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Addition: Of the Power of Kings and Bi∣shops out of Bishop Bilson and Andrews.
LEst you should wrong the sober Episcopal Divines, so as to think that they claim as jure Divino, and as Pastoral, any Coercive forcing power, but only an authoritative per∣swading power, and that of the Keyes of the Church, I will transcribe some of the words of that Learned, Judicious Bishop Bilson in his Tract. of Christian Subjection; By which you will see, that all forcing power claimed by them, is only Magistratical, as they are the Kings Officers, and not from Christ.
Note also that constantly he distinguisheth the Magistrates power from the Pastors, by the [Sword] as the instru∣ment of execution, which even about Ecclesiastical mat∣ters is proper to the Magistrate; As the power of the Word and Sacraments, or Keyes of the Church, is the Pastors: And these are the shortest, plainest, and least ambiguous terms; and more clear than [Internal, Ecclesiastical and Civil] which have all much obscurity and ambiguity.
Pag. 238. Princes only be Governours in things and Causes Ecclesiastical, that is, with the Sword—Bishops be no Go∣vernours in those things with the Sword.] Pag. 240. We con∣fess Princes to be Supream Governours,—Supream bear∣ers of the Sword—We give Princes no power to devise or invent new Religions, to alter or change Sacraments, to decide or debate doubts of faith, to disturb or infringe the Canons of the Church.
But of these two last I must tell you, what we Puritans (as they call us) hold 1. That the King may and must decide doubts of faith, in order to execution by the Sword (as, who shall be banished or imprisoned as a Teacher of Heresie) 2. And that Canons circa sacra not take∣ing the Pastors proper work out of his hand may be made by the Magistrate even if he please without the Prelates▪