Albert Einstein - "Relativity: The Special and General Theory"

John Lothrop Motley - "History of the United Netherlands, 1592"

I. A. R. Wylie - "The Native Born"

Rabindranath Tagore (trans.) - "The King of the Dark Chamber"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: Leviathan

T >> Thomas Hobbes >> Leviathan




An Argument Thereof, The Power Of Christ Himself:
I have shewn already (in the last Chapter,) that the Kingdome
of Christ is not of this world: therefore neither can his
Ministers (unlesse they be Kings,) require obedience in his name.
For if the Supreme King, have not his Regall Power in this world;
by what authority can obedience be required to his Officers?
As my Father sent me, (so saith our Saviour) I send you.
But our Saviour was sent to perswade the Jews to return to,
and to invite the Gentiles, to receive the Kingdome of his Father,
and not to reign in Majesty, no not, as his Fathers Lieutenant,
till the day of Judgment.

From The Name Of Regeneration:
The time between the Ascension, and the generall Resurrection,
is called, not a Reigning, but a Regeneration; that is, a Preparation
of men for the second and glorious coming of Christ, at the day
of Judgment; as appeareth by the words of our Saviour, Mat. 19.28.
"You that have followed me in the Regeneration, when the Son of man
shall sit in the throne of his glory, you shall also sit upon
twelve Thrones;" And of St. Paul (Ephes. 6.15.) "Having your feet
shod with the Preparation of the Gospell of Peace."

From The Comparison Of It, With Fishing, Leaven, Seed
And is compared by our Saviour, to Fishing; that is, to winning men
to obedience, not by Coercion, and Punishing; but by Perswasion:
and therefore he said not to his Apostles, hee would make them
so many Nimrods, Hunters Of Men; But Fishers Of Men. It is compared
also to Leaven; to Sowing of Seed, and to the Multiplication of
a grain of Mustard-seed; by all which Compulsion is excluded;
and consequently there can in that time be no actual Reigning.
The work of Christs Ministers, is Evangelization; that is,
a Proclamation of Christ, and a preparation for his second comming;
as the Evangelization of John Baptist, was a preparation to
his first coming.

From The Nature Of Faith:
Again, the Office of Christs Ministers in this world, is to
make men Beleeve, and have Faith in Christ: But Faith hath
no relation to, nor dependence at all upon Compulsion, or Commandement;
but onely upon certainty, or probability of Arguments drawn from Reason,
or from something men beleeve already. Therefore the Ministers
of Christ in this world, have no Power by that title, to Punish
any man for not Beleeving, or for Contradicting what they say;
they have I say no Power by that title of Christs Ministers,
to Punish such: but if they have Soveraign Civill Power, by politick
institution, then they may indeed lawfully Punish any Contradiction
to their laws whatsoever: And St. Paul, of himselfe and other then
Preachers of the Gospell saith in expresse words, (2 Cor. 1.24.)
"Wee have no Dominion over your Faith, but are Helpers of your Joy."

From The Authority Christ Hath Left To Civill Princes
Another Argument, that the Ministers of Christ in this present world
have no right of Commanding, may be drawn from the lawfull Authority
which Christ hath left to all Princes, as well Christians, as Infidels.
St. Paul saith (Col. 3.20.) "Children obey your Parents in all things;
for this is well pleasing to the Lord." And ver. 22. "Servants obey
in all things your Masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service,
as men-pleasers, but in singlenesse of heart, as fearing the Lord;"
This is spoken to them whose Masters were Infidells; and yet they
are bidden to obey them In All Things. And again, concerning
obedience to Princes. (Rom. 13. the first 6. verses) exhorting to
"be subject to the Higher Powers," he saith, "that all Power is
ordained of God;" and "that we ought to be subject to them,
not onely for" fear of incurring their "wrath, but also for
conscience sake." And St. Peter, (1 Epist. chap. 2e ver. 13, 14, 15.)
"Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man, for the Lords sake,
whether it bee to the King, as Supreme, or unto Governours,
as to them that be sent by him for the punishment of evill doers,
and for the praise of them that doe well; for so is the will of God."
And again St. Paul (Tit. 3.1.) "Put men in mind to be subject
to Principalities, and Powers, and to obey Magistrates."
These Princes, and Powers, whereof St. Peter, and St. Paul here speak,
were all Infidels; much more therefore we are to obey those Christians,
whom God hath ordained to have Soveraign Power over us.
How then can wee be obliged to doe any thing contrary to
the Command of the King, or other Soveraign Representant of
the Common-wealth, whereof we are members, and by whom we look
to be protected? It is therefore manifest, that Christ hath not
left to his Ministers in this world, unlesse they be also endued
with Civill Authority, any authority to Command other men.

