Utrum horum, or, The nine and thirty articles of the Church of England, at large recited, and compared with the doctrines of those commonly called Presbyterians on the one side, and the tenets of the Church of Rome on the other both faithfully quoted from their own most approved authors / by Hen. Care.

The Presbyterians.

Use has obtain'd, that those things be call'd Humane Traditions, which are Establisht by Men for the Worship of God, not grounded on any Warrant from his Word; against these it is that we contend, and not against Holy and Useful Constitutions of the Church, which tend to preserve either Disci∣pline, or Honesty, or Peace.

Our Lord has so faithfully compre∣hended, and so plainly told the whole sum of true Righteousness, and all the parts of his Worship, that in those things he alone is to be heard; but be∣cause he would not particularly pre∣scribe every thing that we are to ob∣serve in external Discipline and Cere∣monies, (since he foresaw the same would depend upon the condition of times, nor did judge that one form would agree with all Ages) we there∣fore ought to have recourse to the

General Rules by him laid down, that by the same, all things, which the ne∣cessity of the Church should require, be exacted; and therefore herein he did not expresly deliver any thing, both be∣cause neither are those things necessary to Salvation, and that they may vari∣ously be accommodated, according to the manner of Nation and Age, for the edification of the Church, and as the profit of the Church requires: We may as well change and abrogate those that have been used, and institute new ones, though we ought not frequently and on slight Causes recur to Innova∣tion, but what is prejudicial; what is tending to Edification, Charity will best judge, which if in such Cases we suffer to be Moderatrix, all will be safe.

And whatsoever things shall be in∣stituted according to this Rule, it is the Duty of Christian people, with a Conscience still free and without su∣perstition, but yet with a pious and ready inclination to Obedience and Peace, to observe, not to contemn or with supine negligence omit, much

less ought they with Pride and Ob∣stinacy openly to violate them.

Thus Calvin, whose whole 10 Chap∣ters on this Subject, in the 4th Book of his Institutes, (whence these few sen∣tences are briefly drawn) is well worthy perusual, and I conceive enough to satis∣fie any unprejudiced Reader, That he in∣tirely agrees with the true sense of the Church of England in this Article.

God alone is Lord of the Consci∣ence, and hath left it free from the Doctrines and Commandements of Men, which are in any thing contra∣ry to his Word, or beside it, in mat∣ters of Faith and Worship; so that to believe such Doctrines, or to obey such Commands out of Conscience, is to betray true liberty of Conscience; and the requiring of an implicite Faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy Liberty of Conscience, and Reason also.

They, who upon pretence of Chri∣stian Liberty, do practice any Sin, or cherish any Lust, do thereby destroy

the end of Christian Liberty, which is, that being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies, we may serve the Lord without Fear, in Holiness and Righteousness before him, all the days of our Life.

And because the Power which God hath Ordained, and the Liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not inten∣ded by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another: They who, upon pretence of Christi∣an Liberty, shall oppose any Lawful Power, or the Lawful exercise of it, whether it be Civil, or Ecclesiastical, resist the Ordinance of God, and for their publishing such practices as are contrary to the light of Nature, or to the known Principles of Christianity, whether concerning Faith, Worship, or Conversation, or to the power of Godliness: or such erroneous Opini∣ons or Practices, as either in their own Nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external Peace and Order which Christ hath Established in the Church, they may lawfully be called to account,

and proceeded against by the Censures of the Church, and by the Power of the Civil Magistrate.

Notes

• Calv. Inst. l. 4. cap. 10. Sect. 1.
• Ibid. Sect. 30.
• Calv. Ibid.
• Ass. Conf. cap. 20. Sect. 2, 3, 4.