated, as they will kindle ftrife. And in Churches, there ought to be no toleration at all."

ANSW. I. Then it seems, Chrift and his Father muft be excluded from all share in the toleration you piead for, on account of their intolerant difpofition, unless they be infinitely altered from what they were

in antient times.

2. You have already given up all your care for procuring the favour of the Popish powers to your Proteftant brethren abroad, by means of tolerating Papifts.

3. Never pretend zeal against atheism. till you be able to maintain your tolerant scheme, upon other than the atheistical principles mentioned near the beginning of this miflive; and to which you have had repeated recourse in your objections,and till

you allow men's rights or pretences of conscience to warrant them to defame, abufe, rob, and murder yourself, as you allow with refpect to God.

4. Your prefent objection is partly founded in atheifm. Papifts are excluded from toleration, not at all as notorious blafphemers and idolaters, but merely as not very like to prove faithful fubjects to Proteftant magiftrates. Atheifts are excluded, not as daring blafphemers or intentionally malicious murderers of Jehovah, but merely becaufe they cannot give proper fecurity for their good behaviour to magiftrates and fellow fubjects. Thus no more regard is fhewed to God the King of nations, than might be expected among a nation of Atheists, and the interests of men are altogether, I might say, infinitely, preferred to his.

5. How are you to fix the precife limits, Who are to be accounted under foreign heads;-who are to be accounted Papifts and Atheifts;-or who are to be held to give fufficient fecurity by oath,--Whether profane fwearers, Quakers, Socinians, notorious violaters of baptifmal engagements, folemn fubfcribers of, and engagers to Creeds and Confeffions of Faith which they believe not, &c.-If, contrary to the light of nature and revelation, men zealously propagate the doctrines of devils and do worship them in idols, and follow the pernicious practices abovementioned, as the native confequences of error and idolatry, Are not they plainly fubject to another Head, even the God of this world, who is not much more friendly to magiftrates and nations, than the Romish Pope? If men have confcience, villainoufly to wreft the Scripture to prove that Chrift was ori ginally a mere man, a mere creature, and is now a made God, What more fecurity can we have by their oath, than if they were profeffed Atheists?

6. None who plead for the authoritative toleration

of heretics, blafphemers and idolaters by the State, can with any felf-confiftent candor, difallow of all toleration in the Church.God the King of nations, hates these abominations as much as Chrift, the Head of the Church. Church-rulers have no other infallible rule to direct them in their decifions, than magistrates have. They are as unfit to judge of more refined errors, as magiftrates are to judge of grofs errors, blafphemies, idolatries. They have as little allowance from Chrift to lord over men's confciences, or to impofe their own opinions for articles of faith or rules of duty, as magiftrates have from God. It is as difficult to fix precifely, What is cenfurable, and what not, and the proper degree of cenfure anfwerable to every fcandal, in every cir cumftance, as to fix precifely, what and how crimes ought to be punished by the magiftrate. Unrighteous cenfures for an adherence to truth and duty, are as real and more fevere perfecution than unrighteous punishments. Articles and Confeffions of Faith impofed by ecclefiaftical authority, as much cramp Christian liberty, as if they were established by the State. Clergymen have as often abused their power about religion, as ever Statesmen did. Their conftitutions and counfels have done as much hurt to it, as thefe of magiftrates ever did; If it be difficult to get grofs heretics, blafphemers and idolaters judged, reftrained or punished by the State, it will be found as hard to get ALL errors and ALL practical mistakes eenfured by the Church. Nay, for once that magiftrates have erred in punishing heretics, blafphemers and idolaters, I believe clergymen have erred,. ten, if not an hundred times, in their cenfures. And, feldom have ever magiftrates perfecuted men for righteousness fake, but when they were inftigated to it by fome clergymen.

OBJECT. XXXIV. “ No carnal influence of ma-

giftrates relative to religion is confiftent with the Spiritual nature of the kingdom of Chrift, which is not of this world, John xviii. 36. The apoftles ufed no carnal weapons of warfare in promoting it, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5."

ANSW. 1. Why do you not ftate precifely, what you mean by the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom, and its not being of this world? Is it fo fpiritual, that the members and fubordinate rulers in it, are not at the fame time members in a civil State, and interested in the welfare or hurt of it? Is it fo fpiritual, that it hath to manner of connexion or fellowship with the kingdom of God over the nation, in which it refides, and neither gives nor receives from it, any more helpfulness, than from the kingdom of Belial? Is it fo fpiritual, that the power of it cannot touch any part of men's conduct toward one another, or even the magiftratical administrations of its members? Is it fo fpiritual, as to exclude the Most High, King of nations, and his deputed vicegerents, from all regard to the honour of God. and his religion, and the welfare of the State as connected therewith, leaving them no more concern therewith, than if nations were herds of fwine? The queftion under confideration is not concerning the nature of Chrift's kingdom, of which the civil magiftrate is not a ruler of any kind, as hath been already manifefted, but, Whether all care about the Church and her religion, as tending to promote the welfare of nations ought to be excluded from God's kingdom as the Sovereign of nations, and he and his vicegerents obliged to manage that department, as if there were no God in the earth.

2. Had Chrift no fpiritual kingdom in the days of Mofes, and the prophets, when God required magiftrates to take care about religion, and to reftrain and punish the public atrocious infulters of it? Had

he no fpiritual kingdom, not of this world, when he repeatedly drove the buyers and fellers out of the temple?

3. That the fpiritual nature of Christ's kingdom rendered it perfectly confiftent with the full exercife of the magiftratical power in the Roman empire, or any other State, which is what he meant in his anfwer to Pilate, we readily grant; but the infpired promifes, which have been repeatedly quoted, Isa. xlix 23. & lx. 3, 10, 16. Pfal. ii. 8, 10, 11, 12. & lxxii. 10, 11. Rev. xi. 15. & xvii. 16. & xxi. 24. fufficiently prove, that the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom doth not exclude magistrates' helpfulness to the truth, in authorizing the profeflion and practice of it by their civil laws, and in reftraining the open and infolent blafphemers of it?

4. Though the weapons of minifters' warfare, in propagating the gofpel be not carnal, What is that to the cafe of magiftrates? And as the fpiritual weapons of Church-officers reach as much to fins against the second table of the moral law as to those against the firft, they no more exclude the ufe of the magiftrates' carnal weapons against the atrocious fins against the first table, than with respect to those against the fecond, 2 Cor. x. 6. 1 Cor. v. 2-5.

5. Magiftratical influence cannot fet up Chrift's kingdom in men's heart, or oblige men's confcience to obey his laws in an acceptable manner; but it can remove many external hindrances, and afford many external opportunities, of his own fetting up, by means of his word and Spirit. It can reftrain burning of Bibles or abufing and murdering of preachers and hearers of the gospel. It can spread the Scriptures, and protect preachers of the truths contained in them; and by command, example, and otherwife, encourage the fubjects to fearch the Scriptures, and to hear, learn, profess, and practise the plain