What Christians May Do To Avoid Persecution
But what (may some object) if a King, or a Senate, or other
Soveraign Person forbid us to beleeve in Christ? To this I answer,
that such forbidding is of no effect, because Beleef, and Unbeleef never
follow mens Commands. Faith is a gift of God, which Man can neither
give, nor take away by promise of rewards, or menaces of torture.
And if it be further asked, What if wee bee commanded by our
lawfull Prince, to say with our tongue, wee beleeve not; must we
obey such command? Profession with the tongue is but an externall
thing, and no more then any other gesture whereby we signifie
our obedience; and wherein a Christian, holding firmely in his heart
the Faith of Christ, hath the same liberty which the Prophet Elisha
allowed to Naaman the Syrian. Naaman was converted in his heart
to the God of Israel; For hee saith (2 Kings 5.17.) "Thy servant
will henceforth offer neither burnt offering, nor sacrifice unto
other Gods but unto the Lord. In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant,
that when my Master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there,
and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow my selfe in the house of Rimmon;
when I bow my selfe in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant
in this thing." This the Prophet approved, and bid him "Goe in peace."
Here Naaman beleeved in his heart; but by bowing before the Idol Rimmon,
he denyed the true God in effect, as much as if he had done it
with his lips. But then what shall we answer to our Saviours saying,
"Whosoever denyeth me before men, I will deny him before my Father
which is in Heaven?" This we may say, that whatsoever a Subject,
as Naaman was, is compelled to in obedience to his Soveraign,
and doth it not in order to his own mind, but in order to the laws
of his country, that action is not his, but his Soveraigns;
nor is it he that in this case denyeth Christ before men,
but his Governour, and the law of his countrey. If any man shall
accuse this doctrine, as repugnant to true, and unfeigned Christianity;
I ask him, in case there should be a subject in any Christian
Common-wealth, that should be inwardly in his heart of the
Mahometan Religion, whether if his Soveraign Command him to bee present
at the divine service of the Christian Church, and that on pain of death,
he think that Mamometan obliged in conscience to suffer death
for that cause, rather than to obey that command of his lawful Prince.
If he say, he ought rather to suffer death, then he authorizeth
all private men, to disobey their Princes, in maintenance of
their Religion, true, or false; if he say, he ought to bee obedient,
then he alloweth to himself, that which hee denyeth to another,
contrary to the words of our Saviour, "Whatsoever you would that men
should doe unto you, that doe yee unto them;" and contrary to
the Law of Nature, (which is the indubitable everlasting Law of God)
"Do not to another, that which thou wouldest not he should doe unto thee."

Of Martyrs
But what then shall we say of all those Martyrs we read of in
the History of the Church, that they have needlessely cast away
their lives? For answer hereunto, we are to distinguish the persons
that have been for that cause put to death; whereof some have received
a Calling to preach, and professe the Kingdome of Christ openly;
others have had no such Calling, nor more has been required of them
than their owne faith. The former sort, if they have been put to death,
for bearing witnesse to this point, that Jesus Christ is risen
from the dead, were true Martyrs; For a Martyr is, (to give the true
definition of the word) a Witnesse of the Resurrection of Jesus
the Messiah; which none can be but those that conversed with him
on earth, and saw him after he was risen: For a Witnesse must have
seen what he testifieth, or else his testimony is not good.
And that none but such, can properly be called Martyrs of Christ,
is manifest out of the words of St. Peter, Act. 1.21, 22.
"Wherefore of these men which have companyed with us all the time
that the Lord Jesus went in and out amongst us, beginning from
the Baptisme of John unto that same day hee was taken up from us,
must one be ordained to be a Martyr (that is a Witnesse) with us
of his Resurrection:" Where we may observe, that he which is to bee
a Witnesse of the truth of the Resurrection of Christ, that is to say,
of the truth of this fundamentall article of Christian Religion,
that Jesus was the Christ, must be some Disciple that conversed
with him, and saw him before, and after his Resurrection;
and consequently must be one of his originall Disciples:
whereas they which were not so, can Witnesse no more, but that
their antecessors said it, and are therefore but Witnesses of
other mens testimony; and are but second Martyrs, or Martyrs
of Christs Witnesses.

