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39. The great Dr. Owen zealously pled for authoritative tolera-
tion, and that magiftrates ought not to interfere with religious
matters,

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LETTER II.

On the Perfidy of all Authoritative Toleration of grofs Herefy, Blaf

phemy or Idolatry.

Objections against the perpetual obligation of the Scotch Covenants,

Anfavered.

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LETTER I.

On the abfurdity of AUTHORITATIVE TOLERATION of grofs Herefy, Blafphemy or Idolatry.

SIR,

HOW God himself connected religion, and the

civil welfare of nations, in his ancient laws, almost the whole of the Old Teftament doth bear witnefs. That religion is the great bafis of civil happiness, was the common, the avowed belief of every fenfible Heathen: It was, for ought I know, the infamous monfter Tiberius, who firft pretended, That the gods alone ought to regard or refent the injuries done them. Before the happy Reformation, the Popish clergy had reduced civil rulers into mere tools for executing their pleasure in religious matters; and pretended that they had no power of judging in them. To free thefe rulers from fuch Antichrif tian claims, the Protestant reformers, every where, as their Confeffions of Faith and other writings make evident, loudly maintained, That to magiftrates themselves independent of clergymen, belongs a dif tinguished power in the reformation and prefervation of religion. Not long after, Eraftus, a German phy fician and his followers, to curry favour with their respective princes, pretended, That magiftrates are the proper lords of the Chriftian Church, from whom her minifters and other rulers derive their whole power, and to whom they must be accounta ble. This notion, exceedingly flattering their ambition, was too greedily embraced by most of the

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Proteftant princes; nor do I know of one Proteftant Church, which hath not fuffered by means of it. Meanwhile, the German Anabaptifts, having experienced the frowns, and fometimes the improper feverities of magiftrates, copied after the ancient Donatifts in the like circumstances, and warmJy contended, That magiftrates have no more power about religious matters than any private perfon, and ought to punish none for different fentiments in doctrine or forms of worship. The Socinians and remonftrant Arminians, except when magiftrates favoured themselves, and promoted their cause, zealously contended for the fame notion, at least in the cafe of minifters and worship, which were not maintained at the public expence. Many, if not most of the English Independents in the last century were much of the fame mind; and hence, by their influence, fome paffages in the Westminster Confeffion of Faith could never obtain a ratification by the English Parliament, or a place in their own Savoy Confeffion. Part of thefe paffages, relative to the magistrate's power, are alfo dropt from the Confeflion of Faith agreed to by the Independents of New England in 1682. Most of the English Diffenters of this century feem to be much of the fame mind; especially fuch as might otherwife have been expofed to danger on account of their open maintenance of Arian, Socinian, and Quakerifh blafphemies-Locke and bishop Hoadly, and fome others of the Epifcopalian party, warmly efpoufed the fame, cause.

This notion never received much countenance in Scotland, till Mr. Glafs of Tealing commenced a furious new-fashioned Independent. He mightily contended, That the Jewish nation was an ecclefiaftical one, and their kings ecclefiaftical rulers; that Chriftian magiftrates have no more power in

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religious matters than private Chriftians, and ought not to employ their power in advancing the true religion, or in making laws with penalties in favour of it; or in restraining or punishing heretics or falle teachers, nor ought they to give more encouragement to good Chriftians, than to other peaceable fubjects; that the example of the reforming kings of Judah in punishing idolatry and falfe worthip, and in promoting the true religion, is not now to be imitated; and that our fathers' national covenanting against Popery and other wickednefs, in favour of the true religion was unwarrantable, and is not binding upon us. Dr. Wifheart, Principal of the College of Edinburgh, in his fermons contended, That magiftrates have only a right to punith fuch crimes as ftrike immediately againft the perfons or property: of men; but not to punish any thing which ftrikes immediately against the honour of God, as blafphemy or herefy; that all men ought to have civil liberty to think and fpeak as they please, providing they make no attack upon the welfare of civil fociety; that none ought to be hampered in their fearch after truth by any requirement of their fubfcriptions to Formulas or Confeffions of Faith; that children in their education, ought never to be biaffed to a fide by learning catechifms which maintain the peculiar principles of a party. These or the like notions have been adopted by not a few of the pretenders to modern illumination.

In her public Standards, the Church of Scotland hath renounced, and in her folemn covenants hath abjured both these extremes. In her Old Confeffion of Faith, which is expressly sworn to in the national covenant of 1581, &c. as in all points the undoubted truth of God, Art. xxiv, fhe afferts, that the powerand authority of magiftrates is God's holy ordinance, ordained for manifeftation of his own glory, and for

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