He, that to maintain every doctrine which he himself draweth out
of the History of our Saviours life, and of the Acts, or Epistles
of the Apostles; or which he beleeveth upon the authority of
a private man, wil oppose the Laws and Authority of the Civill State,
is very far from being a Martyr of Christ, or a Martyr of his Martyrs.
'Tis one Article onely, which to die for, meriteth so honorable a name;
and that Article is this, that Jesus Is The Christ; that is to say,
He that hath redeemed us, and shall come again to give us salvation,
and eternall life in his glorious Kingdome. To die for every tenet
that serveth the ambition, or profit of the Clergy, is not required;
nor is it the Death of the Witnesse, but the Testimony it self
that makes the Martyr: for the word signifieth nothing else,
but the man that beareth Witnesse, whether he be put to death
for his testimony, or not.

Also he that is not sent to preach this fundamentall article,
but taketh it upon him of his private authority, though he be
a Witnesse, and consequently a Martyr, either primary of Christ,
or secondary of his Apostles, Disciples, or their Successors;
yet is he not obliged to suffer death for that cause; because being
not called thereto, tis not required at his hands; nor ought hee
to complain, if he loseth the reward he expecteth from those
that never set him on work. None therefore can be a Martyr,
neither of the first, nor second degree, that have not a warrant
to preach Christ come in the flesh; that is to say, none,
but such as are sent to the conversion of Infidels. For no man
is a Witnesse to him that already beleeveth, and therefore needs
no Witnesse; but to them that deny, or doubt, or have not heard it.
Christ sent his Apostles, and his Seventy Disciples, with authority
to preach; he sent not all that beleeved: And he sent them
to unbeleevers; "I send you (saith he) as sheep amongst wolves;"
not as sheep to other sheep.

Argument From The Points Of Their Commission
Lastly the points of their Commission, as they are expressely
set down in the Gospel, contain none of them any authority
over the Congregation.

To Preach
We have first (Mat. 10.) that the twelve Apostles were sent
"to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," and commanded to Preach,
"that the Kingdome of God was at hand." Now Preaching in the originall,
is that act, which a Crier, Herald, or other Officer useth to
doe publiquely in Proclaiming of a King. But a Crier hath not
right to Command any man. And (Luke 10.2.) the seventy Disciples
are sent out, "as Labourers, not as Lords of the Harvest;"
and are bidden (verse 9.) to say, "The Kingdome of God is come
nigh unto you;" and by Kingdome here is meant, not the Kingdome
of Grace, but the Kingdome of Glory; for they are bidden
to denounce it (ver. 11.) to those Cities which shall not
receive them, as a threatning, that it shall be more tolerable
in that day for Sodome, than for such a City. And (Mat. 20.28.)
our Saviour telleth his Disciples, that sought Priority of place,
their Office was to minister, even as the Son of man came,
not to be ministred unto, but to minister. Preachers therefore
have not Magisteriall, but Ministeriall power: "Bee not called Masters,
(saith our Saviour, Mat. 23.10) for one is your Master, even Christ."

And Teach
Another point of their Commission, is, to Teach All Nations;
as it is in Mat. 28.19. or as in St. Mark 16.15 "Goe into all the world,
and Preach the Gospel to every creature." Teaching therefore,
and Preaching is the same thing. For they that Proclaim the
comming of a King, must withall make known by what right he commeth,
if they mean men shall submit themselves unto him: As St. Paul did
to the Jews of Thessalonica, when "three Sabbath days he reasoned
with them out of the Scriptures, opening, and alledging that Christ
must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead, and that
this Jesus is Christ." But to teach out of the Old Testament
that Jesus was Christ, (that is to say, King,) and risen from the dead,
is not to say, that men are bound after they beleeve it, to obey those
that tell them so, against the laws, and commands of their Soveraigns;
but that they shall doe wisely, to expect the coming of Christ hereafter,
in Patience, and Faith, with Obedience to their present Magistrates.

To Baptize;
Another point of their Commission, is to Baptize, "in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." What is Baptisme?
Dipping into water. But what is it to Dip a man into the water
in the name of any thing? The meaning of these words of Baptisme is this.
He that is Baptized, is Dipped or Washed, as a sign of becomming
a new man, and a loyall subject to that God, whose Person was
represented in old time by Moses, and the High Priests, when he
reigned over the Jews; and to Jesus Christ, his Sonne, God, and Man,
that hath redeemed us, and shall in his humane nature Represent
his Fathers Person in his eternall Kingdome after the Resurrection;
and to acknowledge the Doctrine of the Apostles, who assisted by
the Spirit of the Father, and of the Son, were left for guides to bring
us into that Kingdome, to be the onely, and assured way thereunto.
This, being our promise in Baptisme; and the Authority of Earthly
Soveraigns being not to be put down till the day of Judgment;
(for that is expressely affirmed by S. Paul 1 Cor. 15. 22, 23, 24.
where he saith, "As in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall
be made alive. But every man in his owne order, Christ the
first fruits, afterward they that are Christs, at his comming;
Then Commeth the end, when he shall have delivered up the
Kingdome of God, even the Father, when he shall have put down
all Rule, and all Authority and Power") it is manifest, that we
do not in Baptisme constitute over us another authority, by which
our externall actions are to be governed in this life; but promise
to take the doctrine of the Apostles for our direction in the
way to life eternall.

And To Forgive, And Retain Sinnes
The Power of Remission, And Retention Of Sinnes, called also
the Power of Loosing, and Binding, and sometimes the Keyes Of
The Kingdome Of Heaven, is a consequence of the Authority to Baptize,
or refuse to Baptize. For Baptisme is the Sacrament of Allegeance,
of them that are to be received into the Kingdome of God;
that is to say, into Eternall life; that is to say, to Remission of Sin:
For as Eternall life was lost by the Committing , so it is recovered
by the Remitting of mens Sins. The end of Baptisme is Remission of Sins:
and therefore St. Peter, when they that were converted by his Sermon on
the day of Pentecost, asked what they were to doe, advised them to
"repent, and be Baptized in the name of Jesus, for the Remission
of Sins." And therefore seeing to Baptize is to declare the Reception
of men into Gods Kingdome; and to refuse to Baptize is to declare
their Exclusion; it followeth, that the Power to declare them Cast out,
or Retained in it, was given to the same Apostles, and their Substitutes,
and Successors. And therefore after our Saviour had breathed upon them,
saying, (John 20.22.) "Receive the Holy Ghost," hee addeth in the
next verse, "Whose soever Sins ye Remit, they are Remitted unto them;
and whose soever Sins ye Retain, they are Retained." By which words,
is not granted an Authority to Forgive, or Retain Sins, simply
and absolutely, as God Forgiveth or Retaineth them, who knoweth
the Heart of man, and truth of his Penitence and Conversion;
but conditionally, to the Penitent: And this Forgivenesse,
or Absolution, in case the absolved have but a feigned Repentance,
is thereby without other act, or sentence of the Absolvent, made void,
and hath no effect at all to Salvation, but on the contrary, to the
Aggravation of his Sin. Therefore the Apostles, and their Successors,
are to follow but the outward marks of Repentance; which appearing,
they have no Authority to deny Absolution; and if they appeare not,
they have no authority to Absolve. The same also is to be observed
in Baptisme: for to a converted Jew, or Gentile, the Apostles had not
the Power to deny Baptisme; nor to grant it to the Un-penitent.
But seeing no man is able to discern the truth of another mans
Repentance, further than by externall marks, taken from his words,
and actions, which are subject to hypocrisie; another question
will arise, Who it is that is constituted Judge of those marks.
And this question is decided by our Saviour himself; (Mat. 18.
15, 16, 17.) "If thy Brother (saith he) shall trespasse against thee,
go and tell him his fault between thee, and him alone; if he shall
hear thee, thou hast gained thy Brother. But if he will not hear thee,
then take with thee one, or two more. And if he shall neglect
to hear them, tell it unto the Church, let him be unto thee as an
Heathen man, and a Publican." By which it is manifest, that the
Judgment concerning the truth of Repentance, belonged not to any
one Man, but to the Church, that is, to the Assembly of the Faithfull,
or to them that have authority to bee their Representant.
But besides the Judgment, there is necessary also the pronouncing
of Sentence: And this belonged alwaies to the Apostle, or some Pastor
of the Church, as Prolocutor; and of this our Saviour speaketh
in the 18 verse, "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound
in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed
in heaven." And comformable hereunto was the practise of St. Paul
(1 Cor. 5.3, 4, & 5.) where he saith, "For I verily, as absent in body,
but present in spirit, have determined already, as though I were present,
concerning him that hath so done this deed; In the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together, and my spirit,
with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such a one to Satan;"
that is to say, to cast him out of the Church, as a man whose Sins
are not Forgiven. Paul here pronounceth the Sentence; but the Assembly
was first to hear the Cause, (for St. Paul was absent;) and by
consequence to condemn him. But in the same chapter (ver. 11, 12.)
the Judgment in such a case is more expressely attributed to
the Assembly: "But now I have written unto you, not to keep company,
if any man that is called a Brother be a Fornicator, &c. with such
a one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judg them that
are without? Do not ye judg them that are within?" The Sentence
therefore by which a man was put out of the Church, was pronounced
by the Apostle, or Pastor; but the Judgment concerning the merit
of the cause, was in the Church; that is to say, (as the times
were before the conversion of Kings, and men that had Soveraign
Authority in the Common-wealth,) the Assembly of the Christians
dwelling in the same City; as in Corinth, in the Assembly of the
Christians of Corinth.

Of Excommunication
This part of the Power of the Keyes, by which men were thrust out
from the Kingdome of God, is that which is called Excommunication;
and to excommunicate, is in the Originall, Aposunagogon Poiein,
To Cast Out Of The Synagogue; that is, out of the place of Divine
service; a word drawn from the custom of the Jews, to cast out
of their Synagogues, such as they thought in manners, or doctrine,
contagious, as Lepers were by the Law of Moses separated from
the congregation of Israel, till such time as they should be
by the Priest pronounced clean.

The Use Of Excommunication Without Civill Power.
The Use and Effect of Excommunication, whilest it was not yet
strengthened with the Civill Power, was no more, than that they,
who were not Excommunicate, were to avoid the company of them that were.
It was not enough to repute them as Heathen, that never had been
Christians; for with such they might eate, and drink; which with
Excommunicate persons they might not do; as appeareth by the words
of St. Paul, (1 Cor. 5. ver. 9, 10, &c.) where he telleth them,
he had formerly forbidden them to "company with Fornicators;" but
(because that could not bee without going out of the world,)
he restraineth it to such Fornicators, and otherwise vicious persons,
as were of the brethren; "with such a one" (he saith) they ought not
to keep company, "no, not to eat." And this is no more than our
Saviour saith (Mat. 18.17.) "Let him be to thee as a Heathen,
and as a Publican." For Publicans (which signifieth Farmers,
and Receivers of the revenue of the Common-wealth) were so hated,
and detested by the Jews that were to pay for it, as that Publican
and Sinner were taken amongst them for the same thing: Insomuch,
as when our Saviour accepted the invitation of Zacchaeus a Publican;
though it were to Convert him, yet it was objected to him as a Crime.
And therefore, when our Saviour, to Heathen, added Publican,
he did forbid them to eat with a man Excommunicate.

As for keeping them out of their Synagogues, or places of Assembly,
they had no Power to do it, but that of the owner of the place,
whether he were Christian, or Heathen. And because all places are
by right, in the Dominion of the Common-wealth; as well hee that
was Excommunicated, as hee that never was Baptized, might enter
into them by Commission from the Civill Magistrate; as Paul before
his conversion entred into their Synagogues at Damascus, (Acts 9.2.)
to apprehend Christians, men and women, and to carry them bound
to Jerusalem, by Commission from the High Priest.

Of No Effect Upon An Apostate
By which it appears, that upon a Christian, that should become
an Apostate, in a place where the Civill Power did persecute,
or not assist the Church, the effect of Excommunication had nothing
in it, neither of dammage in this world, nor of terrour: Not of terrour,
because of their unbeleef; nor of dammage, because they returned
thereby into the favour of the world; and in the world to come,
were to be in no worse estate, then they which never had beleeved.
The dammage redounded rather to the Church, by provocation of them
they cast out, to a freer execution of their malice.

But Upon The Faithfull Only
Excommunication therefore had its effect onely upon those,
that beleeved that Jesus Christ was to come again in Glory,
to reign over, and to judge both the quick, and the dead,
and should therefore refuse entrance into his Kingdom, to those
whose Sins were Retained; that is, to those that were Excommunicated
by the Church. And thence it is that St. Paul calleth Excommunication,
a delivery of the Excommunicate person to Satan. For without
the Kingdom of Christ, all other Kingdomes after Judgment,
are comprehended in the Kingdome of Satan. This is it that
the faithfull stood in fear of, as long as they stood Excommunicate,
that is to say, in an estate wherein their sins were not Forgiven.
Whereby wee may understand, that Excommunication in the time
that Christian Religion was not authorized by the Civill Power,
was used onely for a correction of manners, not of errours in opinion:
for it is a punishment, whereof none could be sensible but such
as beleeved, and expected the coming again of our Saviour to
judge the world; and they who so beleeved, needed no other opinion,
but onely uprightnesse of life, to be saved.

For What Fault Lyeth Excommunication
There Lyeth Excommunication for Injustice; as (Mat. 18.) If thy Brother
offend thee, tell it him privately; then with Witnesses; lastly,
tell the Church; and then if he obey not, "Let him be to thee
as an Heathen man, and a Publican." And there lyeth Excommunication
for a Scandalous Life, as (1 Cor. 5. 11.) "If any man that is called
a Brother, be a Fornicator, or Covetous, or an Idolater, or a Drunkard,
or an Extortioner, with such a one yee are not to eat."
But to Excommunicate a man that held this foundation, that Jesus
Was The Christ, for difference of opinion in other points,
by which that Foundation was not destroyed, there appeareth
no authority in the Scripture, nor example in the Apostles.
There is indeed in St. Paul (Titus 3.10.) a text that seemeth
to be to the contrary. "A man that is an Haeretique, after the first
and second admonition, reject." For an Haeretique, is he, that being
a member of the Church, teacheth neverthelesse some private opinion,
which the Church has forbidden: and such a one, S. Paul adviseth Titus,
after the first, and second admonition, to Reject. But to Reject
(in this place) is not to Excommunicate the Man; But to Give Over
Admonishing Him, To Let Him Alone, To Set By Disputing With Him,
as one that is to be convinced onely by himselfe. The same Apostle
saith (2 Tim. 2.23.) "Foolish and unlearned questions avoid;"
The word Avoid in this place, and Reject in the former, is the same
in the Originall, paraitou: but Foolish questions may bee set by
without Excommunication. And again, (Tit. 3.93) "Avoid Foolish
questions," where the Originall, periistaso, (set them by)
is equivalent to the former word Reject. There is no other place
that can so much as colourably be drawn, to countenance the Casting
out of the Church faithfull men, such as beleeved the foundation,
onely for a singular superstructure of their own, proceeding perhaps
from a good & pious conscience. But on the contrary, all such places
as command avoiding such disputes, are written for a Lesson to Pastors,
(such as Timothy and Titus were) not to make new Articles of Faith,
by determining every small controversie, which oblige men to
a needlesse burthen of Conscience, or provoke them to break the
union of the Church. Which Lesson the Apostles themselves observed well.
S. Peter and S. Paul, though their controversie were great,
(as we may read in Gal. 2.11.) yet they did not cast one another out
of the Church. Neverthelesse, during the Apostles time, there were
other Pastors that observed it not; As Diotrephes (3 John 9. &c.)
who cast out of the Church, such as S. John himself thought fit
to be received into it, out of a pride he took in Praeeminence;
so early it was, that Vainglory, and Ambition had found entrance
into the Church of Christ.